The World Trotting Conference was recently held in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference was well attended by standardbred horse associations from around the world and the host country did an excellent job in attracting informative and future-thinking speakers to address our industry issues.
White Birch Farm was the breeder, and part-owner, of 2013 Cup winner Captaintreacherous, but farm owner Michael Parisi and farm manager Steve Williams both tragically lost their lives before they could see four colts from ‘The Captain’s’ first crop compete in the 2019 version of Canada’s richest harness race.
Tom Rankin is well-known in racing – especially when it comes to trotters. But his son Glen knows a bit about horses too – much of it learned while he was fighting an illness. And it was Glen that picked out the pacer that has the Rankin family quite excited for 2019.
John McDermott trains Hurrikane Emperor. He also trained the sire, the dam & the sister. His kids help paddock and train, and his wife is the rock that holds it all together. Family means a lot to the team behind this Cup finalist.
On December 30, 2018, Shannon ‘Murph’ Murphy and his friends went to a NY Giants home game vs. the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants lost the game by a point, and Murph almost lost his life after taking a 30 foot fall.
Richard and Joanne Young were about to get out of the racing game in 2008 - then they decided to buy just one more horse.
Tyler Schlatman didn’t grow up in a racing family, but he did watch the races at Hanover Raceway. Now, Tyler is the caretaker of the 2018 Horse of the Year & a Metro Stakes winner who is looking to carry his winning ways over from age two to three.
When you purchase a yearling for just $6,500, and neither his sire nor dam even raced, you’re probably not thinking ‘North America Cup.’ But that’s exactly where Tony and Linda Schadel ended up with their horse-of-a-lifetime.
Trainer Brian Brown already had a win in the 2017 Cup, but he told TROT that if it wasn’t for the work and dedication of Ashley Dowis he may not even have had a starter this year.
He may not have been the biggest horse in the race, but Canadian assistant trainer Chantal Mitchell, and Kiwi driver Dexter Dunn, knew that they had speed and heart on their side entering Canada’s richest harness race.
