Holmes New HRBC Executive Director

Harness Racing BC is pleased to announce the appointment of Nigel Holmes as the new executive director of HRBC, effective July 15, 2020.

Holmes' interest in harness racing and horses began in his early teens in Windsor, Ontario, as he purchased his first racehorse as a young teenager. His passion for racing and working with horses continued for many years in Ontario. In 1974, Holmes started his career with a major consumer packaged goods company in sales, and after several promotions in sales management, he was offered a promotion located in western Canada. In 1992, Holmes moved his young family to Port Moody, BC, as sales director heading up western Canada, based in Burnaby, BC. “Luckily enough, I was able to follow my love of harness racing at Cloverdale Raceway, later Fraser Downs,” Holmes has said.

Shortly after moving to BC, Holmes acquired his first horse. He thoroughly enjoyed his time at the track and spent a lot of his leisure time helping with the horses in the barn and watching the races. “I got to experience first hand that just how hard the trainers and grooms worked taking care of their horses,” he said. Holmes enjoyed bringing in new racehorses that were usually purchased privately from Ontario or the Maritimes and quickly found that he had built a fair sized stable that raced successfully in BC and Alberta. “You can’t beat the feeling of excitement and exuberance of winning a race,” said Holmes.

His passion went beyond the racing game and he became involved in the breeding side of the business with the acquisition of a broodmare followed by several foals and even tried to introduce a Little Brown Jug winner as a stallion. “I became more passionate and involved in the business about then and thought it may be good to introduce a Jug winner into the province.”

Holmes enjoyed anything to do to help in assisting in the promotion and worked closely with Fraser Downs key personnel on various promotions and events. He sat on the boards of HRBC and Standardbred Canada.

The track at Fraser Downs, despite many challenges on and off the track over the years, has survived in offering a quality product to its many fans and racing enthusiasts. It is the dedication and perseverance of the loyal horsepeople that have put up with many hardships in supporting harness racing in BC that has helped it survive. It’s that sort of dedication and perseverance that is required to solidify our future for years to come.

(Harness Racing BC)