The USHWA Youth Membership category, approved in 2017 and introduced last year, welcomed its newest member on Labour Day weekend. Fittingly, 18-year-old Nicholas "Ace" Barnsdale got the news while co-hosting the "Post Time with Mike and Mike" podcast at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday night.
Nick is the son of USHWA Canada chapter president Garnet Barnsdale, and a talented writer/photographer/handicapper in his own right. The Toronto, Ontario resident is also a fractional owner of TheStable.ca two-year-old Sebastian K filly Knockdown Dragout.
When did he first get into the game? Nicholas Barnsdale was never "out" of harness racing long enough to have a clear starting point as a fan or handicapper.
"I didn't so much as 'first get into it' as I have been always into it," he explained. "There's even a picture of me as a toddler reading a program in the bleachers at Mohawk."
"I've been involved in harness racing for as long as I can remember," continued the younger Barnsdale. "My dad's been taking me to tracks since I could walk (probably even before!), and I've been hooked ever since. The action, the narratives, the thrill, and the animals themselves, all make it so much fun."
A Bachelor of Journalism student at Humber College's Lakeshore Campus, Nick said he likes racing photography "due to the challenge."
"You need to firstly get the camera settings right for the condition, and then you've got to get the best angle to capture the moment the best. It's also fun to capture those big moments--it's very rewarding to get a great picture of a defining moment. I remember getting a shot of Scotty Zeron's fist pump in the Hambo with Atlanta, and being so excited."
He's primarily interested in print journalism, which he has pursued in the pages of the Down the Stretch newspaper and Daily Racing Form. The 2019 Clyde Hirt Media Workshop participant at The Meadowlands contributed a preview of the Sam McKee Memorial, plus race recaps of the McKee and the Dr. John Steele Memorial, to DRF.
He said he would recommend the Clyde Hirt Workshop experience to other young people considering careers in sports media. "We visited [the New York] Giants training camp and got to interview some of the players; we got published, which was great in and of itself; we were treated to a tour of the New York Post; we got to jog and bathe a Trottingbred; they took us to Yonkers where we got to ride in the starting car, and we got to be a part of the press frenzy on Hambo day."
Barnsdale said he would love to cover the NFL's Buffalo Bills as a beat writer or reporter one day, and working as a harness racing journalist also holds appeal.
"My ambition is to become a sportswriter," he explained. "I don't know what it is about sports, but I just love them. Perhaps the excitement, passion, emotion, and sometimes a little weirdness they create is so conducive to storytelling. Whether my career path includes harness racing or not, I'm happy, as long as I get to cover sports."
It's a safe bet that wherever his career takes him, the newest USHWA Youth member will find time for wagering and visits with his fractional friends.
"The Stable is such a fun experience," he said. "I love horses, but as a city slicker, I don't have much access to horses, other than watching them at the rail, but The Stable allows me to spend some time with my favourite animals. I relish each trip to the barn to spend time with Knockdown Dragout."
New USHWA Youth memberships are generously sponsored by Tim Konkle, editor of Midwest Harness Report. The Youth Membership category is a pilot project of USHWA, intended to help identify and cultivate talented youth (aged 21 and under) working/volunteering in various forms of harness racing media. The inaugural group consisted of Nathan Bain (Canada), Jessica Hallett (Florida), and Ryder Skinner (Delaware).
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