One of nine siblings, Malik Smith grew up with a father and an uncle who were completely immersed in harness racing. But other than watching his dad’s horses race on TV, none of Malik or his brothers and sisters took much interest. After the boredom of Covid hit, however, Malik agreed to go to the barn with his dad one morning, and his outlook began to change. It’s a fact that Canadian Standardbred racing doesn’t attract many people of colour as participants, so during Black History Month (February) TROT reached out to Malik, now an aspiring young trainer, and asked him to share his story with us. By John Rallis.
