Harness round-up

By Nathan Bain

Caretakers are the backbone of the horse racing industry, and this past Sunday, September 26 at Leamington Raceway was all about the hard workers in the backstretch as we celebrated National Caretaker Appreciation Day.

Every single caretaker received some sort of prize to thank them for all their hard work every single day. There are no days off for caretakers as caring for horses is 7 days a week and 365 days a year.

Sponsors who donated the prizes were drivers Tyler Borth and Scott Wray who donated $100 in Tim Hortons cards, the Central Ontario Standardbred Association for donating gift cards. Standardbred Canada organized the event.

Not only were all the caretakers honoured, so was driver Garrett Rooney, as he captured his 1,000th win in Sunday’s 2nd race with Dandy Idea. Garrett came into Sunday’s card of racing with 998 lifetime driving wins, and it did not take him long to win as he got Siboney to the winners Circle in Race 1 for owner Alma Jarvis of Essex. Going into Race 2 odds were pretty good for Garrett as he had the 1-2 favourite Dandy Idea with the rail.

Once Dandy Idea made the front, the race was over and Garrett was able to celebrate 1,000 wins with a plaque presentation.

Live racing returns next Sunday afternoon with a 1pm post.

Pre-registration is not required and for those who cannot attend, you can watch and wager on hpibet.com.