COSA TV recently profiled Ken Middleton Jr., the voice sounding over Woodbine Mohawk Park for the last 15 years. But his path has broadened more into a journey over the years as the Ontarian continues through another chapter in his harness racing life.
Middleton’s love for the game always came from the horses, but he landed his first big break by happening into a position on the Woodbine broadcast team. Karen Hudon, who at the time worked on TV for Woodbine, had to race a horse in a Gold elimination, where then Middleton received the call to fill in her role. By chance, Hudon’s horse qualified for the final the following week, so Middleton returned the next week as a trackside reporter for the North America Cup. Once offered a full-time position with Woodbine, Middleton worked on the broadcasting team for eight years until the track announcer, Frank Salive, filed his resignation.
“I ultimately always dreamt of doing that job,” Middleton said. “love doing TV, I love broadcasting and interacting with the people, but announcing the races was a different love. I did love the opportunity to do that and still do. Do I miss the interaction with people at ground level, interviewing and stuff? Every single time. But I make sure I go out and touch base with a lot of those people; I remain friends with them. But announcing's different. You're in a booth by yourself, and you just have a different role, that's all. It's fantastic.”
Throughout his nearly two decades behind the mic, Middleton has had the privilege to voice over several moments which landed in harness racing history. Among them were the 2008 North America Cup, where Canadian powerhouse Somebeachsomewhere cemented himself as a champion racehorse, and the 2011 Breeders Crown when local phenom San Pail defeated international competition on his home soil.
“The Somebeachsomewhere Pepsi North America Cup was surreal,” Middleton said, “not just because of his star power, but because of the gathering of people that were not only at the track, but, when you think about it, people from all over the world had to be turning in because he was the generational horse for us, just the way Niatross was in his day. He's a special horse. So that was a very unique experience and a surreal experience, just because of the deafening crowd that was there — and it was massive, unlike any other that I've experienced.
“And the San Pail Breeders Crown race, because there was a lot of buildup to that race — it wasn't just about one horse; there was the international flavour that was added to the race that year. It lived up to the hype. It was a great race; the horses that were supposed to be there at the finish were there, and San Pail — he's another horse who had an incredible gathering. So, for him to be at the top of his game that night, it was another awesome experience I'll never forget.”
In his time broadcasting and announcing, Middleton has participated in the sport in more ways than through television. He’s owned many racehorses over the years, but has only within the last few years started to invest in breeding and raising yearlings. That shift, along with financial responsibilities, prompted Middleton to make a career pivot and follow his love of developing and training horses.
“At first, that's where the complete fascination was: calling races,” Middleton said. “There was something about it that was intriguing. It still is, but at the same time, then you get curious about seeing people train the horses and stuff like that, so you venture out to training centres, jog the odd one, talk to people ... but you just always got the impression that they thought you're a guy in a suit who sits on top of the grandstand and doesn't really grasp the reality of what we do in the trenches. I don't know if I took that personally sometimes, or if it was just a challenge — a warning shot fired.
“I would say [the moment I thought about training horses] was when I started getting the bills for other people looking after the horses that I realized it wasn't financially feasible to want to do that. Not to mention I enjoyed it, too. I was curious about that aspect of the industry. It's just like anything else. You want new challenges in life to drive you a bit, and I really love the time I get to see them and spend with them. I can have a coffee in the morning and look out my kitchen window, and there's my horses. It's that connection and the appreciation of them, and I wanted to have that on a daily basis.
“I used to watch horses as a handicapper — know horses that were locked in from week to week — and I could, if someone asked me for a winner or something like that or a horse that I'd recommend, I could, in the snap of a finger, give them 10 right off the top of my head. But it's not that way anymore. I tend to focus on race nights watching horses warm up and how trainers have horses rigged up equipment-wise. I'm looking at that kind of thing as opposed to watching horses for the sake of wanting to bet on them or recommend a horse to bet on for someone else. It's something that intrigues me, and that's what I tend to focus on now — horses that catch your eye, how they're gaited or how they're rigged up and stuff like that.”
On some occasions, Middleton’s endeavor into training horses has intersected with his job commentating Woodbine’s racing. Middleton admitted that sending a horse of his own in a race he is announcing does come with challenges, but that he feels and has also shown that he can keep his composure – however difficult it might be to contain.
“I think the most rewarding thing so far for me [training] was the filly we raced this past year, Shes A Sassy Beach. It's funny, I've been asked the question a bunch of times: "Is it hard to call that race when your horse is in it?" Yes, it is hard,” Middleton said, “because you want to be professional and try not to have that influence you in any way. But, deep inside, it's killing me. She was in the two-hole turning home in the final that night, and I thought going into the race that she was in the best shape we could have her in, and I thought we had a realistic chance to win it.
“But, at the top of the stretch when she came out of the two-hole, I was almost certain she was going to win, but all the memories just came flashing back and rushing back — the day she was born and watching her grow up when I'd go the farm and see her grow — It's just funny. You think back to all those flashbacks of things along the way, and breaking her and getting her in a harness for the first time, just all those steps. It's a lot of work and a lot of dedication, but there's not a feeling like it in the world when they get to the winner's circle.”
Shes A Sassy Beach’s win not only brought back those memories for Middleton, but also those of the late Bill Galvin, who was a long-time family friend of the Middletons and an owner on several horses with them over the decades.
“I did get a little teared up and stuff like that,” Middleton said. “I had lost my partner and a longtime friend, and I was thinking of him at the time and how much I wished he could have been there. So, that was a different experience. It was noticeable that I was getting choked up and emotional about it, but it's just my human instincts kicked in, and I was feeling emotional about that. I wish Bill could have been there — he wasn't. That was a totally different race.
“Bill Galvin and my father were very close friends,” Middleton also said. “It goes back to the days of the ice racing on the Rideau Canal. They worked hand in hand at putting that together; they were both very proud of the fact that they worked together and put that together, because it was quite a national treasure for many, many years. Dignitaries — Pierre Elliott Trudeau, I believe, was there one year, and stuff like that. It was something they were very proud of that they were part of. My dad and Bill remained friends. When my dad passed away, Bill reached out to me. My father started getting involved in purchasing some small pieces of yearlings, and Bill approached me and said, "I'd like to keep that going. Would you mind if I became a partner?" And I said, "That's great; that's awesome."
“And Bill was — if you never met Bill, he honestly was truly one of the nicest gentlemen you're ever going to meet. You'd never forget when you'd talk to him, because every time he spoke with you, there was sincerity — you just knew he was paying attention to what you were saying. You listened to what he had to say, and he definitely listened to what you had to say. When he phoned you on the phone, it was just that genuine sincerity. The guy would do anything for you, and then vice versa — you would do anything for him. That's just the kind of guy he was. I dearly miss him. It's such a shame because he was so great for racing, but just a salt-of-the-earth gentleman.”
An emotional sweep of the Harvest Series sits as a career highlight for Middleton as a trainer, though he – as many in the sport do – aspires to one day have a horse land on harness racing’s greatest stage despite a difficult decision he would have to make.
“Without a doubt, I'd love to have a horse in the North America Cup,” Middleton said. “But somebody asked me the question, "If you did have a horse in the North America Cup, would you be in the paddock or would you be calling the race?" That made me think. That's not an answer that comes along quite as easy.
“I would probably still love to call the race,” Middleton also said, “but I just can't imagine stepping on the pedal as they went behind the gate. I don't know; that'd be a totally different situation. I would like to think I could keep it together. I have in the past — it was funny. The mother of that foal over there, Little Miss Sporty, was in an OSS Gold going for $105,000 in her second career start. She swept from eighth to finish second; she was like 60-1. I've gone back and listened to the race call, and I've had people say to me, "You never gave your filly a call; you didn't get excited!" Well, that's good. Then I'm doing my job. You can't identify that I've got a vested interest in the horse.
“If you're in this industry and you race and raise horses, you'd love to have a horse just in a big race. It'd be awesome to win it, but just being in it is an accomplishment in itself. I haven't reached that point yet, obviously, but I'm striving to. I'm not gonna lie, I don't do this just because I like doing it, it's because financially I'd like to have a handsome windfall someday. You see other people, too. There's lots of people in the industry at a small level that can have great success. Gord Irwin comes to mind — guy that bred his own, and in back-to-back years, he had two incredible home runs. People would love to have a horse like Invitro, but then he followed it up with Bigtime Ball. Those kind of things are obviously something that you dream about, and I'd be lying if I didn't say, "Yeah, I would love someday to be in that position to be in a race like that." Ultimately, hopefully we can get there.
As a trainer, Middleton has started 88 times and won 10 races, earning $120,570 since his first start in 2018. And even though he dreams of developing the next champion, Middleton’s awakes each day in this next chapter of his career excited for whatever is to come.
“I would say, 10 years from now, I don't have visions of grandeur — this is a lifetime investment,” Middleton said. “It's something that I, not at all points in my life dreamed of, but later in life, it's what I dreamt of — the serenity, like I say, the opportunity to look out my window and see my horses there and interact with them on a daily basis. I don't see it getting any bigger because I'm limited to what I can do here with the size of the land that I have to work with, but it's enough for me. It's the fruits of my labour. I've worked hard; it's in our DNA — my mom's a hard worker, my dad was a hard worker — and it's just in that Middleton DNA. We love to work hard, and I love every opportunity to come out in the back yard and work on a project or work with the horses. It's something. I never get out of bed and say, "Oh crap, I've got to go to the barn." I love getting up, especially training days. I can't get out of bed fast enough. I love it; it's what I signed up for, and I'm all in.”
The full COSA TV profile of Ken Middleton Jr. is available below: