I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has been able to keep their New Year’s resolutions going strong!!!
While I was working on this column, it hit me that this may be one of my last ones as Chair of Standardbred Canada. As we all know, the Chair of SC is voted on annually and those elections will take place at the end of January at the Board of Directors meeting. I encourage any Director to put their name forward for Chair -- in my case, I have always felt that this is my way to give something back to a great industry that has been very good to me.
I am devoting most of this column to promoting the fact that Standardbred Canada could, in the future, play more of a role as a ‘National Leader’ for harness racing in Canada. I had hoped in my role as Chair over the last couple of years we could have made more strides in this direction but for various reasons (like industry participants fighting for their livelihood in Quebec and Alberta, a global recession, and a declining interest in our sport, for example) it just has not happened. I think with the problems in Alberta and Quebec, our members are now more willing to look for a leader as they never dreamt things could go downhill so quickly. I should also note that these are my thoughts -- not necessarily the views of the Board.
One area in which I think SC could play a leadership role is in national rules and regulations. Ted Smith will be attending the Provincial Regulators meeting set for March in Saskatoon and has a long list of agenda items to add (standard exams for drivers/trainers and officials, groom training courses, consistent whipping rules and penalties, reciprocal licensing, grooms licensed by SC, and probationary memberships for offenders to rules). These are all items to think about!!!
I am always happy when SC is involved with national initiatives, but in the back of my mind I wonder where the manpower will come from. Kathy Wade Vlaar and Darryl Kaplan are always thinking big picture. In the past few years they have spearheaded projects like the National Wagering Conference, National Handicapping Contest, National Drivers Championship, Xtreme night, and Adrenaline. Of course, some projects are better than others and some are perceived to be Ontario-based, but they are templates to be used across the country.
There is a project, though, that is going outside the box -- and that box is bigger than Canada itself. It’s been dubbed Canada One. Launched by Kaplan and Wade-Vlaar, Canada One is attempting to market Canadian harness racing as a simulcast package to American customers and beyond. I think our industry (myself included) has to be open minded and give this one a try!!!
As Chair of SC, I sit on all Committees -- so the following is just a couple of updates on different meetings.
The eight member O’Brien Committee met via conference call in November to create ballots for the Breeder and Horsemanship awards for the O’Brien banquet. I am pleased to say the committee really struggled to limit the ballots to three choices. For the Horsemanship category, it took three votes by the committee in a round-robin type elimination format. I am sure the process for the Breeders ballot set a record -- we had to go five rounds to get down to three candidates. Congratulations to the three that made it to the voters and, of course, the two finalists!!!
Don’t forget -- plan to attend the O’Brien awards banquet Saturday, January 30 at the Delta Meadowvale in Mississauga. Tickets sell very quickly for this prestigious event, so call the SC office or check out the website for details.
I won’t go into any great detail about the new CEO selection process as there have been many updates on our website but I would like to thank all of those people that took the time to talk to the Caldwell & Associates firm and also to those of you who submitted your own comments.
Finally, on behalf of Casie, Linda and Phil Coleman, I would like to thank the standardbred industry across North America for your help!!! On December 1, I flew over to Victoria, British Columbia and presented the Firefighters Burn Unit of the Royal Jubilee Hospital a cheque for $24,488. I was given a tour of the four bed unit and shown the room where Casie spent three months of her life recovering from her serious accident. I met two of the nurses that worked at the hospital when Casie was a patient, and you can tell these are very dedicated professionals. The management and staff could not thank me enough, on your behalf, for how much the money will help the small unit. Thanks everyone!!!
Good luck to all that are training down the next world champion and to all of those that are going to breed one!!!
Until next month!!!