With his last competitive drive some four months ago, Manitoba horseman Dallas McGee is eager to get back into the sulky for the upcoming Western Regional Driving Championships on Saturday
, February 26 at Fraser Downs in Surrey, British Columbia.
McGee will be joined by seven other harness drivers who also received invitations to compete in the regional competition including Brandon Campbell, Keith Clark and Gerry Hudon of Alberta, Mike Hennessy, Dave Hudon and Jim Marino of British Columbia, and Saskatchewan representative Glenn LeDrew. Each driver has agreed to donate their earnings from the event to the Surrey Association for Community Living in the Cloverdale/Surrey area with the racetrack matching their contributions.
The son of the late horseman Ken McGee, a longtime fixture on the Manitoba harness racing circuit, Dallas McGee and his wife Sonja operate a feedlot with approximately 350 cows and breed and train race horses in Deloraine, MB with their two daughters Madison, 7, and Kelsey, 2. McGee has driven 77 winners over the past five years to more than $134,000 in earnings. The 34-year-old picked up 30 of those wins and over $51,000 during his career-best season in 2010.
“We had some stake colts and all the horses raced really well [last year],” said McGee. “I got to drive some different horses too for some different trainers. I guess it all comes down to good horses.”
One of those stake colts was Classicandregal, who won five of 20 races and banked $21,381 during his sophomore campaign. The son of Royal Dilemma-Dawns Majestic, bred by McGee’s father, won his second leg division of the MSSBA Golden Boy at Miami and romped to a 10-3/4-length victory in the final at Killarney. He was also second in the Manitoba Great Western Stake final at Killarney and the MSSBA Futurity final at Wawanesa. Classicandregal was then sold to Ontario connections after the Manitoba meet in the fall.
Following the Manitoba meet, which consisted of 22 race days running from June to August, McGee raced at Marquis Downs’ eight-day meet in Saskatchewan with his last drive on October 16, 2010. McGee, who has also raced in North Dakota and sent some of his horses to Alberta in the past, would love to see more racing opportunities in his home province.
“Everybody needs more money but we need more days for a chance to make more money,” said McGee. “It’s a really short season. It’s tough to make a go of it here, for sure.”
McGee says he is excited to get back in the race bike and represent Manitoba in the upcoming Western Regionals.
“We’re training our colts right now and I’m driving them here but it’s not like a race situation. I wish I could have had a few starts to kind of get the timing back but once we get there and get behind the gate I’ll be ready to go. Hopefully it comes back to me early because I don’t have many starts to make it work,” he laughed.
“It would be just wonderful to represent Canada and Manitoba,” added McGee. “We’re a small province as far as racing goes but there is a lot of history in Manitoba. [Harness racing] has been around here for over 100 years. A lot of good horses and horsemen have originated from Manitoba so it would be a real honour to represent Manitoba, and Canada if possible.”
The top two drivers from the eight-race competition will join Atlantic Regional Representatives Ken Arsenault and Gilles Barrieau, and two representatives from both Ontario and Quebec in the 2011 National Driving Championship, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 7 at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at Charlottetown Driving Park.
The winner of the NDC will represent Canada in the 2011 World Driving Championship hosted by the United States from July 31 to August 5.
For more information on the NDC, click here.