Page 36 - December 2007 The Game

36 The Game, December 2007
Racing Vacations
Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
New CTHS Scholarship Winner
Early in November, my partner and I
flew into Toronto to meet my recently
born niece for the rst time. After
eight months of getting up every day at
four in the morning to ride at Hastings,
this was to be the rst day of our ten
day vacation. We planned to spend
two days in Toronto with my sister and
her husband before going back to the Ottawa valley to visit my parents. It was arranged ahead of time that my brother-in-law, Alejandro, would pick us up at the airport after work and take us home to see my sister and the new baby. But
as luck would have it, Pearson International
also happens to be located conveniently close
to Woodbine Racetrack. Despite my sister’s protests in absentia, I managed to convince Alex we should swing in and catch a quick race or two before we headed for home. At rst Alejandro looked doubtful. “I don’t know whether that’s a good idea...I think your sister wants us to come right home...she’s been alone with the baby since I left for work at four-thirty this morning. Besides, I think she’s excited to see you guys because it’s been over a year now, hasn’t it.”
“Precisely my point, Alex,” I agreed. “And since it’s been over a year I don’t think another hour or two is going to make much difference one way or another.”
“I guess not,” he agreed, somewhat reluctantly.
In no time at all we’d found a parking spot and were on our way inside. I was hopping around like a kid about to visit the world’s biggest candy store. The rst thing I did was jump up and down on the walking ring polytrack. It felt a
lot more forgiving than the surface I’ve grown used to landing on every now and again. After taking a few minutes to get our bearings we arrived at the grandstand just in time to watch the last half of the fourth race. As the horses swept around the turn into the homestretch I couldn’t believe how the polytrack absorbed the sound of the horses’ hoofbeats. While we sat back in the sun and waited for the next race I listened to my brother-in-law rave. This was his rst visit to Woodbine too—his rst visit to see a horse race period, as a matter of fact. He couldn’t get over the idea that we were allowed to simply walk in and do something like this for free. “Are you sure we don’t have to pay something?” he asked more than once, as if he suspected I’d snuck him in some secret backdoor.
We only managed to stay for a race and a half before the phone rang and my sister demanded we come home. I would have liked to stay longer to meet some of the folks and explore the back- stretch, but having just nished eight months of work at Hastings the day before, I didn’t have much of a leg to stand on in terms of convincing anybody I needed to spend more time at the race- track. Despite the brevity of our visit, I’m proud to have accomplished on thing: I succeeded in turning my brother-in-law Alex onto the sport of kings.
For the rest of our visit he talked about how much he enjoyed going to the races. He couldn’t believe he’d been driving by the track on the way to work for the past two years and he’d
never stopped in before that day. Now he couldn’t wait to go again. In two weeks his brother and his wife would be visiting from Mexico and he couldn’t wait to take them. During the course of one brief visit of less than an hour, horse racing had become his new favourite pastime.
Of course I shouldn’t have been surprised, given the reaction of numerous others I’ve taken to the races in Vancouver. I always encourage my friends to dress for the occasion. To me part of the beauty of the sport of horse racing is the sense of history behind it. There
are very few things in the world today, sporting or otherwise, that have remained unchanged for the past century, but horse racing is one of them. Trainers today are still using essentially the same techniques for conditioning the animals, with
a little improvement here and there thanks to technological advances. But I suspect on the day of the actual races not much has changed. That’s why I always advise my friends to break out their hats and dresses, their spats and vests and loud cravats before they come down to see the horses off. Something about dressing the part at the race track seems to add to the experience, like you’re stepping back in time and into the pages of history.
I know I’m not alone in my
obsession. This past summer at Hastings Park
I chanced to meet a traveler from Germany. He was leaning on the fence snapping photos of the horses sprinting into the clubhouse turn. I complimented his photographic eye and we got to talking. It turned it this fellow
had been obsessed with the sport of horse-racing since the age of fteen. He grew up in a little town in Germany a short drive from the local track. He told me one day he skipped school
in the afternoon to go and watch the races and after that he was hooked. Since that day horse racing had become his hobby and obsession... not gambling on the horses, just taking pictures of them. He proceeded to pull out his portable photo album and showed me some of the thousands of photos he’d taken of hundreds of race tracks in thirty-nine different countries. He told me how every year he took his vacation in a country he hadn’t yet visited where the sport of horse racing thrived. He showed me pictures of tracks in Argentina, Ireland, Spain, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Dubai, and of course the United States. This was his rst trip to Canada and he’d organized his vacation around visiting every racing plant on Canadian soil. He was particu- larly delighted with the rustic charm of Hastings Park and the magni cent backdrop of the moun- tains on the north shore. But what struck me was how thirty years later he still found watching the horses pound down the backstretch just as excit- ing as he did that rst time so many years ago. I suspect there are many more people roaming our fair cities who need only see the races for the rst time and they too will be hooked forever...from here on in I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for potential converts.
The CTHS of Ontario is pleased to announce that Julia Grey of Compton, Quebec, is this year’s recipient of the Gillian Luxton MD Scholarship Award.
by evenSteven
Miss Grey is currently enrolled in the Animal Health Technology Program at Vanier College in Ville St. Laurent, Quebec.
This past year, she was employed at Gardiner Farms where she assisted Dr. Michael Colterjohn and his colleague Dr. Moira Gunn as a veterinarian helper and was also involved with the care of the yearlings at the farm.
The CTHS of Ontario grants a $5,000 College or University Scholarship every year to a special student who shows outstanding merit based on academic ability and participation in academic training programs related to the horse or horse racing industry.
“This scholarship program, which is part of our Thoroughbred Improvement Program, provides assistance to students in pursuit of higher education so that they may accomplish their goals, and at the same time, assist those who are interested in a career in the horse industry,” says Julie Coulter, General Manager of the Ontario CTHS. “We’d like to congratulate Miss Grey on her excellent standing and wish her continued academic and personal success.”
Woodbine’s Backstretch Security Manager has Open Door Policy
Mark Seenarine has been in his position as back- stretch Security Manager since May of 2006 after replacing Wendy McLaren. Mark admits that he hasn’t had a chance to meet a lot of the people who work on the backstretch however he is taking action to change that.
“I have been quite busy
with paper work and implementing some changes.” said the personable manager in an impromptu interview on the backstretch, “I am out in the barns today to put faces to names and to make sure people know who I am and that they can come to me with their concerns.”
One of the more noticeable changes on the backstretch is renovation to the East Gate Entrance, the main entrance to the backstretch.
“The objective of the new entrance was to show a level of importance. That the job that the people do on the backstretch is important and to show everyone who passes through these gates that they have not been forgotten about.” said Mark commenting on the Wood- bine Entertainment Group initiative, “We’ve put a touch of class to it.”
Mark expressed the importance of enforcing the rules and keeping everyone safe on the backstretch however he also wanted to hear the positive aspects of the back- stretch working environment.
“I’m here to work with the horsemen and to let people know that we will try to treat everybody fairly.” said Mark. “I would like to hear the positive issues as well.” Mark moved to Canada from Guyana when he was ten and started in Security at Greenwood Racetrack in 1996 before moving to Grandstand Security at Woodbine when Greenwood closed.
Mark has his of ce at East Gate Security and can be reached at 416-675-3993, ext. 2532.
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