It all kicked off on my Birthday at Western Fair Raceway when track announcer Sugar Doyle let me call a race which was pretty cool to do on my 17th birthday. Sugar has been a great mentor to me now for over 5 years, I'm very thankful for all the tips and advice he has given me. Overall it was a very fun night celebrating my birthday with Family at The Top of The Fair.
A few weeks later we took a trip to Pompano Florida to get away from the cold weather for vacation and we spent many nights at Pompano Park enjoying the races. One day that week I had the opportunity to tour the Chris Oakes stable in the back stretch and meet all his horses stabled there. I even got my picture taken with one of the fastest trotters ever, Homicide Hunter. The highlight was when I got the chance to call a race, which I was really nervous for, I prepped really hard for this race call and I felt it went well. When I was up in the announcers both we got a special surprise from Frank Salive and John Campbell, which was an amazing and unexpected surprise. Me and my family always love going to Pompano in March because of how cool the track is and how good we are treated by Gabe Prewitt and John Berry.
Mid April we went on a weekend trip to Miami Valley Raceway to take in the great racing action and to meet up with Mike Woebkenberg to see him after he purchased a truck off of our family dealership to turn it into a starting gate. Mike gave us a tour of their massive 14 race paddock which was pretty cool to see. After the tour I got to meet Ken Terpenning so he could do an interview with me for his racing page on Facebook. He does so much promoting for the industry through the power of social media so I was happy to be a part of that! Before the races started Brett Merkle from the OHHA was kind enough to give us a ride to the grandstand and bring us up the announcers both. Once we got up there I got to meet track announcer Barry Vicory and the TV host the Wizard (Pacey Mindlin). I got to appear on the show with the Wizard and he asked me some questions about myself and I got to give my selections for the upcoming race. After that Barry let me get behind the mic to call two races which was a lot of fun, and he also gave me some helpful tips for the future. To end off an amazing night Mike & his wife Becky let my mom and I ride in the starting gate for 4 races, now that was a pretty cool way to end off the night.
April was a huge month for me as I was featured in a 3 page article in Hoof Beats magazine which is one of the best harness racing magazines in the industry. The amazing article was written by Matt Dorsey who did a fantastic job and filled the article with very informative information about my story in harness racing. This article would never have happened if it was not for Kimberly French who put all this together and made it all happen. This article was a huge stepping stone for me as thousands of people read this magazine and they also put my name on the front cover which was pretty cool, I was very thankful for this.
In mid May the Dresden Raceway season kicked off and I was excited to be part of the team once again. My role was on track host/race commentator, social media coordinator and I also put weekly selections in the program. This season was a huge step forward for me as track announcer Gary Patterson let me announce two races every single race day adding up my number of race calls. My favorite part of the season was getting to call my first Ontario sires stakes race on Canada Day which was very memorable. I really enjoyed the opportunity to host some on track interviews that day after the OSS race. The Mark Austin Pacing Series is always a highlight of the Dresden season which consists of maiden pacers, and the 2019 winner was Premier Rockstar and Scott Young.
After Dresden ended that meant it was time to head over to Leamington Raceway for my 6th season working there in a role that is very similar to my role at Dresden. This was a very special season because I got to live my dream of calling an entire card of racing at the age of 17.This was an amazing day and I had so much support by family and friends there that day. I want to thank track announcer Gary Patterson for giving me the opportunity, as well as Ellie Mayhew for pushing for this to happen and of course the Lakeshore Horse Racing Association. This season I also got to call two races on every card which was a huge stepping stone, and I also interviewed at least one driver per race day because the fans always love hearing from the drivers and their thoughts on the horses racing. Leamington is just overall an amazing and fun place to work with its family atmosphere and programming. This success in the 2019 racing season led to an increase in wagering by 22% which I hope continues into the 2020 racing season which kicks off on Sunday August 9th.
Just 6 days after I called my first full card, I got the opportunity to fill in at Hiawatha Horse Park for track announcer Dave Walls for an 11 race card on the 5/8 oval. This was the biggest stepping stone yet because this was the first time I got to fill in as track announcer, and I would love more opportunities. What I liked about this opportunity was that it gave me more of a challenge calling on the 5/8 track and getting to call 9 horse fields. It was a very fun night getting to announce everything on my own, one of the best opportunities I have gotten yet. During the night I also added in my regular commentary between the post parade and the race to try and help the fans with selections.
On Saturday October 26th I got to experience my first ever Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park to see some world class racing. It was an amazing night of racing with speedy times even with having to deal with the rain and cold. The Breeders Crown is amazing because it offers categories from 2yrs both pacers and trotters and 3yrs to aged horses, my favorite race of the night was Bold Eagle winning the open trot. Before the races started I attended a meeting at the Mohawk Inn as part of my youth membership as part of the Canadian Chapter of the United Sates Harness Writers Association. The meeting was about trying to grow youth involvement in the industry. The people that attended the meeting was chapter president Garnet Barnsdale, Ryan Clements, Melissa Keith, Bill Gavin and the other youth member Nicholas Ace Barnsdale. We all put our ideas together and decided on the idea to publish racetrack review's that give credit to the tracks who are good at promoting and involving youth with the idea to encourage other tracks to join the movement. The idea was launched on January 19th with the first review featuring Leamington Raceway that was written by myself. I was happy about the cover it got by being on Harness link, Standardbred Canada and everyone sharing it on their social media.
Also in October we got a special visit from Hall of Fame announcer Roger Huston who came to Leamington Raceway for a day of racing to call some races, sign autographs and sell some of his new books about his career as an announcer. Roger has made a visit to Leamington every year now since 2016 when his Ontario tour began that is all organized by Randy Pullen. During the day Roger called the first 6 races then went done to a booth to sign autographs and interact with all the racing fans who were excited to meet him. After Roger got to announce I got to go up and announce a couple races and one of the races was the Roger Huston Pace and I was certainly feeling a bit of pressure announcing after Roger. We are really thankful for all the visits Roger has made to Leamington Raceway, we hope to have him back again for the 2020 racing season.
To wrap up 2019 my family and I headed to Western Fair Raceway on boxing day to enjoy some top notch racing at the busy Top of the Fair Clubhouse. I knew Greg Blanchard was filling in for Sugar Doyle, so I reached out to Greg about calling a race and he was more than happy to give me that opportunity and I was pretty excited to call a race on the Boxing Day card. When I got up to the booth it got even better as Greg offered for me to call three races in a row and of course I jumped all over that exciting opportunity, it was pretty amazing getting to call a couple races in a row at a bigger track like London. I'm pretty thankful for all the amazing opportunities London has given me over the last couple of years.
Going into every year, I always set goals ahead of me that I want to accomplish. This year for my short term goal I want to hit 100 race calls by my 18th birthday on March 1st, which I'm 5 calls away from. My longer term goals are to eventually call a race at top tracks like Woodbine Mohawk Park or Meadowlands, getting to announce at one of these tracks would be a dream come true. When goals become a reality its sure an amazing feeling that's why I love to set goals.
In conclusion I want to thank everyone who gave me opportunities in 2019 and took the time to teach me and give helpful tips. I also want to thank my family for their continued support and always being there for me. I really look forward to what the rest of 2020 brings and what other opportunities will come my way.
By Nathan Bain
Follow me on Twitter-@NBainracing
