Manitoba's Contribution to the Return of Harness Racing

 

The highly anticipated return of Canadian harness racing will happen this Tuesday evening at Western Fair Raceway and Rideau Carleton Raceway. Racing fans coast to coast rejoice that standardbred racing has been given the green light to return to action, filling the void from which occurred from it’s departure. Although the regular season here in Manitoba would not normally start until June regardless of this shutdown, Manitoba has had its own impact on Tuesday’s race cards. After looking at each track’s program, a few familiar names from the Manitoba circuit would catch the eye of many harness racing fans from the keystone province.

 

Race 7 at Rideau Carlton Raceway features the Manitoban bred REYS N A ROCKET. Currently owned by Limco Inc out of Chateauguay, QC, the 7-year-old mare has had an accomplished career with 32 wins over 126 lifetime starts accumulating $191,817 in winnings. The bay mare was a star in her home province of Manitoba during her 3-year-old season. Bred by Richard and Janet Rey of St. Claude, MB, she was the winner of the 2017 Manitoba Great Western Stakes. The MGW Stake is the most prestigious stake race Manitoba Harness has. Pacers must compete in two heats in one day to be crowned the champion. REYS N A ROCKET was able to win the finals in 2.06.1 at the Killarney track forever being etched in the record books of Manitoba Harness.

 

Race 11 at Western Fair features the Manitoba Bred RIDE THE WIND. The 6-year-old mare was also bred in St. Claude, MB, but by Arthur Rey. She has 6 wins over 17 lifetime starts accumulating $14,637 in winnings. RIDE THE WIND’s 2020 summer at Manitoba Harness was a legendary one to say the least. She had 5 starts on the circuit and won in all 5 of those starts. The mare’s best time during the Manitoba season was 2.01.1 which came on September 12, 2020 but has the lifetime mark of 1.57.2. Currently the mare is owned by Ron and Jody Cullen who previously owned, trained and drove horses on the Manitoba circuit. The Cullen’s used to be stationed in Glenboro, MB, but now reside in Dundas, ON. Their son, Travis Cullen will drive the mare in her first race of the 2021 campaign.