Trackside, an informative harness racing column by Diane Daniels, has appeared in the Truro Daily news for the past 13 years.
Daniels, also race office supervisor at Truro Raceway, does a great job promoting harness racing and keeping fans updated on horses, drivers and race results.
Quietly, behind the scenes, Daniels works positively with horsemen and she plays a key role in projects such as the annual standardbred sale.
Reading Daniels’s column last Saturday, a headline 'Calendars' caught my attention. Daniels explained that Truro Raceway was once again offering The Heart of Harness Racing calendars at a cost of $5 with the proceeds being donated directly to Truro's Colchester Food Bank.dvertisement
Daniels pointed out that the month of March photo was a submission from Truro track photographer Kyle Burton. “At The Wire” is a breathtaking four-horse finish Burton captured earlier this summer at Truro Raceway. It was an easy decision – deciding to support a good cause Sunday afternoon and to watch some exciting harness racing.
Arriving at Truro Raceway for the third race of a nine-dash card, following the race, I purchased a food bank supporting calendar at the race office. Great racing and interesting conversations followed.
“It was a surprising photo to capture,” Burton said as we discussed his calendar photo. “I didn't expect the finish to be that close. It's really unique to get four horses that close together at the end of a mile. It was really exciting and I’m sure the fans enjoyed it.”
The feature eighth race was for winners over $950 their last five starts; the purse was $1475. Surrealist, a 10-year-old gelding, won the race for driver Paul Langille in a time of 2:01 on a track rated off by three seconds.
“Surrealist is owned by Dana Getto of New Waterford,” Burton said. “He is now trained by Paul Langille, that win makes him a 19-race-winner in 2016. He is tied with two other horses as the winningest horse this year in North America. Surrealist will race in Truro for the remainder of the season, which is good for local fans.”
Burton has a vast knowledge of harness racing and when Surrealist was featured this month in the national Trot Magazine, Burton's photos helped tell his incredible story.
Langille, who drove Surrealist to the win in the feature, commented.
“I sat fifth early in the mile, I started to move my horse at the three-eighth marker. We came second over following Rawdon Gold Digger. He took us to the three-quarter pole where I moved to go three high – Surrealist and His Boy Elroy, with Bernard McCallum, battled it out the last quarter mile. This horse has 54 lifetime wins, he really knows how to dig in the last quarter of a mile."
With two driving wins on the afternoon, Langille, the 2015 driving champion with 55 wins, brought his 2016 total to 23 wins to sit fourth among Truro's top drivers. Darren Crowe is closing in on the driving championship with 39 wins, Ryan Ellis is second with 28, Todd Trites has 27 for third and Ernie Laffin holds down fifth spot with 19 wins.
Adding to the afternoon were comments from longtime handicappers Gary "Mouse" Fielding and Irving Mathews. Fielding and Mathews shared unique methods for picking winners.
It was good to talk to former driver Scott Daniels, Diane's husband, another very knowledgeable race follower.
“The races are very competitive and they are fast,” Scott said. “Years of breeding the best to the best is now on the race track. There are no clunkers any more. We also have quite a number of good young drivers, I enjoy the game; I haven't missed a card this year. With me, it's close between watching harness racing and watching hockey, I love both sports."
Scott began driving pacers and trotters in 1957. He drove his last horse at Truro Raceway in 2010. Scott's record shows 3,835 drives and he recorded 462 wins. There were some years along the way he could not drive because of his 30-year career as a correctional officer at Dorchester Penitentiary. A member of the famed Daniels harness racing family, Scott's father, Frank Daniels, had more than 1,700 career wins, while his brother Gary paraded back more than 1,500 winners.
Lyle Carter's sports column appears Saturdays in the Truro Daily News. If you have a story idea, contact him at 902 673-2857.