Few names ring more familiar on the harness racing circuit in Nova Scotia than that of Dave Ratchford. For decades the Northside native has been thrilling harness racing enthusiasts with his incredible instinct, unique style and genuine love of the sport.
For Ratchford, it has been very much a family affair. Harness racing goes back a long way, as far back as a century or more. “My father and his father had horses and as kids we spent a lot of time together in or near the horse barn,” he explains. “We took care of the horses, spent time jogging them and made sure everything was OK in the stables.”
Ratchford received his first horse when he was 16 years old and now, 150 to 200 horses later, he has lost count. His love of the sport and taking care of the animals is as strong as it was from the beginning. “Training and racing horses is just a way of life for me. I still spend a lot of time on the track or in the barn and it is just what I do.”
At any given time Ratchford can have a number of top bred horses in his stables. Over the years his interest evolved from racing and tending to the horses to training them. He travels out of province and into the United States to purchase yearlings, he raises them and trains them and sometimes he sells them, sometimes he races them or has someone else race them for him.
For Ratchford, training and racing horses has its ups and downs. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but the one thing that always remains the same is the passion he has for all of his horses. “Sometimes when we raise and train a horse we know we should sell it, but we often get attached and decide to keep it. At one point just recently we were up to eight horses in the stables.”
At age 71, Ratchford has enjoyed a long and memorable career in harness racing. Recently he was inducted into the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame, something he said he is very grateful for.
“It is quite an honour to be chosen for the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony was wonderful, I had a lot of family and friends there to see me be inducted and it was very rewarding.” Ratchford said despite the fact that he is not much for the limelight, he was proud to be inducted and says the ceremony was one of the high points of his career. Harness racing has always been a family affair — with four daughters growing up in North Sydney there was always someone who wanted to tag along to the barn. “I like having the kids around. It is great that they all share an interest in the sport.”
He loves that he was able to have his children with him at the track and now a new generation has evolved as several of his grandchildren spend time with him at the stable as well.
Though his daughters’ support for racing is important to him, he admits he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the full support of his wife Marg. For as long as they have been a couple, Marg has supported his desire to spend time with his horses.
“It has been very important to me to have Marg’s support all of these years. Before I retired it took up a lot of my time. I had to go to the stables in the nights and on the weekend. I guess she thought if she was going to see me she would have to come to the barn.” Ratchford said Marg has done her share of work around the horse barn and even after all of these years she is still helps tend to the horses regularly.
For Ratchford, being inducted into the Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame is the icing on the cake of a career in harness racing that spans more than five decades. It has been something he has enjoyed for a long time. “I have been very fortunate to still be a part of something that I love. Racing is important to me and even now that I am getting older I still race on a weekly basis.” Ratchford said harness racing is an experience unlike any other and one that he has been privileged to enjoy for longer than most people in the sport.
As a well-decorated harness racer, Ratchford has raced all over Nova Scotia as well as out of province. He has won more races than the average person and continues to win still today. While most in his position would attribute their success to a lot of hard work and dedication to their sport, Ratchford says his success comes more from simply being lucky. “I have had a lot of success over the years and there is no doubt that the sport requires a lot of discipline as well as commitment. I have put a lot of work into it but I think much of what I have accomplished is because of luck.”
These days Ratchford can be found at the Northside Downs race track every Saturday and on holidays, giving it his all. Now that he is a little older he has to be a little more cautious he said, but he still wins consistently, even going up against guys that are half his age.
“There are some really talented harness racers on the track these days. The competition is tough. Winning is a big part of why I still do what I do, but it is not everything. Being able to still have the experience means more than anything.”
By Sherry Mulley Macdonald