AT THE TRACK: Live meet in Summerside winding down

The next-to-last live card of the 2017 harness racing meet at Red Shores at Summerside Raceway goes Sunday at 1 p.m.
There will be a half a dozen standardbred noses on the starting gate in the 12th-race feature.
 
The trotter
The trotting breed in the Maritimes has come leaps and bounds over the past decade. The speed of the Maritime-bred two-year-old trotter is the fastest in the entire country on a half-mile track.  
After looking at the Canadian standards in 2017, you can see what I mean. Marc Campbell’s Buckaroo is the fastest two-year-old trotting gelding in all of Canada by virtue of a 2:00.2 victory in Charlottetown. 
Terry Gallant’s Windemeredontuworry is the fastest two-year-old trotting colt in the country after winning in 2:00.3 at the Charlottetown Driving Park. It’s a true testament of horsemanship and a trot breed from down east. Congratulations!
 
Flashback
In this edition of flashback, I would like to pay my respects to one of the greatest men that I had the opportunity to work with while in Ontario. The gentleman’s name is Arnold Belore. 
Arnold had more respect as a racing judge than any in the harness racing business by the horsemen and the betting public. Although small in stature, he was a giant at the racetrack.
I worked with Arnold on countless occasions, and never once did I see or hear him raise his voice while dealing with some irate individuals. 
I quickly became friends with Mr. Belore after we met in the early 1980s. If you wanted some solid advice, Arnold had the ear to listen and the knowledge to supply the correct answers.
Mr. Belore passed away last week in his hometown of Mt. Elgin, Ont.
I would like to share some quotes from other successful members of the industry:
Jack Darling, with 956 wins as a trainer and $19,000,000.00 in purses won, said, “Arnold was the dictator of common sense” and “a giant in our industry.” 
Track announcer Marty Adler said, “He treated everyone with respect.” 
One of the most successful horsemen in Alberta, Rod Hennessy, with over 2,800 driving victories and 2,000 training winners, commented: “Arnold was one of the greatest harness racing judges we had out here in western Canada. He left his mark of fairness on all the drivers that were growing up at the time he was in Alberta.”
I became good friends with Arnold’s son, Gerry, and yes we had the odd road trip! Gerry was the paddock judge at London when I made my first Western Fair call, and he would later follow in his father’s footsteps and become a racing judge in Ontario.
It’s ironic how life goes because it was just this spring when the phone was ringing in my booth in Charlottetown, and on the other end was Gerry Belore, who was watching our show from home with his father.
I’ll always remember Arnold Belore’s compliment that he bestowed on me when we first met, “You’ve got quite a call kid, you’ll be doing this for a long time.”
It was an honour and a true privilege to become friends with this remarkable man. I send my sincere condolences to his wife, Janet, my old friend Gerry and the entire Belore family.

Picks
A look at Sunday’s selections:
Best bets – Windsun Kenda in Race 4, and DB’s Rosco in Race 9.
Long shot possibilities – Dancers Pass in Race 5, and Shouldofbeenaclown in Race 6.

Vance Cameron is the track announcer in Summerside and Charlottetown. Comments and suggestions can be sent to [email protected].