By Robbie Shaw

Hello again racing fans, and welcome to another edition of the Rambles. I hope all of the horse people out there in Post Calls land remembered Valentine’s Day and did something a little extra special for that significant someone. There’s lots of action around the Prince County tracks these days, folks, as yearling purchases are being prepped for the stakes season and aged horses are starting to jog back after some well deserved rests. We hope February finds your horses fat and sound as we have a little more than two months until opening day in Charlottetown. Let’s get rambling shall we?

Coffee with Cousin Zemo
Folks, I have mentioned in previous columns that there was a nice new barn constructed in Alberton on the grounds that host the Prince County Exhibition (right next to the rink). Our good friend and my cousin, Blaine “Zemo” McKenna, moved his stock there and I had an opportunity to pop by for a coffee with the comical big trainer and get the latest update on his stock. He currently has eight horses in his care and those of us who know Blaine well understand that he is a fairly shy fellow when it comes to the limelight so I had to be fairly pushy to get the details on his top-flight filly JJ Maywest. As we all know, she was raised liberally by Jamie MacKinley of Cornwall, and purchased by Blaine and his partner Gary Aitken at the annual yearling auction in Crapaud. The strapping daughter of Western Paradise-Jenn of Art -Jennas Beach Boy went on to a very successful freshman season in 2011. After a well deserved break, old Zemo has her back jogging and looking in top condition. He told me a few things about her.
“She was quite hot, and could be difficult to manage at times as a two-year-old,” he said. “I am really hoping that the winter off gives her an opportunity to mature, and improve some of her manners. My drivers all did a tremendous job last year, keeping her as calm and relaxed as possible on race day, and they deserve a pile of credit for the success that we had.”
It sure would be nice to see JJ Maywest have a strong sequel to her two-year-old season, as old Zemo and Gary Aitken are great guys and that’s for sure.
Marketing
Most of you will remember my last column where I was critical of the marketing of the Red Shores facility in Summerside and made reference to the old Kevin Costner film: Field of Dreams. Well since then folks I was given the opportunity to sit in on a meeting with Red Shores staff members, and the Prince County Horsemen’s Club Board of Directors. Lee Drake did a great job chairing the meeting and went over the 2012 marketing strategy, which appeared quite impressive to say the least. I am one guy who will gladly eat crow if the strategy comes to fruition in 2012.

Jack “Biscuits” Grant
Over the years the Gallant families, from the west end of Summerside, have been referred to as the Biscuits. Some of you will remember the late Les “Biscuits” Gallant as a trainer-driver at the old Summerside Raceway in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Other members of the Biscuits family have also been involved at the track in one form or another. Les’s sister Tina runs the horsemen’s canteen and her husband, Frank Murphy, drives the starting gate. Well, Les and Tina’s brother Edward “Biscuits” Gallant, his wife Gladys and their son Jason have been close friends of mine for many years. Edward and Gladys also have a daughter (Kelly) who moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick after marrying Summerside Capitals star Brent Grant. Edward and Gladys have since relocated to Fredericton, and so has Jason, so Fredericton has experienced an invasion of “Biscuits.”
I have had the pleasure of meeting Jack “Biscuits” Grant, Brent and Kelly’s son, on numerous occasions, and what a fine young gentleman he is. Jack is a goaltender with the Fredericton PeeWee AAA Capitals, and has a strong love of harness racing. Jack spends a lot of time in the summer at the Bill Watts stable and helped groom Melodys Cookie Boy. He’s got a bright future in hockey and harness racing, and folks, a nicer boy you’d never find!

Weekly Shout-outs
A big shout-out this week goes to my friends Dale and Alex Sobey on their acquisition of top-flight pacer Aled Hanover. We will have more info on this in our next edition.
Another shout-out goes to my good friend Willis Silliker. Willis is currently undergoing treatment for cancer and we all wish him well for a speedy recovery.
That’s all for now folks. Remember, it’s always worth the drive to Summerside.