14/ APRIL 2020 THE RIDER


Dallimore So Delighted With First-Time Ownership She Travelled To Australia To See Her Horse Race


Story by Dave Briggs /


@dbriggs1969 Karen Dallimore calls her-


self a horse “lifer,” but after some five decades of loving and work- ing with horses, the Ontario- based writer and photographer is proud to call herself a first-time owner of standardbred racehorses — an experience that recently convinced her to jump on a plane to Australia. “This will be my 50th year


into horses. It’s mostly riding horses, but I did spend (about eight years) working with stan- dardbreds on the broodmare end,” Dallimore said. Dallimore said she


worked at famed standardbred nursery Armstrong Bros. for about five years starting in 1985, and then spent another two years as assistant manager of Cantario Farms. She then moved Down Under for a couple of seasons to work at Alabar Farms in Aus- tralia and John Curtin’s breeding farm in New Zealand. “I love the horses, I like the


people, but I just never got in- volved with the racing end of it,” she said. “Unless we had a spe- cial trip for a big race — like Armbro used to take all the em- ployees for a big race sometimes — I really didn’t get into it, I felt kind of on the edge of it if I went to the track by myself. I didn’t know how to how to break into (ownership). You go to the track- side and have dinner or some- thing, but I just didn’t feel like I belonged there.” That was until she heard the


charismatic Anthony MacDon- ald’s speak about his fractional ownership group TheStable.ca at a tack shop in Fergus, ON. “He was talking a good line.


was scheduled to race on a Tues- day at Club Menangle near Syd- ney. Dallimore arrived in time and met Gwennie, but McCall decided not to race her. “They were looking for


some horses to fill and they opened up the race to colts as well and (Darren) said, ‘I won’t do that to her at this point,’” Dal- limore said. “I went from there to New Zealand and she did race (in Australia) while I was still in New Zealand and I did get a bet in on her. I think she was third in that race.” On Feb. 29, Gwennie broke


her maiden and provided TheStable.ca with its first inter- national victory when she won the $50,000 Pink Bonnet Stakes at Club Menangle. Dallimore was still in New Zealand at that point, and was able to see the vic- tory via simulcast. “It was a great trip. It’s one


I kind of put it in the back of my mind,” she said. When TheStable.ca bought


its first weanling in 2018, Dal- limore thought the time was right to buy a one per cent share in the Thinking


Out Loud—


Whiteglance colt. “I like the babies and the


rest were just bay horses. I had been out of the industry for so long that I didn’t recognize any of the bloodlines anymore. I had Armbro Flight and Fan Hanover in my time. It was a long time ago. They were not familiar names anymore. So, I thought, ‘He’s cute, he’s gray, he’s young. It sounds like fun. That was the first of it,” Dallimore said. When MacDonald went on


a speaking tour of Australia in 2019 and purchased two horses at


a sale there, Dallimore bought a one per cent share in one of them — Girl From Oz — because of her previous connection to work- ing Down Under and the fact the filly’s nickname is Gwennie. “I looked at her and said,


‘She’s kind of cute.’ She looked like a workhorse, she looks like she’s all business. I just saw pho- tos on Facebook,” Dallimore said. “They said her name was Gwennie. My mon passed away in 2005 and her name was Gwen- nie. The hair just went up on my arm. So, I had to go meet Gwen- nie. That’s what I did in February. I made a trip down to Sydney.” Dallimore jumped on a


plane on a Saturday to get there before Gwennie — who is trained in Australia by former Ontario-based horseman Darren McCall —


of those things you say, ‘I should do that,’ but then you never do. Well, this was an excuse to just do


it,” Dallimore said.


“(TheStable.ca was) all over that. They sent me down with swag — t-shirts and hats. They were just thrilled that I was that enthusias- tic. They’re fully supportive. (Marketing director) Kelly (Spencer) and Anthony have that energy that makes you feel like anything is possible. If you want to do something, just do it. Don’t make an excuse.” While Down Under, Dal-


limore, also took time to pursue another equine passion — ex- treme cowboy racing. “I wanted to do this trip so I


said, ‘I need a little more excuse’ so I called up the extreme cow- boy racing association in New Zealand and they invited me to do a clinic and judge a race for


them. It was a total 15-day horse trip which is nice,” she said.


been Dallimore’s ex- perience


TheStable.ca. “I have friends


who are partners in racehorses and there’s maybe four them that go in and there’s thou- sands of dollars in- vested and you’ve got to know the other peo- ple. It’s a big leap of faith to put a group to- gether,” Dallimore said. “Anthony has done all that so it’s so easy for me to sit back and just enjoy this… He and Kelly are amazing. The way they keep you on top of what’s going on and, yet, they will still answer a personal message right away. You really feel special and they know I’ve only got one per cent, but I really feel like a special part and you’re always welcome, which is won- derful. You can invest as much time as you like. You can go down and watch them train or just sit back and watch the drone or whatever. I’m kind of looking forward to the racing, which I tried to hit with Gwennie, but that didn’t quite work out. “I can’t wait for First


Glance to see if he gets racing. He’s racing at home and that is going to be a whole different level of excitement for me… If he’s racing, I’ll be there.” Dallimore said she thinks


back to her experience working at breeding farms and wondering


Even nicer has with


how the heck a person made the jump into ownership. “You walk into the track and


it’s this huge place and there’s a few guys looking at their pro- grams, but really there’s no way to could make that connection and that’s what Anthony has done. He has made that connec- tion. He’s opened that door,” Dal- limore said. “Anything with a horse in it


is just fine by me, but I’m really enjoying the standardbreds. It’s fascinating to see that side of it.” And even better when that


exposure leads one to fly to the other side of the world to see your horse in person.


Courtesy of Ontario Racing Industry Notice (Horse Racing):


AGCO is temporarily halting breathalyzer testing due to COVID-19


Other fit-for-duty assessments that do not require the collection of a biological sample will be used instead.


March 13, 2020 The AGCO is actively reviewing On-


tario’s horse racing rules and regulations to ensure responsible measures are taken to


help contain the spread of COVID-19. On racing days, racetrack or AGCO


staff administer breathalyzer tests to meas- ure blood alcohol levels in certain horserac- ing participants in “safety sensitive” positions, including drivers, jockeys, valets, and track maintenance personnel. However, the collection of a breath sample creates a potential risk for disease transmission since


it requires the sharing of a biological sample. As a result, effective


today, the AGCO is tem- porarily suspending the rules requiring that a breath- alyzer test be administered. Racetrack and AGCO offi- cials will instead rely on a fit-for-duty assessment that does not require the collec- tion of a biological sample. Required horseracing


participants must still report to the Paddock Judges or Clerk of the Scales. They will be assessed using ques- tions and observations for signs of impairments. Any- one showing potential signs of impairment will be re- ferred to Race Officials. The Race Officials have the ulti- mate authority to allow or deny the individual’s partic- ipation. The AGCO will con-


tinue to monitor the situa- tion to determine how long this measure will be in ef- fect. The regulator is also consulting with public health officials as well as other racing jurisdictions to inform any additional ac- tions.


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