FROM THE OILFIELDS TO THE OVAL
Sydney harness racing driver tearing up the track in Alberta
Sydney harness racing driver tearing up the track in Alberta.
Considering his family’s deep harness racing roots, it’s not surprising that David Kelly went from the oilfields to the oval.
Now the 28-year-old Ashby native is making a name for himself as one of Western Canada’s top trainers and drivers, and on Saturday he’ll race seven of the best from Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba for the Western Regional Driving Championship at Century Downs in Calgary. “Growing up as a kid, me, my brother and my cousin, that was our thing — we lived, ate and slept horses — but growing up in Nova Scotia you don’t see that you can actually make a living at it kind of thing,” said Kelly, whose father Dave (Crocker) Kelly still drives and trains horses out of P.E.I., and his grandfathers — Hank Kelly and Hartigan Campbell (a member of the Cape Breton Horsemen’s Association hall of fame) — were deeply involved in the sport. His brother Colin, 24, is racking up wins as a driver in Ontario, and several uncles and cousins also train and drive horses.
While Kelly was always passionate about the sport, he never thought it could be a career until three years ago. The Cape Breton University business graduate had been going to Alberta during the summers to help pay for his tuition, and after getting his degree, accepted a job as a pipefitter.
However, when the oil-andgas industry slowed down and he was laid off, he turned to harness racing, first as a trainer at a stable in the foothills of the Rockies.
Now, he operates Dave Kelly Racing in Calgary where he trains 11 horses and races several days a week. He’s having great success in the sulky this season. In 219 starts, he’s had 32 trips to winner’s circle, finished second 37 times and third 27 times, for a total of $177,260 in purse winnings.
It’s far cry from Nova Scotia, where there aren’t enough races or betting dollars for most people to earn a living.
“They race for a lot better money out here than we do in Nova Scotia. At home it’s more of a hobby — everybody does it to have a horse, and race and have some fun or whatever, but here you can actually make a living at it,” he said. “When I was working in the oilfields I had one horse just as a hobby, just to kind of play around with, and I got laid off, I didn’t have a job for five or six weeks, so I said why not try it. Things have been going really well.”
He’s hoping things continue to go well this weekend.
The top two point-getters in Saturday’s series of races move on to the National Driving Championship in Elora, Ont., on Sept. 26. The winner of that will go on to represent Canada at the World Driving Championship in Sweden in May.
“It would be exciting to get to Ontario, and then if I was lucky enough to get the chance to go over to Sweden next year, it would be quite the experience,” he said, adding that the exposure from this weekend can only help his stable.
“It’s definitely a great opportunity. It gets my name out there a little bit more and it helps me build my business.”
Saturday’s races will be simulcast locally at Northside Downs in North Sydney and the Winner’s Circle lounge at 457 Prince St. in Sydney.