Crazy Vancouver-Edmonton commute works for Campbell
This weekend, standardbred driver Brandon Campbell has a schedule many of us would find insane.
Campbell is at Northlands Park in Alberta Friday morning, where he and his wife Jodi have a small racing stable.
Later that afternoon, he boards a plane to Vancouver where he is slated to be at Fraser Downs and drive eight horses for the 7 p.m. card.
When those races are over, he will hurry over to trainer Tim Brown’s house a few kilometres away from the racetrack for a quick nap.
He does this because it allows him a brief rest before waking up at 4:30 a.m. Saturday and heading to the airport for a flight back to Edmonton, where he’ll drive six horses that evening at Northlands Park.
“The first thing I always do when back in Edmonton is visit our barn and check up on the horses,” said Campbell.
He then returns home for a few hours to sleep, then drives to Northlands. With the races usually over by 11 p.m., he will have time to rest before beginning this routine again.
He’ll be up early Sunday morning on his way back to Vancouver to drive eight horses on the afternoon card at Fraser. If all goes well, he’ll make it to races on time.
“It can become a little hectic,” Campbell adds.
“Thankfully, because my sisterin-law works for an airline, I have a companion ticket that allows me to fly while only paying the taxes.
“Sometimes, though, that can be a problem. A few weeks ago I got there in time to make the early 7 a.m. flight only to be told it was booked. So they placed me on the waiting list for the next flight that was to leave at 10 a.m. Luckily, I made it on time and didn’t miss a drive.” Campbell is on a gluten free diet. “I have what’s called a celiac disease where if I have any wheat products or oats, barley or food like that
my intestines will shut down.
“Without Jodi, I would never be able to do all this. She packs my lunches, puts together pre-made dinners and always makes sure that I never go anywhere without having the right food with me.
“I don’t know if I could look after somebody that well. She’s really an amazing person.”
RACING IN MACAU: For several years, Ismael Mosqueira had been a familiar name to local thoroughbred racing fans. A few years ago, he decided to give racing in Alberta a shot and became one of the top jockeys while still making the occasional trip back to Hastings.
Three weeks ago, he accepted an offer to ride in Macau, China.
“Because there are no jockey agents here,” said Mosqueira by phone from Macau, “the horses we ride are the ones we exercise in the mornings.”
He has five rides Friday and four Saturday.
“We also get paid a little differently than in North America,” says Mosqueira. “Here (in Macau) we are paid $150 per jockey mount, with the cheapest purse worth $20,000 Canadian. When you win a race here, you receive the full 10 per cent of the total purse, so in this case it would be $2,000 plus our jockey mount.”
He’s hoping to win his first race this weekend.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! On behalf of our local horse racing industry, here’s a big birthday wish to longtime horse racing fan Nan Hall, who celebrated her 101st birthday on Wednesday. Fantastic.