Trainers getting ready for 128th season at Fort Erie Race Track

Even though trainers are competing against one another at the Fort Erie Race Track, it’s not uncommon for them to cheer and wish success on other teams.

That’s the mindset that trainer Lauren Spada shared on Friday morning when Fort Erie Radio visited her stalls in the backstretch, a few weeks away from the May 27 opening day for the 128th season at the historic border oval.

“Fort Erie is all family people and everybody is kind of generational here,” said Spada, a 23-year-old at the reins of Spada Farms, which was started by her grandfather Peter and also run for many years by her father Craig.

“I love seeing everybody being successful,” she said, adding she knows many veteran horsepeople who have been at the track for several years from her time being around the industry as a kid with her father and grandfather.

Spada has been training quarter horses that race at Ajax Downs since 2017 and got her thoroughbred license last year, which is when she also got her first win at Fort Erie with her horse Ghostly Perfection.

She will have three thoroughbreds competing at Fort Erie this season; Golden Wind, One Hell of a Girl, as well as a younger horse that has yet to be named.

“I’m looking forward to having a clean and safe season, and having some fun,” said Spada, who also stables her quarter horses at the Fort Erie Race Track.

She will compete at Ajax Downs, but she suggested that a main focus of the upcoming season will be her horses who will be racing in Fort Erie.

“I’m cutting that down a bit more so I can stay at home with the thoroughbreds,” said Spada, who is from Stevensville.

She said the Fort Erie Race Track is a special place.

“To have a dirt track this beautiful, it’s unbelievable to train on it every morning,” she said.

There are 40 race dates on the schedule this season. The Tuesday, May 27 opening day has a post time of 4:30 p.m.

A Father’s Day event is set for Sunday, June 15.

Racing will take place two days a week, Mondays and Tuesdays, starting June 23.

The track has provincial funding secured for this season, but negotiations are ongoing to settle a new, long-term deal.

The popular wiener dog race day is set for Sunday, June 13.

A foodie fest is also a special event being held on July 27.

The Prince of Wales stakes race, the second jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown, is set for September 9.

This milestone event promises a thrilling showcase of Canada’s finest three-year-old thoroughbreds competing for a $400,000 purse and a chance to “gallop into the history books,” says the track’s website.

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