Bain excited for opportunity at Dresden

Exciting harness racing news came out of Dresden Raceway last week that they have hired a new track announcer who will assume the role once the season begins on May 28th.

He might be new to the position in Dresden, but Nathan Bain is far from being brand new in the sport. The young 20-year-old has been announcing since he was just 12 years old, and he instantly fell in love with the experience. Now he has even exceeded an impressive milestone in his announcing career.

“I announced my first race when I was 12, and I liked the race hype,” Bain said. “I found it interesting that I was the one telling the story of the race to everyone listening. I’ve taken every opportunity and announced ten different tracks now. I even just announced my 900th race last week in London.”

Bain is not entirely new to Dresden Raceway either, as he was the on-track commentator and did interviews during the pregame shows. So he is very familiar with working there and is excited to be able to work upstairs every week.

“I knew the position was becoming available, so I told them I was interested,” Bain replied when asked how the job offer came about. “They later approached me to see if I was still interested, and I told them I was because it’s going to be another track under my belt. I have been going to Dresden since I was a kid, so it’s quite special to be the announcer at Dresden and Leamington.”

Bain has been the voice of Leamington Raceway since 2020 but has been working there since he was just 12 years old. He has also been the fill-in announcer at Western Fair Raceway and the second-stringer behind Shannon “Sugar” Doyle. Bain has loved his time at Western Fair and credits learning a lot from the iconic announcer.

“Sugar has taught me a lot and has given me plenty of opportunities. I first met him when I was 12, and he mentored me from then on. He let me do post-parades from time to time in London. Western Fair Raceway is one of Canada’s top wagered Standardbred tracks, so it’s a cool place to announce.”

Bain has loved his time announcing at some of the smaller tracks in southern- Ontario, but there is a bright future ahead of him. He

“The smaller tracks are great stepping stones, and I love their atmosphere. We will see how everything goes in the future, but I am pretty happy where I am now. I want to continue to grow as an announcer.”

If you want to hear Bain on the mic, he will have the call at Dresden Raceway all season long starting on May 28th. After the racing season at Dresden Raceway ends on August 7th, Bain will head over to Leamington Raceway for their season opener on August 14th.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink