“Very proud” young newcomer wins Caretaker of the Year

When it was time for the Manitoba Standardbred Racing Industry to hand out their end-of-year harness racing awards, a young Daphne Oakes was shocked to hear her name get called for Caretaker of the Year.

“It was crazy! I did not expect to hear my name at all. Over the summer, Trevor (Williams) and Travis (Ellis) always joked about it but I never thought I would actually receive it. I really wasn’t sure if I would even fit into the caretaker category but when I heard my name be called, I was very proud.”

Oakes is currently a grade 9 student, and she resides in the small community of Miami, Man., which is not far from the Miami Fair track. She has always had a love for horses but as she explains, a unique opportunity to explore a new venture was presented to her last year.

“I’ve been around horses for the last seven or eight years and a community member mentioned my name to Trevor (Williams). He reached out to see if I was interested in a job working at the track barns in Miami. I took the chance and started working for him. Last year, I only worked on race days but this summer I was at the track four or five days a week. I never thought I would work with standardbreds but here I am really enjoying it.”

Her love for horses has grown to the point where she now has her own quarter horse. This feels only like the beginning for a young passionate individual who has a lot of years ahead of her.

Trainer Travis Ellis teamed up with the Williams barn for the 2022 Miami campaign and this addition gave another mentor for the young Oakes to learn from. She is very grateful to everyone that helped her over the last couple of summers, but she feels the extra help she received from Ellis was the little bit more she needed.

Oakes’s main duty was to attend to a horse by the name of Leisure Suit Larry (Yankee Cruiser). At first, he was unable to book himself an appointment in the winner’s circle. In his first four starts at Miami Fair, the best he could do was one second-place finish and a couple of third-place finishes. However, he was successful in his five and final start in Miami and was able to get a winner photo for Oakes. Oakes spent much of her time with Leisure Suit Larry and was also able to jump on the sulky and take him for a training mile in preparation for his big win.

Oakes is a young talent in the sport that is certainly needed but there is no need to worry as she says she is very keen on continuing her journey in harness racing.

“I am very interested in continuing to work with Trevor’s barn or any other barn in the standardbred community. I think it would also be very cool to be a trainer or to be a driver and feel the constant adrenaline. Even with racing probably happening more in Winnipeg, I would still love to be able to come on race days and help.”

Daphne Oakes is surely a name that anyone who follows harness racing in Canada better remember as it could be a name that keeps recurring in the headlines, especially in Manitoba.