Vintage Doug Brown performance on Kawartha opening day

Sixty-six-year-old Hall of Fame harness racing driver Doug Brown steered three horses to victory on the 50th opening day at Kawartha Downs on Saturday (May 28).

Brown, a seven-time Driver of the Year, rallied Rising Dragon (Dragon Again) from last-to-first in the second race for his first win of the evening. The eight-year-old gelding trailed through much of the first half until Brown pulled him three-wide approaching three quarters. Rising Dragon picked off two foes on the backside and dispatched the final two in mid-stretch for the win in 1:56.2.

The opposite tactic found Brown in the winner’s circle two races later. The reinsman hustled Asa Im Ready (Muscle Massive) to the front, and the eight-year-old mare cruised through the mile to score in 1:58.1.

Dylans Bank (Thinking Out Loud) then went wire-to-wire in 1:55.3 to take the eighth race and give Brown his third of the night. His triple accounted for his first three wins of the season in 22 starts.

Brown, who won his first career race in 1971 at Kawartha Downs, has 8,515 wins in his career of more than 50,000 starts. He was the WEG (then Ontario Jockey Club) leading driver from 1988 to 1997. He scaled back from more than 1,000 starts per year to a few hundred in the mid-2000s, and then again to double digits in the 2010s. Brown has, however, raced more than 100 times every year since 2016.

Kawartha Downs also treated fans to an antique car show, live music, a fireworks display, and more on Saturday. The track unveiled a new toteboard, renovated betting floor, and an infield that no longer holds a stock car oval.

The Fraserville, Ont. circuit will host racing every Saturday until the end of September. Its next card is scheduled for Saturday, Jun. 4.

For complete race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink