Young Hachey excited for new chapter

More harness racing-related news has come out of Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, this week with the announcement of the new Truro Raceway broadcasting team.

Up-and-comer, Grady Hachey, will join long-time journalist and analyst Melissa Keith.

Hachey has been a junior member of USHWA for a couple of years and is a columnist for the Atlantic Post Calls. He has been providing racing coverage for New Brunswick but will now add this new gig to his resume. The young 17-year-old has also spent some time in the announcer’s booth but is excited about his new opportunity, although he knows it will be a massive commitment for him to make.

“I live almost three hours away from Truro Raceway, so it didn’t make sense at first to apply,” said Hachey. “But after discussing it with my parents, I figured as long as I broke even after paying for gas, it would be a perfect opportunity for me. So I did a little mock broadcast for Steve (Fitzsimmons). He had already hired Mel (Keith), but they wanted two people and were willing to take a chance on me.”

However, Hachey also knows that you have to start somewhere, and you often have to have a leap of faith if you expect to accomplish great things in life.

“When you ask people who are successful in their field, they tend to say that at the beginning of their success story, they were so committed to it that they did something outrageous because of their commitment,” Hachey added. “They drove hours to get there or ended up on food stamps while trying to achieve their dream. So, if I want to be successful, I, too, will have to make one of those outrageous decisions.

Hachey has been around horses and racing his entire life. When he isn’t cheering for his beloved Ottawa Senators, he has been trying to obtain every bit of horse-related knowledge he can, hoping it would lead to this moment.

“I’ve always been a fan of harness racing.” Says Hachey. “When I was a kid, I would go to the track in Fredericton, and I lucked out finding someone who needed help in the barn when I was about 11 years old. After that, I kept learning more about the horses and started jogging them. I also called my first race at that age. I tried to soak up every bit of knowledge that I could. Whether it was about the horses, betting, track management, or even track maintenance, it didn’t matter. I wanted to soak up everything I could and earn as much knowledge as possible.”

With the new regime taking over Truro Raceway, the track is heading in the right direction, and Hachey can’t wait to see what the new team can accomplish.

“I’m very excited to be a part of it,” Hachey responded when asked how he felt about working with Truro Raceway’s new General Manager, Steve Fitzsimmons. “Only from talking to him a handful of times, he seems very driven. He always proves that he can make a big impact, as he did at Hanover. So, it was something I wanted to join.”

Not only has Truro Raceway added Hachey and Keith to the broadcast team, but many other new enhancements will be coming as well. A new Pick 5 with the lowest takeout rate in Canada and a new Buy-In race is slated for the end of the year. So things are trending up for Truro Raceway, and Hachey will most certainly be worth watching. Although the young lad won’t be able to legally bet on any of his selections until mid-way through the racing season at Truro Raceway, Hachey has done everything in his power to be prepared for this moment, and the racing community in Nova Scotia should be counting their blessings that they caught a young man with such talent.

Live racing starts on May 7th at Truro Raceway. Grady Hachey and Melissa Keith will be live on-air, giving fans the scoop on everything harness racing in Nova Scotia.

Truro Raceway’s official announcement regarding the hiring of Hachey can be found here.