Horsemen honor Ward family for their distinguished service

More than 70 people gathered at Miller’s Restaurant in Bangor Saturday night as the Downeast Harness Horsemen’s Association honored the Ken and Dorothy Ward family at its annual winter banquet.

Citing the 19 members of the Ward family who were in attendance for their work in the harness racing industry and contributions to Bangor Raceway, association president Wendy Ireland presented the family with its Distinguished Service Award.

“They were always there to pitch in,” Ireland said of the Ward family. “I’ve never seen such a close-knit family. They’ve done a lot for this industry. They’ve done a lot for Bangor Raceway. I know Ken is looking down on us and he is proud of the turnout and he’s proud of this award.”

Ken Ward, the patriarch of the family, died last July during heart surgery at the age of 74.

He was a longtime employee of the Bangor Daily News and his harness racing column, “The Railbird,” was must-reading for people interested in harness racing.

Ward’s interest in the industry extended to his ownership of horses and The Maine Gate Inc., a company that leased starting gates to Maine racetracks.

“I think this is a great honor to my father,” Mark Ward, the eldest of the five Ward children, said. “Without Dad a lot of this would never have happened. Dad stepped in a lot of times when something was needed to be done.”

Ireland remembered such a time.

“Six years ago we were looking for a way to raise money for the local horsemen to keep the winter barn open. Ken decided ‘Let’s put on a dinner for the exhibitors,’ ” Ireland said.

Ireland explained that Ward’s wife “Dot” made three types of beans, hot dogs were served, and the family did a lot of running around to pull the event together.

“That’s something we’ve done for every horse show since then. I do some horse shows over the summer and that was the one thing the exhibitors always said to me was they enjoyed the dinner. It made [them] feel like [they] were at home,” Ireland said.

Mark Ward said that while family members enjoy harness racing, their reasons for participating were more personal.

“The family rallied around father as much as we have harness racing. It’s always been about the family,” Ward said.

Heath Campbell was named Bangor meet’s driver of the year. In 199 starts at Bangor Raceway Campbell had 52 wins, 33 second- place finishes and 34 thirds. Overall for the year, Campbell started in 1,099 races and had 235 wins, 162 seconds and 156 thirds with total earnings of $423,631.

Valerie Grondin was named the meet’s trainer of the year. Grondin picked up 19 wins, 21 second-place finishes and 11 thirds in 90 starts at Bangor Raceway. Her totals for the year were 357 starts, 81 firsts, 63 seconds and 55 thirds with $201,543 in earnings.

Also receiving awards were: outstanding/fastest pacer, Landmark Honor; outstanding mare, Admiral’s Frosty; outstanding trotter, Pine Magic; senior citizen award, Fraternal Lee; fastest 2-year-old Maine-bred filly, Fire When Ready; fastest 2-year-old Maine-bred colt or gelding, Dragon Express; fastest 2-year-old Maine-bred trotter, Speedy Overdrive; fastest 3-year-old Maine-bred filly, (tie) Very Fast Cash and Dragon Fly Lady; fast 3-year-old Maine-bred colt or gelding, JR’s Brat; and fastest 3-year-old Maine-bred trotter, All The Extras.

Bob Tardy, a Palmyra resident and self-described “hired gun for Scarborough Downs” was the guest speaker. He discussed plans for an upcoming petition drive to have a referendum for video lottery terminals placed on the ballot.