by Frank Salive, for Western Fair Raceway

London, ON — To hear Brad Forward tell of it, an outcome very close to a nine man dead heat this Friday night (April 27) at Western Fair Raceway shouldn’t come as a surprise in the Ontario Region Final of the 2007 National Drivers’ Championship.

Since the fall meet began and resumed at Western Fair last October 2, Brad Forward has been the track’s hottest driver. He made up a remarkable 60-win deficit in the final 12 weeks of 2006 to catch and surpass Trevor Henry for the track’s driving title as the two men became the first pair in Western Fair history to earn more than C$1 million in one calendar year at the London oval.

Forward started 2007 in mid-January at Western Fair, but is atop the drivers’ standings again this year although he is gaining an increasing number of drives at the Woodbine circuit.

“Perhaps I have some momentum in London because I really like the place and really feel comfortable on the track there,” Forward says. “So it’s sort of like, momentum — maybe — home track advantage against this great cast of drivers — no way.”

The top two drivers from Friday night’s intense action in London will go on to the Canadian final at Charlottetown in August during Old Home Week. The cross section of the Ontario drivers coming to London includes Forward, Mario Baillargeon, Al Cullen, Paul MacKenzie, Ted McDonald, Trevor Henry, Gord Brown, Dan Clements, and Gerry Belanger. The winner of the Canadian final will go on to the World Championship this fall.

In an interesting twist to the National Drivers’ Championship, Brad Forward faces the prospect of competing against his brother, Bobby, who will compete in the upcoming Maritime Canada race-off.

“They’ve really gone as far as possible to develop a format that makes it an even test for all the drivers,” Forward observes. “Absolutely I’d love to make it to Charlottetown. That sure would be an interesting twist if my brother made it to the final too. I raced there in 1991 and 1992 as a much younger man and never won a big race there so it would be a real career highlight to go back for this reason now.

“My home track in Newfoundland, the St. John’s Racing and Entertainment Centre, starts their new season on May 27 and I know they’ll all be watching on Friday night there and across the country.”

The 2007 year of transition for Forward and his family to move away from an Ontario home base near Windsor takes another major step on May 15 when they re-locate to Woodstock, about a 25 minute drive to the east of London.

“We looked a lot at Cambridge and Kitchener but found we could get the same home in Woodstock at about a one-third discount,” he says. “Although I’m making progress towards my goal of more drives on the Woodbine circuit, I’m really happy with the move we’re making. Plus, I think I’ll always want a connection to Western Fair so this move fits our needs to be more central really well.”

Western Fair’s Race Secretary and General Manager Ian Fleming will conduct the draw on Monday morning for Friday night’s Ontario Region Drivers’ Title card in London.

“I studied up on the four regional competitions of this and it looks to me like Ontario will be the hardest division to win in Canada,” Forward states. “You go up and down that list of drivers and you can make a case for any of them to win it. Everybody has so much experience. Friday night it’s going to come down to a whole lot of skill and a whole lot of luck.”

National Women’s Rugby Squad – new racing fans

Members and coaches of the national Women’s 7’s Rugby Team got a first exposure to harness racing at Western Fair on April 20 for an on-track fundraiser to help defray costs of their travels.

It turned out to be a win-win situation as almost C$4,000 was raised for their cause from an information booth in the main lobby as well as canvassing throughout the grandstand and the Top Of The Fair restaurant.

“Many of us on the team are students and go to the University of Western Ontario here in London,” said Colette MacAuley, who doubles as a player and an executive member of Rugby Canada. “We really enjoyed seeing the horses and the races up close here at Western Fair because it’s tough, tight competition just like our sport. A lot of us are already planning to come back.”

Friday evening post time at Western Fair on April 27 for the Ontario Region Drivers’ Title is 7:35 p.m. That post time each Friday is in addition to the Monday and Tuesday afternoon cards turning to the gate at 4:05 p.m. through the end of the current meet on June 29.