by Gary Patterson, for Dresden Raceway

Dresden, ON — Sunday (June 24) will be a special day at Dresden Raceway that will see two former friends share the track spotlight once again.

Trainer Mark Austin and former NHL player and owner Ken Houston will both be honored on Sunday as the Mark Austin Pacing Series will come to a close with the C$12,700 final and the Ken Houston Memorial Pace will hit the track as well.

Austin got his start at Dresden Raceway in the 1980s and quickly became well liked and respected because of his exceptional talent with horses and his friendly nature. The Chatham native quickly moved up in the ranks and moved his stable to Windsor where he trained his own horses and worked with Jack Darling.

Austin then moved to Fergus when Windsor Raceway declined and was always a solid competitor as he trained top horses such as Sparky Mark and Fool Me Once before he passed away suddenly in 2014.

Houston was a lifelong lover of horses, growing up in Dresden, and became an owner when he made it to the NHL. He was drafted by the Atlanta Flames in 1973 and played nine seasons with Atlanta, Calgary, Washington and Houston where he had six 20-goal seasons.

Houston’s friend was also his trainer as Austin was the conditioner for Houston’s horses like multiple OSS winner Spare Time Warrior as well as Fish My Pal and Hosit The Colors.

Several of Houston’s former teammates in his NHL days and alumni days will be at the track to honor their friend. Eric Vale, John Gould, Pat Riggen, Pat Ribble, Tommy Williams, Dave Hutchieson and Ray Markham will join current star TJ Brodie at the track.

Dresden Raceway will be inducting Houston into the Dresden Raceway Hall of Fame where he will join Austin who was inducted last year.

Dresden Raceway has dubbed the day hockey day with all hockey players from minor hockey systems and Junior teams welcomed for the day.

An auction will be held to raise money for The Ken Houston Memorial Scholarship Fund and items will include signed jerseys from Frank Mahovolich, Lanny McDonald, Travis Konecny, Tyson Barrie, Claude Giroux and others.

A set of John Campbell’s autographed colors will also be up for grabs as well as a suite for a Windsor Spitfires game and tickets to the Sarnia Sting and London Knights.

Other auction and raffle items will include Hambletonian swag, a Matts Sundin autographed picture and a Wendel Clark autographed puck.

Post time Sunday is 1:30 p.m.