CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — When a pair of O’Brien award-winning horsemen say you’re the best in your field it speaks volumes and sums up more than three decades of Kathy Carragher’s time in the Charlottetown Driving Park race office.
Carragher has spent nearly 35 years working at the capital race office; working behind the scenes with little fanfare while ensuring every race program is put together properly to ensure a quality product. Carragher works alongside race secretary Gerard Smith and racing co-ordinator Tara Poulton-Myers, and they are the frontline between Red Shores and the horse racing community.
O’Brien award-winning horseman and perennial top Maritime driver Gilles Barrieau can’t say enough good things about the job Carragher does in the Red Shores’ race office.
“I have raced at a lot of racetracks over the years and have never come across a lady so organized and professional at her job,” Barrieau said.
Fellow national award winner Marc Campbell echoes the sentiment.
“She keeps the whole ship going,” Campbell said. “She saved my behind a few times, calling for entries.”
The race office opens at 8 a.m. with entries due by 9 a.m., but trainer Brendan Curran points out it’s not a strange occurrence for Carragher to be there well before she has to in order to get ahead of the day.
“To me, Kathy and the folks in the race office are the glue that keeps everything together. I remember one time calling up to the office at 7:15 a.m. to leave a message and, to my surprise, Kathy answers the phone and, as always, was incredibly helpful.”
“She brings an honest, professional attitude each day,” said trainer Thane Arsenault, “while allowing horseman the opportunity to know that they are being supported and looked after when you declare in or ask for assistance.”
Carragher’s laundry list of daily administrative duties includes taking entries and equipment changes over the phone and in person for every race card and fielding a plethora of questions from the racing community. The daughter of lifelong horse people Boyd and Claire MacDonald, Carragher has built a reputation for knowing what class horses fit and what stakes engagements are available for the hundreds of horses qualified on P.E.I.
“There is no one in North American harness racing that is as good at their job as Kathy is,” said trainer Stephen Quinn.
“She knows which class every horse is supposed to be in. If you happen to forget to put your horse in, which I may have done a time or two, she recognizes that your horse isn’t in and will call you to see if you forgot. She does it all. She’s incredible.”
– Trainer Stephen Quinn
Lee Drake, Red Shores’ manager of racing, brands and broadcast, admits Red Shores and the racing community takes Carragher for granted far too often.
“She is the clerk, of course – one of the most-dedicated and hardest-working people we have in this sport,” he said. “She's the best in the business and I know the harness racing people appreciate what she does. We certainly do.”
Driver Adam Merner says the job Carragher does for Red Shores is unbelievable.
“She goes out of her way to keep the trainers up-to-date with every horse that they enter and calls every driver when the list comes out if they have two drives in one race. I think Red Shores and the horse people are extremely lucky to have her.”
Many race fans may not even realize how pivotal Carragher is to the harness racing industry and making sure horse people are informed about racing information on draw days that is vital to them being able to make a living.
“Kathy is the quiet unsung hero that sits behind the scenes, knowing everything and everybody,” said trainer Deanna Clow. “She keeps everything together and functioning. (She’s) a major part of the success and survival of harness racing on P.E.I.”
Trainer-driver Ryan Perrot agrees.
“I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to do her job better,” Perrot said. “She looks after the horseman more then we realize.”
Driver Dale Spence said the co-operation Carragher shows to drivers in selecting which horse they decide to drive is above and beyond.
“Kathy is everything any business would love to have on their team, and we are very lucky to have her.”
Nicholas Oakes is covering harness racing at Gold Cup and Saucer Week for The Guardian. This is his 11th year covering the big week for the news outlet.
