Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Trainer of the Month
for October 2006

Ray Remmen

Ray Remmen, born on May 28, 1947 on the outskirts of Saskatoon, was raised in Hanley, and then returned to make his home in Saskatoon and embarked on the American Standardbred racing circuit.

Remmen hails from one of Canadian harness racing's most respected families. He followed his late grandfather, Art Hunter, into the sport and started going to the track at the age of four and was jogging horses by the time he was eight.

Ray Remmen

In 1963 he received his driving license at the age of 16---just two years after Hall of Famer Bill Connelly started the western circuit of racing in Canada. He won his first race at the age of 16 at Ladner, B.C. By the late 1960s, he was training and driving at Marquis Downs in Saskatoon and on the Alberta circuit.

Remmen became a fan favorite in the 1960s over the Canadian ovals and with him harness racing gained in popularity. In 1975 he recorded the west's first sub two-minute mile in the Western Canada Pacing Derby with Stormin Stephen in 1:59.4. It was his third Derby triumph, the others with his grandfather's horses, Neebook in 1970 and Eyrego Express in 1972.

Remmen now makes the Meadowlands his home base and drives occasionally, prefering instead to concentrate on the training end of the harness racing business. His history at The Meadowlands began the first year The Big M began. The very first race of the Meadowlands in 1976 was won by Ray driving Quick Baron. Equally at ease with either a trotter or pacer he reined the first Hambletonian winner at the Meadowlands behind Shiaway St Pat in 1981.

His brothers Larry and Gordon, like him, are athletically inclined and also spurned promising football careers to become horsemen. Both have now joined their brother. That union is producing a formidable force in major league racing all across North America. In 1991, with Remmen doing the driving and training, Beach Towel became the first standardbred to win over $2 million in one year with victories in such prestigious races as the Little Brown Jug, The Breeder's Crown, the Meadowlands Pace and the Prix D'Ete Molson also helped in contributing to that record.


                                                                Ray Remmen & the mighty Beach Towel

Remmen was inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame in 1991, and is also a member of the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame.   In Remmen's career, he has driven more than 2,600 winners and his purse earnings have gone over the $30-million mark. He and his wife, Shirley, have two daughters, Kati and Tammy, and they lived in Westwood, New Jersey. To date he's steered 2,873 winners to the tune of $34,064,471 in purse earnings. He recorded $1 million driving seasons every year from 1980 through 1992.

Ray Remmen Career Training Statistics (as of October 1, 2006)
Year Starts/Wins/2nds/3rds   Earnings
2006   34       7        8       6      $151,427
2005    8          0        2      0       $11,845
2004    1          0        0    0       $0 0.
2003   1          0        0      0      $800
2001    3          1        0     0       $2,187
2000    5          1        1      0      $11,650
1999    5          2        0     1      $37,396
1997    13         0        4   0      $72,250
1996    11         3        2    2       $149,600
1995   16         1        6     2      $230,742
1994   1           1        0   0       $15,595
1993   16         2        0   3       $36,500
1992   10         2        1     2      $76,689
1991   11         2        1     2      $30,213
Total             22                       $826,894

2006 Archives
September: Carl Allen
August: Mark Ford
July: Ron Gurfein
June: Jim Dennis
May: Delvin Miller
April: Chuck Sylvester
March: Billy Haughton
February: Bill Robinson