A familiar face leaves Truro Raceway

BIBLE HILL, N.S. — After many years in the race office at Truro Raceway, Diane Daniels has decided to make a big change. Though she’s no longer working at the Bible Hill track, it by no means suggests she isn't still a busy woman.
“I took time and thought things over before I made the decision,” Daniels said. “It’s the right decision for me.” 
She and her husband Scott live near Amherst, and with night racing in Truro they weren’t getting home until late.
“We’ve had some awful drives over the mountain,” she said. “It was pouring rain around 10 Friday night and I was home, but if I’d still been working that drive would still be ahead of me.”
Daniels will continue working in harness racing, as the Standardbred Canada rep at Exhibition Park Raceway, in Saint John, N.B.
“I’m so fortunate to have the position there," she said. “There’s a great atmosphere and my office is right in the paddock, so I see the horses and the people.
“I’ll also continue to coordinate the matinee race card at Port Elgin, and I’d like to have something there to showcase retired standardbreds in their new roles this year. A passion of mine is retired standardbreds. We have an obligation to these animals and we should be actively helping them.”
She plans to spend time riding her own retired standardbred, Wilfred, – a horse she and her husband owned when he was racing, and she calls “the sweetest horse ever” – during the summer.
She also works part time doing the bookkeeping for Damaris Spa and Wellness Centre, which is owned by her daughter-in-law.
During her years working in Bible Hill, Daniels served as both race office manager and exhibition office manager. She was involved with the many special events on the grounds, including the "Beach parties" that were held when Somebeachsomewhere was racing. She organized youth clinics, was a member of the Atlantic Grand Circuit Week committee and the Harness Racing Industry Council and was sales coordinator and secretary of the NSPE Select Sale. She also designed the Atlantic Horse Fair.
“One day I was sitting in the office with Grant (Milley) and Vaughan (Dickie) and we were thinking about what we could have on the grounds after the car show left,” she said. “We came up with the horse fair. It was a lot of work to put it together, but it was a lot of fun.”
Daniels also worked with the Atlantic Winter Fair and managed the Cumberland County Exhibition.
She’s now looking forward to doing some things around her home and spending more time with her animals. Along with Wilfred she has a miniature horse called Silver, a dog named Jack, and cats.