Story by Chris Lomon / @ChrisLomon
It was only fitting that a conversation with Aiden Reynolds would take place on a picture-perfect day.
With the temperature hovering around 24 degrees Celsius, and a few clouds passing over barns at Golden Horseshoe Lanes in Millgrove, Ontario, the 19-year-old was hard at work in Standardbred trainer Eddie Green’s stable, tending to an assortment of pacers and trotters.
“I can’t complain about the weather,” started Reynolds. “It’s a great day. But even if it was raining or it was cold, I wouldn’t mind either. This isn’t work to me. If you love what you do, it never feels like work.”
That sunny disposition has served the jack-of-all-trades horseman well over his relatively short time in racing.
Although his family, who call Nova Scotia home, doesn’t have any first-hand connection to the sport, Reynolds’ mother is friends with well-known Maritimer and Standardbred owner Simon Poirier.
That association eventually led to a first for Reynolds.
“Simon Poirier, and people like Walter Walker, who are in the sport, they actually let me jog my first horse when I was back out east a few summers ago. I just loved it. That was such a great feeling and it really gave me a clear picture of what I wanted to do, to be a part of this industry.”
A subsequent trip to Ontario and a meeting with another prominent horse racing figure further spurred Reynolds’ interest in pursuing a horse racing career.
Soon after, he was on the fast track to working with some of the sport’s most accomplished trainers.
“I met [trainer] Janice Hubbard when I went to see the Confederation Cup a few years ago. I started helping her out for a couple of months and one day, her and I went over to see Dr. Ian Moore. I started doing stalls for him for two summers. When he went to Florida in the winter, I went to work for Richard Moreau. I worked with Richard for about a year and a half, and then I went to work for Teesha Symes for over a year. She went to Ohio and then I started working for Eddie Green. I’ve been with him since then.”
Having a rail’s-eye view to learn from some top-tier talent has been a game changer for Reynolds.
As for how he’d define his role in the Green barn, Reynolds response doesn’t get into specifics, opting instead for, “I do a little bit of everything.”
Working for Green has opened the doors, or perhaps more appropriately, gait, to work with a bigger mix of racehorses.
“I would say one of the really interesting things that I’ve experienced working with Eddie is that he has trotters. A lot of the people I worked for in the past didn’t have trotters. So, going from all pacers to being around trotters has been a really fun part of what I do. It’s fun for me, especially at a young age, to learn about all of that. Pacers aren’t as complicated as trotters, so it really helps you gain a fuller understanding of the horses.”
It also makes coming in early in the morning well worth the trek.
Simply put, there’s no place else Reynolds, who spends afternoons doing maintenance jobs around the Golden Lane property, would rather be.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be around horses. I never consider any of what I do to be work. It’s a lifestyle. I feel very connected to the horses and whenever they race, no matter what happens, I feel proud when I watch them compete. They’re like your family.”
Reynolds, who owns Fastball Seelster, a son of State Treasurer, with Symes and her parents, has built a bond with every horse – even claimers who have had a short stay in his care – that he’s worked with.
All of them, he offered, are special.
Some, like Rockin In Heaven, a now nine-year-old son of Rock N Roll Heaven, leave a lasting impression.
“I used to get really nervous when he’d race. He’s just an awesome horse. He’ll always have a special place in my heart.”
And then there is All Day Sunshine, a four-year-old daughter of Sunshine Beach who was a $6,000 Lexington Select Sale purchase in 2018.
Owned by Kenneth Ashba, the brown mare has bankrolled just shy of $250,000 over a 41-race career.
“I had her for a month or two for Richard Moreau and the first start we ever raced her together, she went out and won the Gold [Series] for two-year-old pacing fillies. That was very special to me. He trusted me with her and she went out and won that race. I have the picture hanging up in my room.”
Reynolds, who enjoys dirt biking with his friends in his free time, hopes to have horses like her in his own barn one day.
“I would love to go out on my own one day and have five or six horses of my own to start. I want to be a driver, that’s always been a goal of mine. I’m just studying all the rules and all the races I can, and one day, hopefully, that dream comes true.”
He’ll look the part when that moment does come.
“It’s kind of a funny story. Richard Moreau, I would warm up his horses, but I didn’t have any colours. So, he looked at me one night when we were at Mohawk, and said, ‘I’ll pay for your spring/fall winter suit, but you just have to use my colours and you can pick any design you want.’ At the time, I didn’t want to accept the offer. But he insisted, which was very nice of him. So, I have green, black and white. That’s the way it came to be. Everyone at the track likes to bug me that I didn’t pay for my colours. But that’s okay. It’s all in good fun.”
Fun is perhaps the best way to describe how Reynolds’ views his horse racing life.
He doesn’t see that ever changing.
“Every day I’m at the barn or at the races, it’s a good day. It’s a really good feeling to have.”
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Photos by Teesha Symes
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