What's been mostly a hobby for about 50 years now, has become quite a lucrative venture. 

Arthur Rey lives in St. Claude and has been involved with harness racing and raising horses to race. He has raised the all-time greatest Manitoba-bred horse, Emmetts Buddy. 

"We raised the colts," says Rey. "We have brood mares. We raise the colts, break them, train them, and usually sell them because there isn't enough racing here in Manitoba to keep them here."

Rey says he was selling Emmetts Buddy at the end of his third-year career, and nobody showed any interest. That turned to his advantage, seeing as he then sent him to Ontario to a trainer who worked the horse up through to the Preferred Class, which is the top class, and won that category four times. 

"I think now he's close to $275,000 to $280,000 with what he had made the first year," says Rey. "He's done good. I had him posted for $20,000, and I didn't get one bite. So, I was happy it didn't turn out." 

Looking back at how it all started, Rey says he found that working with horses was extremely relaxing for him during his working days.

"You get home. Sometimes, it's a bit of a challenge because the days are short, but still, you hitch up a horse and you go and jog," says Rey. "It's kind of relaxing compared to your day's work, especially with young horses, which is what I prefer; to see them develop. You never know what you're going to have. So, you just keep training and training them down and see how fast they can go, which is what I find interesting."
 
He explains Emmetts Buddy was the first Manitoba-bred horse to go, what is termed, "a sub 1:50 mile." Rey says he hit the mark of 1:49 making him the fastest Manitoba-bred horse ever.

"It is certainly an honour to have," continues Rey. "And lucky. I have to say we have to be lucky to have these horses. I think there's certainly help from above. We don't do that all by ourselves." 

Rey notes he's had other good horses including Emmetts Buddy's half-brother, Racemup.

"He is still racing in the States. He has a mark of 1:59. He's made over $350,000," adds Rey. "But in the past, like way past in the early 80s, I had some good horses, as well. One of them went off to BC. It's enough to keep you going, and keep you interested." 

He says he's going to keep doing it as long as he can, noting he shows the horses himself and will keep it up.

"Somehow, though, the colts get stronger every year, which probably has nothing to do with the horses, but that's what I feel like, anyway" he chuckles. "But it is a hobby. You're riding a cart, a training cart. It's not the same as if you're riding horseback. It's something that you can do later on in years." 

Rey says a new track was built just west of Assiniboia Downs that he's able to use for his horses, called The Loop. He notes that's made a huge difference. 

"It makes it nice because we're racing at an extended meet. We're always on the same track. We can leave our equipment there and go every weekend. It's really a blessing. It's what we've been looking for for a long time. It's so that standard breeds have their track. It belongs to the Red River Ex, but they're nice enough to give us the track and they built it for us."

He explains Emmetts Buddy has done so well because of that track. Woodbine Mohawk is a track at Milton, ON, just West of Toronto. Rey says it's the biggest track in Canada as far as calibre is concerned. So, he explains it is a privilege to be able to race there and have the quality of horses that can make it at such competitions. 

Emmetts Buddy worked his way up from the non-winners of two races up to the Preferred, and won the Preferred four times

"That was quite an achievement. And now, to add to the honour of this, he was nominated as a finalist for what they call an O'Brien Award. O'Brien Awards are the most prestigious in harness racing in Canada. They're the equivalent to Academy Awards, but in horse racing. The winner of this category will be announced at a gala in Prince Edward Island in early February." 

Rey adds it's the first time they've ever been nominated, and he'll be making that trip to PEI.

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