Harold Shepherd

By Nicholas Oakes

“Don’t panic Harold, don’t panic.”
Harold Shepherd still remembers the gesture and words of Francis McIsaac (top driver in the Maritimes before his tragic death in 1979) during Harold’s first drive aboard Abbner Night – when he was just 16-years-old.
“Francis sat on the outside of me and guided me through the whole mile,” Harold says. “I finished second.”
That was the beginning but it was far from the end for Harold, 50, as he’s made over 280 trips to the winner’s circle and banked $275,000 racing almost exclusively on P.E.I. – and mostly with his own stable.
Shepherd grew up in Charlottetown and his spare time saw him at the race track helping his father George ‘Buddy’ Shepherd with the barn work.
Eventually the lure of the horses was too much and Harold got his driver’s license dreaming (like everyone else) of making it big.
“All the young fellas around here wanted to drive. That was our dream: To drive in the Gold Cup & Saucer.”
He worked for top horsemen like Gary MacDonald, Joe Hennessey, and Earl Smith before settling down with his wife Francis and getting a full-time job with the provincial Department of Transportation, but horses were still in the picture. He remembers having 12 horses and doing them all after work.
“It was hectic. You were there half the night.”
His biggest driving win was in a $12,000 Lady Slipper division with trotter Pedro but when it comes to Harold’s involvement in racing his pride has been his sons Robert, 29, Steven, 25, and Patrick, 17.
Robert has recently established himself as a top Ontario ‘B’ track catch driver with just shy of 1000 wins life and over $7 million in purses. At first, Harold’s nerves took a beating when Robert jumped in the bike.
“I was more nervous standing at the fence watching someone else drive my horse than I would be out there in the race.”
Then, when Robert made the move to Alberta Harold was sad to see him go but knew he had to do it.
“Bottom line, on the Island there’s no money in the race game. Like Robert said, up in Ontario it’s a business.”
Business or not, Harold still gets nervous watching his son race.
“Even now sitting watching the computer you’re still nervous watching him. After the spills he had, why wouldn’t you.”
Harold clearly remembers this past March, sitting home excited that his son was driving almost a full card at Woodbine (including a drive in the Ontario Boys final), then seeing him piled up in one of the worst racing accidents recently in the country – triggered by Warp Speed and Mario Baillargeon.
“When it happened I said ‘he’s all right,’ then we watched it again and I saw it. It makes it even worse when you can’t get a hold of anybody.”
Currently, Harold trains a stable of five along with son Patrick. Between that, playing cards, and watching Robert race nearly every night of the week it’s enough to keep Harold busy and content.
“You got to love the game or you won’t be in it. It’s like the old fellas used to say ‘enjoy your ups because there’s a lot more downs.’”