Hastings Racecourse trainer Steve Henson's love of life is infectious

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Feeling a little down? For a quick cure go hang out with trainer Steve Henson at Hastings Racecourse for a few minutes. It’s hard to find anyone with more positive energy than Henson and his love of life is infectious.

“I am living the dream. There is no place I would rather be than at the track and I’ve been lucky enough to be here for the last 50 years,” said Henson from his stable office in the backstretch at Hastings Racecourse.

For the first time in a career that began in 1983, Henson will be the leading trainer at Hastings. He has won 43 races at the meet, which gives him an insurmountable lead over Barbara Heads, who sits second in the standings with 22 wins. Henson is looking to close out the meet strong.

“I am not done yet,” he said. “When we got to 20 wins we aimed for 30. Now we’re over 40 and hoping to get over 50. I think we’ll get there.”

Henson says his success this year comes from having the right kind of horses and having one of the biggest owners at the track behind him: Willow Creek Farms, which consists of Dairen and Tia Edwards and their daughter Makayla. Dairen is the president of the B.C. Division of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society.

“I began the meet with a lot of maidens and cheaper horses,” said Henson. “Having conditions means everything and with so many horses I can pick and choose where to run them. And you can’t get better owners than Dairen and his family.”

Henson grew up a few blocks from the track and after tagging along with his father to the races one day he fell in love with the sport. He started working in the backstretch as a teenager in high school.

“I came to the track one morning with a couple of friends who were walking hots and I thought this is for me,” he said.

He was tutored by the late great W. H. (Bud) MacDonald, who was inducted into the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1998.

“Bud was amazing,” said Henson. “He could look at a horse and tell you what was wrong with him.”

One of the highlights of the meet for Henson was winning the $100,000 Jack Diamond Futurity last Saturday with Mount Doom, who is owned by Willow Creek and Henson’s wife Lorie. They bought Mount Doom out of the 2023 CTHS Sale for $21,000. With three straight stake wins Mount Doom has banked $113,600.

“I’ve done this for a lot of years and never had a horse of my own like him,” said Henson. “He came out of the Futurity in great shape, and we’ll give him a shot in the Ascot.”

Henson has been married to Lorie for 45 years. Lori is dealing with Lewy Body Dementia and when not at the track, Henson is her main caretaker.

“It’s tough and right now I am physically and mentally drained,” said Henson, who overcame a stroke six years ago. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.

“I still wouldn’t trade places with anyone. I just love coming to the track every day and the only thing missing is not having Lorie here to share in the success we are having right now.”

SATURDAY SELECTION: FIRST RACE 2:30 P.M.

RACE 1: C C SUNRISE hits pretty hard at this level and cuts back to a sprint for Henson, who the past five years has a 29 per cent strike rate and a $2.64 ROI with horses going from a route to a sprint: 47 per cent with a $4.25 ROI at the current meet under the same category.

SUNDAY SELECTIONS: FIRST RACE 2:30 P.M.

RACE 4: ERLICH couldn’t catch BUTTONWOOD TREE last time but Erlich is two for two at this distance and Buttonwood Tree has to prove he can go this far.

RACE 5: BOLD ARCH wasn’t able to carry his speed around three turns earlier this year, but he was coming off just a single race and he comes into this off back-to-back romps. He has won at the distance in the past and could be tough to run down if he breaks on top. Catch him if you can.

Randy Goulding has been handicapping horses and writing for The Racing Form at Hastings Park for more than 30 years. His column will run every Friday throughout the racing season.

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