The new voice of Rideau Carleton races is the sport’s first full-time female race caller.

by Matthew Lomon

(Editor’s note: This is the first in a regular column covering the Ontario scene beyond the Woodbine Mohawk Park circuit. Interestingly enough, the first subject is HRU’s View from Woodbine Mohawk Park columnist Melissa Keith, who continues on in that role but is featured here for a different reason)

It’s not a stretch to say Melissa Keith will call it as she sees it.

The new voice of Rideau Carleton, who made history recently by becoming harness racing’s first full-time female race caller, harkened back to a time when the thought of a woman calling a race was, well, laughable.

“There was a night when there were two women at two different tracks in North America who were going to quote-unquote, call a race, but neither of them did,” Keith said. “It turned out that it was a lot of laughing and it didn’t end up being a race call. I don’t mean any disrespect to them, but it was being presented in a way that was almost like it was a joke or a novelty.

“It wasn’t anything against them, but this isn’t something laughable. Why can’t a woman call a race? It’s not rocket science, but then again, if you look at rocket science, there have been plenty of women scientists in that field too.”

While it doesn’t appear a trip to Mercury is on the horizon for the Lower Sackville, NS native, at least for now, Keith’s latest stop on the Canadian harness circuit is a familiar one. Prior to signing on as Rideau’s primary announcer, Keith served as a handicapper at the Ottawa area track for nearly half a decade; a role she will maintain alongside announcing duties.

Keith has called at Rideau once before, but the three-time John Hervey Award recipient suspects that her handicapping background is what appealed most to Rideau brass.

“I think that handicapping experience is why they took me on” Keith said. “It wasn’t about, ‘Let’s hire a woman and surprise people.’ Management said, ‘You know these horses, these trainers, these drivers, and it makes sense to have someone with that level of acquaintance with this track.’”

So far, that connection has helped ease the transition for Keith, who expressed gratitude for all the support she’s received from friendly faces around Rideau and its operator Hard Rock.

One of those faces, John MacMillan, is Rideau royalty. The five-eighths-mile track’s long-time announcer recently stepped down from the position due to personal reasons, but that hasn’t stopped the versatile horseman from remaining an integral part of Rideau’s identity.

MacMillan’s presence has also been a boon for Keith, assisting her with everything from race-calling tips to quite literally getting her in the door.

“John McMillan has been very helpful, right down to the first time I went up to the booth on my own,” Keith said. “I was going up early and the judges weren’t there, no one else was there, and I didn’t know the passcode, so I had to text John to get it. He answered right away.

“It was nice to see him win with his horse [Donatover] last weekend [April 13] at Mohawk and be out there in the winner’s circle.”

No stranger to Rideau or race calling, Keith’s experience on the microphone extends to racetracks around North America, including The Raceway at the Western Fair District, Truro, Clinton and Pompano Park.

Keith’s first-ever call came at Western Fair on May 1, 2018. She returned to London’s half-mile track on Oct. 14, 2022, to call six races as part of the OLG Ontario Women’s Driving Championships.

However, it was the time she spent in Alberta, albeit during an up-and-down 2018 season, that helped set the stage for an eventual career in the announcer’s booth.

Keith’s first go-around the Alberta circuit with Lacombe County’s Track on 2 was cut short due to poor weather and cancellations. The unfortunate circumstances didn’t faze the harness racing aficionado, who ended up calling a card at the now-defunct Northlands Park in Edmonton later that season.

At that time, the multi-talented Keith was the first and only North American woman to call an entire harness racing meet.

Six years have passed since then, and Keith is no longer a rookie on the headset. The two-time O’Brien Media Excellence Award winner recognized some of the sport’s finest in Truro Raceway GM Steve Fitzsimmons and Western Fair’s Sugar Doyle for being her biggest champions through it all.

The former gave Keith her first opportunity as an on-air racing analyst in 2023, while the latter has endured as an invaluable figure in her development as a race caller.

Also on the list of Keith’s all-star backers is Ken Warkentin of The Meadowlands. The voice of East Rutherford, NJ harness racing sent Keith an encouraging message after her first call as Rideau’s full-time announcer on March 24.

“He tuned into Rideau Carleton opening night and sent me a note: ‘Melissa, watched a couple of replays. Bright, superb, fantastic. This is something you were born to do. You’re extremely pleasant to listen to, we’d like you to relax, take a breath, and have more fun with it. That will come in time, as you get more comfortable. It’s all about control. You have the tools to knock this out of the park. Keep ‘er going, Ken.’”

Warkentin’s kind words clearly resonated with Keith.

“That was the nicest thing from someone of his stature to be so encouraging like that for no reason… for him to reach out with that it was very motivational and a good thing to see from someone like him,” Keith said.

As she embarks on her latest venture, the life-long harness racing fan turned expert checks every box.

“I am a harness racing person,” Keith said frankly. “It’s not that I’m coming in from thoroughbreds or wanting to do thoroughbreds, I don’t. I don’t have that background, it’s not my experience, and I wouldn’t be qualified for it.

“This is a different sport, and I grew up in it. I’ve been around it forever and heard some of the best race callers, and some of them have been very kind to me. Nobody’s tried to put any block in my way, saying this is something you shouldn’t do.”

For all the advice she’s received in the past few weeks, there’s one piece that Keith says cannot be overlooked: invest in a good pair of binoculars.