Kathryn Cochrane excels equally caring for humans and equines

by Matthew Lomon

Between her days in the barn and nights in the nursing home, Kathryn Cochrane spends most of her waking hours taking care of others.

The health care and harness racing professional has made a career — or two — out of her enduring passion for the game she first fell in love with under her parents’ watch.

“I started out as a groom helping my mom and stepdad, who worked for Paul Fraleigh, and my dad who trained a large stable of his own,” said Cochrane, who has moonlighted in the health care industry for the last 12 years.

“During high school, I started working for Wayne Preszcator and continued with him off and on for about nine or 10 years.”

Cochrane’s groom days also saw her sharpen her skill set under a quartet of Ontario standardbred stalwarts in Mark Horner, Scott McNiven, John Pentland, and Carl Jamieson.

“They all have very different training styles, and types of horses in their barn,” she said. “I was able to gather tricks and learn new things from each and every one of them to then use down the road with my own horses.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have friends who are good, well-established trainers that I’ve been able to go to for help or advice over the years.”

Cochrane, after studying the craft up close, obtained her trainer’s license in 2010 while working with Steven Besterd, whom she’s co-owned several horses with.

It didn’t take long for the Ilderton, ON-based conditioner to translate those years of lessons into a winner.

In just her fourth career start as a trainer, Cochrane coached bay trotter Windsong Georgio to a resounding six-length score, in which the son of Southwind Lustre—Balanced Maddie led every step of the way.

“Georgie had a very special personality,” she said, adding with a laugh, “He was a small little maiden trotter, who like most trotters had his quirks and would make breaks – lots of breaks, which was extremely frustrating.

“Your first win is definitely a special one, and one you never forget, especially with a barn favorite.”

Today, Cochrane has five racing, and one yearling filly coming in the fall.

While her whole contingent is admittedly spoiled — carrots, apples, bananas, and black licorice are among their favorite snacks — it is one who’s no longer here that Cochrane will always hold dear.

“Betonbritt is definitely one of my all-time favorites,” she said. “We had to put her down a few weeks ago from what we thought was colic but turned out to be metastatic lymphoma.

“She was an absolute sweetheart who left everything she had on the track every single start. She had a short racing career, only 14 starts, but eight of those were wins and four were seconds. She was never a sound mare; she was so big and heavy, but she loved to win.”

Though a difficult loss, Betonbritt’s short but deeply impactful time with Cochrane changed the lens through which she saw the game.

“Learning what I did about that mare who had cancer — she raced just six weeks before we found out — has made me see things way differently,” she said.

Before Betonbritt, Cochrane said she’d get frustrated if she felt her races left too much on the table.

Now, she’s uber diligent in her approach and relies heavily on her gut if she suspects even the slightest deviance from their norm.

“Unfortunately, they can’t tell us what’s wrong,” she said.

Despite the tough experience, the 2024 campaign proved to be a banner year for Cochrane across the board.

With Betonbritt’s spirit in tow, Cochrane led her pupils to 15 wins, 17 seconds, and 15 thirds for $94,283 in prize money – each representing a personal best in that category.

The catalyst for the standout season, Brittle, did not race.

Instead, the bay pacer whom Cochrane and Besterd purchased in 2018, provided the winning formula as a mare.

Brittle has foaled two Betterthancheddar fillies in the late Betonbritt and Sweet Cheeseus, a Control The Moment filly in Billysbestgirl — the yearling Cochrane is expecting this fall — and is currently back in foal to Betterthancheddar.

Also in the mix for Cochrane is All The Cheddar, another Betterthancheddar gelding whom she owns with Besterd.

“He is one of the most aggravating horses in the barn,” she said with a chuckle. “He constantly paws and tries to bite still at the age of 6, but he is a sweetheart on the track and always tries every single week.”

Sweet Cheeseus, Brittle’s first foal who Cochrane has conditioned since November 2022, is cut from the same cloth.

“She’s a handful in the barn,” Cochrane said. “She bites and kicks on a regular basis and you can’t turn your back on her for a second. But she tries every week, so it makes it a bit easier to put up with her antics.”

Across 68 starts, the pacing mare has collected over $76,300 with 14 wins, six seconds and 13 thirds.

The bold but dedicated competitor has offered Cochrane both hope and the blueprint for her next project, Sweet Cheeseus’ sister, Billysbestgirl.

“I’m pretty excited about my yearling filly since this is the first one out of Brittle that I own half of,” she said. “So far, she is a spitting image of her sister, attitude and all.”

The year that was had tested Cochrane in every way, but she passed each challenge with flying colors en route to her most memorable season yet.

“Last year was very special for me,” she said. “Most of the horses I had been training were cheaper claimers. I’ve been very blessed to have three Betterthancheddar homebreds, who are all very different in the barn but give everything they have every week on the track.”

As for her hopes for the remainder of 2025, the lifelong horsewoman just wants her horses to be themselves.

“As long as they try, and pick up some checks along the way, that’s really all I can ask for.”