The reign of Riina Rekilä

by Melissa Keith

When Windsong Luxury finished fourth on May 9, 2016 at Mohawk Racetrack (now Woodbine Mohawk Park), the 65-1 trotter was the longest shot in the nine-horse field. The Bill Cass trainee was driven by Riina Rekilä, whose own mare, Erja, had been scratched sick from the race. It was somehow fitting that Rekilä’s final Canadian drive would be a catch drive, to illustrate the ability that was often overshadowed by her success in many aspects of the sport.

As of International Women’s Day 2026 (today, March 8), the Finnish-born horsewoman’s achievements at Canada’s leading harness track (and beyond) remain aspirational for other women drivers.

Rekilä came to North America in early 2007 with partner Esa Lahtinen, establishing Overseas Farms Ltd. in Cambridge, ON. She began her Canadian career driving Phoenix Hornline (8, 1:57f; $247,275) to a second-place finish in a Mohawk qualifier on April 30, 2007.

Phoenix Hornline and the 2005 Finnish Trotting Woman of the Year had already recorded three wins from 10 European starts together in 2006, racing primarily in Finland. After another two Mohawk qualifiers in May 2007, the mare won her, and Rekilä’s, North American pari-mutuel debut on May 30, 2007, upsetting at odds of 18-1.

“I heard that harness racing was good in Canada, [and there was] also new experience and learning [there],” Rekilä told HRU, via email this week. “I still remember that [first] race. I was so proud of that time [1:57.1s] of the horse.”

Phoenix Hornline helped shape the Finnish trainer/driver’s early North American career.

“’Phoenix’ came [over] with Target Hoss and Phoenix’s little sister Mona Simoni,” Rekilä said. “Target Hoss [3, 2:02.1f; $7,774 in North America] and I won two races early in the 3-year-old season in Canada. She was sold back to Finland and she became the best 3- and 4-year-old trotter there.”

Target Hoss won back-to-back conditioned races at Kawartha Downs on Jan. 18 and 25, 2008, a quiet start to her future as a winner of 5,027,841 SEK.

Mona Simoni (4, 1:59.2f; $26,251) qualified at Mohawk on Aug. 20, 2007 for Rekilä, then broke her maiden in her first start, Sept. 3, 2007 at Grand River Raceway. The mare retired with 6 wins in 18 Ontario starts. She died while in foal to the unraced blueblood Johnny William at Overseas Farms in 2020.

“Phoenix Hornline, I brought back to Finland; she had a few foals and was retired at my farm after that,” Rekilä said. “I had to euthanize her due to sickness at the age of 25.”

In 2010, the then-29-year-old Rekilä had 25 winning drives from just 80 Canadian starts, including the Ontario Sires Stakes Gold final and Gold Super Final for 3-year-old trotting fillies with O’Brien divisional champion Random Destiny (3, 1:54.1s; $658,314). The 2010 O’Brien Award of Horsemanship finalist noted that the “best [race] I remember was when I won the Gold final at Mohawk in May [2010] with Random Destiny. She raced huge,” closing in :27.2 to win in 1:55.1s, from post 10, at odds of 20-1.

Perhaps because of the rarity of a female driver on the Grand Circuit, let alone a female Finnish driver, Rekilä’s other favorite North American winner was sent off at 52-1 in Lexington on Aug. 19, 2010. “[The] Moni Maker [stake] win with Christiana Hanover [3, 1:53.4f; $279,266] at The Red Mile still gives me chills,” said the filly’s trainer/driver.

After driving her final Canadian trainee, Erja [3, 1:58.2s; $16,541 in North America], to victory on Jan. 25, 2016 at Woodbine Racetrack, Rekilä returned to Finland, where she had initially developed her skills driving and looking after coldblood horses as a child.

“I missed home a little bit and wanted to go back before school started for my daughter,” Rekilä said.

Rekilä soon established herself as a standardbred breeder in Finland, as well as continuing her racing career.

“Wania [Racing Oy] is a different company [from Overseas Farms] that I made when I moved back,” she said.

Her farm’s website notes the origins of the “Wania” name: Translated into English, it reads “Our stable is located on the shores of Mahnalanselkä in Hämeenkyrö. In old reconnaissance maps from 1776−1805, the name of the lake is written as Wania iärvi, from which our limited liability company takes its name. The foals we breed will in the future be identified by the name Wania. The first age group of four Wania foals was born in 2018.”

Random Destiny became a super producer in her years as a broodmare. As the dam of both 2016 Dan Patch 2-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year Walner (3, 1:50.2m; $567,652) and European star Tetrick Wania, a colt Kanal 75 reported that Rekilä had sold to German owner Walter-Mommert Karin for €3 million. She developed and raced the son of Muscle Hill after he was bid in at Lexington as a yearling. Tetrick Wania retired to stud in 2023 after earning 3,073,425 SEK.

A veterinarian as well as a horsewoman, Rekilä told HRU that she will be able to raise one final foal from Random Destiny.

“I got the last embryo transfer foal out of ‘Random’ last summer,” she said. “I had to euthanize ‘Queen Destiny’ due to injury already, earlier. [Random Destiny’s] yearling is by E L Titan; that foal means a lot to me. I had both dam and sire during their whole careers.”

Rekilä rated them among the best horses she raced.

“Tetrick Wania and E L Titan [4, 1:51.2f; $702,473] were both super individuals,” she said. “Also, Random Destiny did everything pretty easy. She had lots left in the engine.”

While she has not raced again in North America since her meteoric rise, Rekilä still maintains a presence with a broodmare in Ontario. It makes sense, given her success with Random Destiny, bred by James C. Baillie, James H. Baillie, and Richard Grenier of London, ON, and purchased for $22,000 (Can.) at the 2008 London Classic Sale.

“I have one mare in Canada at Seelster Farm, she is now in foal to King Of The North; Seelster is doing great work with mares and foals,” Rekilä said.

Her mare, Miss Everything, is a former $100,000 Lexington yearling whose best foal to date is the Wheeling And Dealin gelding Wania (5, 1:56.3h; $194,646).

Rekilä described the independent mindset that characterized her North American drives, setting her apart in more meaningful ways than the common media focus on her appearance.

“Before my years in Canada I had been driving my horses myself,” she said, creating her own destiny with an assist from one that was Random. “Driving [in races] myself taught a lot to me. Also training, driving, and veterinary work have been giving a lot of help [to my horses]. I liked to drive specifically young horses and difficult ones myself.”