Matt Trelford’s harness racing journey began when he could barely walk
by Matthew Lomon
Some of the first steps Matt Trelford ever took on this Earth were at the racetrack, which made the grandson of late Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Famer William ‘Bud’ Fritz feel right at home.
“The hometown tracks are where I grew up; on the backstretches, running through the grandstands at Hanover,” said Trelford. “The older I got, it was Orangeville [Raceway] and Elmira [now Grand River Raceway].
“It was a big deal to go to Greenwood or Mohawk — we got to go the odd time with grandpa — but most of the time, Hanover, Orangeville, and Elmira were where we were.”
Connected to the sport from an early age, even a toddling Trelford could recognize his grandfather’s greatness.
“He was really something in the late ’80s and early ’90s,” Trelford said. “That was pretty neat when I was growing up. I remember he was even on TSN – he was like Wayne Gretzky to me back then.”
As Trelford entered his teenage years, he transitioned from spectator and fan to active participant on the family farm.
Picking up the trade from his grandfather, and Fritz’s sons, Trelford’s uncles, Terry and Randy, he built his foundation before stepping away for a few years to attend college.
Then came a call from Randy that, unbeknownst to him at the time, would reel Trelford in for good.
“One night, Randy was driving at Georgian [Downs] and he got in a wreck and broke his collarbone,” Trelford said. “He phoned me and I ended up around Mohawk helping him out for a bit.
“It was just supposed to be a short-term thing but I ended up being down there for 15-20 years.”
The years alongside his uncle Randy flew by.
Before Trelford knew it, he was working with brothers/drivers Anthony and James MacDonald. After that, he found himself in Florida working for trainer Gregg McNair, whose wife Susie also happens to be Trelford’s aunt.
“I trained babies with the McNairs for eight or nine years, moving back and forth from Florida,” Trelford said. “When you’re training horses around the McNairs, it’s unbelievable who you’ll see. At one time you’re dealing with [Hall of Fame driver] Ron Waples and Chris Matthews, who are just top-class horsemen.”
Trelford’s near-decade-long stint with the McNairs ended around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he returned home for good.
Mulling over his next steps, Trelford decided in 2023 to obtain his trainer’s license. This was after he had purchased a young filly named Lastkickathecan for $10,000.
With his application pending approval through the early months of the Wheeling N Dealin trotter’s career, Trelford assigned training duties to another one of his uncles, Dale Fritz.
Still involved behind the scenes when Lastkickathecan showed serious promise on the racetrack, Trelford took over as the trainer of record in August of 2023.
“Everything just clicked with her,” he said. “I was building some confidence, so I thought I might as well try it out.”
The Mildmay, Ontario-based conditioner’s instincts proved spot on, as in just her second career start, Lastkickathecan scored an Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots leg at 12-1.
“Everything just set up almost perfectly,” Trelford said. “She was something else, that horse. Every time you took her to the racetrack you knew you were going to get a good effort out of her.”
The bay, out of Deweycheatumnhowe mare Simone Hall, even captured the heart of Trelford’s mother Laurie.
“My mom just loves her,” he said. “She’s never owned anything but she’s followed racing her whole life and was just over the moon with her. She’d wait till the programs came out — Robert Reid [Jr.] always had something good to say about her in the Horseplayers’ Journal — and she just thought that was the best.”
The Trelford-Fritz clan’s time with Lastkickathecan was as memorable as it was short-lived.
On Sept. 30, 2023, while warming up for the Grassroots final for 3-year-old trotting fillies, Lastkickathecan injured herself in a freak accident, and later passed away.
“It was a very tough ending to our time with her,” Trelford said. “My sister was getting married that night, so I was there and not at the race. I had sent some people to race her for me and I don’t know what happened. She ended up throwing herself coming off the track and hit her head and that was it.
“I got the call at the wedding, and that really put a damper on things.”
Eternally grateful for the horse who taught him as much as he did her, Trelford’s success with Lastkickathecan inspired him to grow his stable with the help of his father Roy, who has accompanied him to the last three London Classic Yearling Sales.
Consisting of trotters Small Town Road and Green Silverado, and pacer Miss Party Girl, Trelford’s new trio is already paying dividends in 2026.
“They’re all big, strong, healthy horses, and they seem to put their nose on the gate every week and give it their all – all three of them,” he said.
“They don’t all make it to the track, but these three got there, and we’ve been able to build off it.”
Trelford has a vision for each of his trainees.
“I’d like to see Small Town Road just bang away at Hanover, and the same goes for Miss Party Girl – they’re turning into pretty nice B-track racehorses,” he said.
“Green Silverado, I think she’s got a pretty high ceiling, so I’d like to see her compete in the [Ontario] Sires Stakes through the summer and into the fall, then put her away on a good note and get her going again next spring.”
Off to a strong start after setting career highs across the board in 2025, Trelford has never been one to harp on the numbers.
He said, sharing a moment with loved ones, like winning Horse of the Year at his hometown Hanover Raceway with the Rick Rier-owned Century Liberty, is bigger than one person – and that’s what the Fritz-Trelfords have always been about.
“It was really special last year to get that award at Hanover,” he said. “It might not be as special to some people but it was to me.
“The whole family’s out at Hanover every Saturday. My family and my girlfriend Tara and her kids Ryan and Evan. So, it’s not all about the purse money, it’s nice having everybody out there every Saturday. We’ve been going since I was a kid, and now 40-something years later, we’re still going strong.”
