By Dave Briggs

Photo: WEG drivers observed a minute of silence before Woodbine’s Thursday card in honour of the horses that died in the fire. (New Image Media)

The second morning after a barn fire killed 43 horses Monday night (Jan. 4) at Classy Lane Stables in Puslinch, ON, trainer Ben Wallace watched, heartbroken, as they began to remove the charred remains from Barn 1.

“Without a doubt it is the worst nightmare you can come across because they were helpless,” said Wallace, who lost all 17 horses he had at Classy Lane. “Today’s the worst because bodies are being taken out of there.

“I was talking to a fellow today who was one of the first on the site… I think he’ll probably live with it the rest of his life.”

Wallace, long one of Canada’s top trainers, said he woke up the second morning after the blaze truly frightened about what lay ahead.

“This is a new day for me. I got up and I had nothing to do,” Wallace said. “I was a little scared this morning thinking, ‘Just how is this all going to play out?’

“Now my fright is changing from fear to a realization that it’s a new world.”