Directors
The Bill Galvin Racing Alliance is a non-profit organization operated by volunteers from within the harness racing industry. Our mission is to work together to create and encourage partnerships and programs that will promote and grow harness racing by engaging the general public with the racing community.
Karen Hauver
Karen grew up in a prominent horse racing family and has held many positions in the industry throughout her lifetime. As a teenager she started working at Orangeville Raceway when her father, Keith Waples and his partners opened the track.
She worked as a charter, Clerk of the Course and then as a Photo Finish Operator, which she continued to do at several tracks over the years. She also filled the position of Assistant Race Secretary, sales pedigree researcher for several sales companies and was the Administration Coordinator for the Ontario Sires Stakes program for 21 years until her retirement in 2018.
Retirement allows her more time to spend with her family and friends. It also gives her time to try to give something back to the industry that has been such a big part of her life and to honour her late friend, Bill Galvin.
Jane Belore
Jane has raced horses since age 11, working for a neighbour who introduced her to a sport she would participate in for over 50 years.
She has worn various hats in the industry, starting as a groom, which led to a trainer’s license. On the other side of the sport, she drove the starting gate for her husband, who was a starter at many tracks. She also worked as a charter for many years, recording the live races as they were run. Jane also spent 38 years with Standardbred Canada as a field rep, recording data and inputting the charted racelines as well as assisting members with different services.
She enjoys volunteering in retirement as well as enjoying her 3 grandkids.
Through the Bill Galvin Racing Alliance, Jane looks forward to introducing more people into the horse racing world that has been her life.
Brenda Lothmann
Brenda grew up in the harness racing industry with her parents both being heavily involved. Her mother, Barb Lennox was the owner and editor of the Standardbred Magazine and her father, Earl ran a breeding farm and was a racetrack announcer.
Working at Elmira Raceway for many years as a mutuel teller, at Georgian Downs as the Standardbred Canada Field Rep and also at some of the standardbred sales were jobs she enjoyed.
Brenda currently assists her husband on their Holstein and Jersey dairy farm near Hillsburgh and is heavily involved in the 4-H program as well as being a Dairy Educator in elementary schools. She has dabbled in racehorse ownership over the years and these days still finds time to cheer on horses owned by family and friends.
Ken Middleton
Ken was introduced to Standardbred racing by his parents, Ken Sr. and Judy, who each held a number of positions in the sport. Ken began announcing races at the now defunct Elmira Raceway when he was 16, and from there he held the full-time position of Announcer/Public Relations assistant at Flamboro Downs from 1994 to 1998. He later joined forces with Woodbine Entertainment in 1998, and during his tenure there he handled the on-air hosting duties for the simulcast show at Woodbine and Mohawk Racetracks in addition to hosting a number of network broadcasts on Canadian networks such as TSN, Sportsnet and The Score. In 2006, he shifted to the announcer's booth calling races at both Woodbine and Mohawk Racetracks.
Other roles Ken has played in the industry include emceeing the O’Brien Awards, reading pedigrees for yearling/mixed horse sales and working as a news reporter for the sport’s most-read website, Standardbredcanada.ca.
Ken also breeds, owns and trains standardbreds from his home base in Cambridge, Ontario. He’s bred and developed the likes of Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final and Grand Circuit-winning Bob Loblaw (1:50.3 - $253,337), Shes A Sassy Beach (1:52.4 - $139,367) and Dont Poke The Bear (1:55.3 - $97,264).
Ken met Bill Galvin through his father’s relationship with the Hall of Famer, and after forging a close relationship they ventured in horse ownership/breeding together. They also worked together on the very successful ‘The Stable That God Loves’ project that raised funds for the Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada.
Melisa Hamilton
Melisa Hamilton is a third‑generation participant in the Standardbred racing industry, with deep roots and lifelong involvement in harness racing. She grew up immersed in the sport alongside her father, Peter Hamilton, who has operated a racing stable for decades and worked for many respected names such as Henry Stable, Millar Farms and Nick Gallucci.
Melisa’s first job was in the grandstand at Flamboro Downs, where she scooped ice cream, made popcorn and ran the cash register. It was her early grandstand job that ignited a passion for numbers and finance. At 18, her first horse, E B Lenny, sparked the horse bug in her, and she and her father expanded their own stable to as many as 20 horses.
In 2011, Melisa returned to school to get an education in business with the hopes of bringing her newly acquired skills, industry knowledge and passion back to the industry one day. After a few years, Melisa joined the accounting team at Western Fair Association as the Accounting Manager in 2023.
Melisa and her father continue to stay actively involved in the sport through the offspring of their longtime mare, Black Diamond Star, who is now enjoying a well‑earned retirement after many successful years on the track and as a broodmare. “Diamonds” can often be found representing the sport as a four‑legged ambassador, happily meeting fans and drawing attention wherever she goes.
Both Melisa and Diamonds share a genuine enthusiasm for harness racing and take pride in promoting the sport, its people and its future.