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.
Kathy Wade
Kathy’s had a lifelong passion for horses. During her teenage years, she was never far from a horse, helping her dad with jogging and caring for the Standardbreds stabled at their Myrtle farm, visiting other stables, or making the trek to many of Ontario’s racetracks.
Following her graduation from Durham College’s Sports Administration Program, she worked for the Ontario Jockey Club in a number of positions including Director of Publicity for the harness racing division.
She worked at Standardbred Canada for 19 years, first as Manager of Industry Marketing, and most recently as the Manager of Member and Stakeholder Relations.
Kathy now works as a consultant and resides in Dundas, Ontario.
When she’s not working, spending time with family, or helping with the Bill Galvin Racing Alliance, she can be found hiking on the nearby conservation area trails.
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.