by Victoria Howard

Katie Gangell-Beyer learned about horses “the good old-fashioned way,” from her parents and grandparents, before eventually going to work for some of the best trainers in the sport of harness racing.

Born and raised in Simcoe, ON, she and her husband, Troy Beyer, presently reside in Delaware where they operate a stable of 11 horses.

“My parents and grandparents laid a solid foundation for me from the beginning, even though it was not easy considering the caliber of horses they had,” Gangell-Beyer said. “They never owned any well-bred or expensive horses, although to a young girl who loved horses, each one was a champion.

“My family got the horses nobody wanted and needed rehabilitation. Grandfather decided to put in a horse swimming pool on our family farm which turned out to be very successful in fixing the horses ailments.

“My father was phenomenal in diagnosing lameness and my mother could fix almost any issue a horse had. I got a well-rounded education from my family who taught me if I listen to a horse, I would know what to do.”

Gangell-Beyer moved away from home to attend the university and got to work for some renowned trainers.

“In their own way each one helped educate me on standardbreds and taught me a lot, which I am eternally thankful for,” she said. “Once I moved stateside, I spent a summer working for trainer Chris Ryder. Then I went to work for the Ron Burke stable and worked for Bruce Saunders during the COVID era.

“My last employer was Mike Vanderkemp in Canada who not only taught me a lot, he also introduced me to my future husband Troy Beyer.

“At that time trainer Noel Daley would ship into Mike’s barn when Noel’s stake horses would compete in Ontario. One day Troy moved into our barn, and as they say, the rest is history.”

According to Gangell-Beyer ever since she could say the word horse she wanted to work with them.

“And I’m not sure if there was ever a time, I wanted to do anything else with my life,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I could do it and actually earn a living, but I was determined to try. My dream was to own and operate my own stable, and now I am doing it with my husband Troy by my side. When people would ask how I was doing, I would say I was ‘living the dream,’ and in hindsight I was, and I still am.”

Recently, Gangell-Beyer and her husband purchased a house in Delaware, five minutes from Dovington Training Center in Felton, DE.

“We stable our 11 horses at Dovington; consisting of some of our own, as well as several horses we train for owners. We race primarily at Chester [Harrah’s Philadelphia] and The Meadowlands Racetrack, but it really depends on where our stock is eligible and would be competitive.

“[In 2025] we will race mostly at the Delaware tracks, as well as Pennsylvania, for we have two Delaware eligible bred babies and two Pennsylvania bred babies, as well as a Massachusetts eligible trotter sired by Six Pack [New Jersey].”

It was hard for Gangell-Beyer to name a favorite horse.

“Wow, there has been so many,” she said. “My first racehorse was a horse called Hurrah For Dave. My parents claimed him as a 4-year-old, and he will be turning 28 this coming March. I was 5 years old when they claimed him, and ‘Dave’ is still with me today. He has pretty much been with me throughout my entire life and there will never be another horse like him. Dave was always a fan favorite and everyone who knows him, loves him. He is quite special and the first for many people, whether to ride, groom, or train.

“Currently my favorite horse is a trotter, Jet Zette, who was my first yearling. She [turned] 5 in January and is a nice racehorse and my best friend.”

Gangell-Beyer’s fastest trotter to date is Danish import Enzo Dk.

“Our owner discovered ‘Enzo’ at an Amish roadster sale last November in Indiana and asked Troy and I if we would try to bring him back,” Gangell-Beyer said. “We did, and Enzo won in 1:53.2 at Chester this past summer, taking a new lifetime mark. What a thrill that was considering at one point someone had given up on him.

“My fastest pacer is a pacer I had for Jamie Copley named Vegas Rocks. The owners didn’t race at Woodbine in the winter and wanted Vegas Rocks to be somewhere he could swim and race. At the time I had a pool available to me, so I trained Vegas all winter and he just got beat in 1:50 in frigid cold temperatures several times. He was such a cool horse, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to train such a nice horse.”

One of Gangell-Beyer’s horses, Hi Maintenancechic, is the dam of Big Chic Magnet.

“Hi Maintenancechic was the first horse I purchased as a racehorse,” she said. “She won several races before she broke her knee in her final career start. We rehabbed her and decided to breed her if she survived the harsh Canadian winter with two very arthritic knees. She had a true heart of a champion.

“I bred her to Big Jim, and she foaled Big Chic Magnet who went on to earn over $200,000 for all his connections. Sadly, in October [2024] at the age of 16, Hi Maintenancechic passed away.”

On Dec. 11, one of Gangell-Beyer’s trainees named Footloose Rita, was anything but footloose, no pun intended, throwing a hind shoe during the race and battling weather conditions of rain and mud, to cross the finish line first driven by her husband Troy.

When asked about her most exciting time in the sport and her plans for the future, a couple of things stood out for Gangell-Beyer.

“It is so thrilling to bring along the babies and watch them put it all together and eventually go on to qualify and race,” she said. “The other is taking a ‘project’ racehorse and figuring it out. Whether it’s one of our own or an owner’s, it’s so satisfying to see a horse’s full potential blossom. You can see how much happier the horse is to not struggle doing what they were bred to do.

“And future plans? We are going to settle down in Delaware. We would like to develop babies and hopefully, like every other horseman, get that ‘special’ one. Troy and I don’t necessarily need a big stable, but we want to keep improving the quality of our stable. I like to be hands-on, as does my husband, so we are taking one step at a time. We aren’t opposed to anything: as long as we have horses to train, we’re happy.”