1.
Aerial shot of Montreal, tilt to Blue Bonnets Raceway


2.
Aerial - exercising horses on track


3.
MS horses and sulky pass camera


4.
CS trainers watch


5.
MS horses and drivers away from camera


6.
MS horses pass snowbanks


7.
MS horse and driver to barn


8.
MS harness room


9.
MCS sulky wiped down, stored


10.
MCS checking over wheel of sulky


11.
HS horse led out of stall


12.
MCS groom brushes horse


13.
CS groom brushes rump


14.
MCS driver in warm suit adjusts horse's harness


15.
MS trainer with horse, driver comes up


16.
CS driver rubs horses muzzle, leads him out


17.
MS horse and driver exercise, blustery weather


18.
MS pan group of onlookers


19.
MLS pan to LS horses pass on inside and outside of track


20.
MCS two men and stop watch


21.
MCS two horses, in follow shot


22.
CS driver in raccoon coat


23.
CS horses legs, tilt to head


24.
CS driver in warm hat


25.
MS pan group of horses pass camera


26.
CS another driver, warmly dressed


27.
CS faces, two men


28.
CS stop watch


29.
CS horse and shadow


30.
CS driver, tilt to stop watch in his hand


31.
MS several horses exercising on wintry track


32.
CS driver


33.
MS horses pass quickly along track


34.
CS pan faces of three men


35.
MCS follow shot, horses and sulkies around bend


36.
MS pan across row of trailers


37.
MCS pan interior trailers, owners and trainers talking


38.
MS on the track, horses round bend, zoom back to reveal empty snow covered grandstand.




Initials



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: On busy Decarie Boulevard, in Montreal - Canada's largest city and the city on the North American continent with the questionable honour of having the highest average yearly snowfall- Blue Bonnets Raceway has become the main training centre of standardbreds in Canada.

The racetrack, which has been in operation since 1907, was greatly improved in 1959 with a new grandstand and winter stabling facilities being built.There are now four double barns heated by propane gas (to 65 degrees Fahrenheit) and completely fireproof, with additional summer stalls being winterized so that a total of 450 horses can be accommodated during the winter.In the summer about 1,000 horses can be stabled.The area covered by the raceway is approximately 125 acres.There are two tracks, both being one-half mile in length - the racing strip 85' wide, and the training rack 50' wide.

There are two racetracks in Montreal - Blue Bonnets and Richelieu.Between them, they average 200 days of racing a year- of this number approximately 66 days are standardbred, and the remainder thoroughbreds.Naturally, they would like to extend the racing season and every means possible is begin employed to do so.This year, the harness racing season open at Richelieu on April 5th - the earliest ever and even if the pacers and trotters have to go clop-clop-cloppeting between snowbanks lining the perfect track.

At Montreal's 14 million Blue Bonnets, this has been the first mass winter training scheme, and it is rated as a resounding success, Until this winter, Florida has been regarded as the only logical place to keep top harness racers in top condition until spring.Many small owners in Ontario and Quebec have always kept their racers at home, but blizzards and mud have cut training.With the inception of the wintering facilities at Blue Bonnets and the assurance of uninterrupted training right up to the opening date of the season by operating snow clearance equipment all night during storms and the designing of the track for 90% drainage in the event of a sudden spring thaw.With Montreal pari-mutuels singing s 75 million annual tune, the importance of good, early season form is emphasized.Florida training brings horses to a peak that's often lost in transportation or by the shock of chilly spring weather.Further, it is estimated that it cost 10,000 more to winter-train a 15- horse stable in Florida.

In our story, we show the horses being trained in a variety of Canadian weather conditions (all within three days), one day when Montreal had a 15.3" snowfall.