Deb Salhani has charted a never boring, 50-year career at The Raceway at Western Fair District

Deb Salhani from her charting room at The Raceway

By Dave Briggs

Fifty years into her career at The Raceway at Western Fair District and 36 years since she became the track charter, Deb Salhani (right) said she’s never been bored working at the racetrack.

“I still like coming,” she said on a recent Monday night, mere minutes before the first race went to post at the London, ON track. “It's been a great ride. I've enjoyed all my time here. They've been good to work for.

“I think I've seen a dozen announcers and probably five or six CEOs retire.”

Salhani started working at Western Fair as a mutuel seller early in the winter of 1976. She moved to the race office in 1987 and then in 1989 she moved to the judges’ stand to become the track charter, a role she’s held ever since.

“I've always been interested in horses,” Salhani said. “I came to the races with my mother when I was a kid, and I’ve bought horses and had horses my whole life. I had a full-time job that I worked for 40 years, and I did this part time.”

The charter plays a critical role at a racetrack determining where each horse is positioned at each quarter-mile and the finish, as well as how far away they were from the leading horse at each station. The charts are posted online and printed in race programs and become important information for bettors handicapping the races. Since betting handle is a critical source of income for a racetrack, a charter’s accuracy is key.

“It’s like a referee in hockey,” said Greg Blanchard, the director of equine programming at Western Fair. “You don’t want to ever hear about [the charter] from your customers… But you’ll hear about it if [the charts] are wrong.”

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