Soupi ampbell 
     
     Soupie Campbell was fortunate to have 
     
     worked for a trio of respected and knowl- 
     
     edgeable trainers and drivers — Len 
     
     O’Meara, Don Seaman and Clark Smith. 
     
     Some of the people who worked in the 
     
     Winston Campbell Stable over the years 
     
     included Russell Burgoyne, Wayne 
     
     Rudge, Paul Lannigan, Walter Craig, 
     
     Vonda Campbell, Drew Campbell and 
     
     Heath Campbell. 
     
    
   
   
    
     There were many people that Soupie 
     
     respected as drivers and/or trainers but 
     
     the one he respected the most was Clark 
     
     Smith from Hunter River, P.E.I. He chose 
     
     Clark because, “He dominated on P.E.I. 
     
     for a number of years when he was a 
     
     young fellow. Clark was a worker. He 
     
     used to have 15 to 18 horses for Stanley 
     
     Mayhew and he would work all day on 
     
     them. He was a great horseman and a 
     
     great driver. He could hang one out as 
     
     good as anybody." By the way, Clark 
     
     Smith and Stanley Mayhew were two of 
     
     the first people Soupie worked for as a 
     
     youngster while learning this industry. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In his final two years, illness forced 
     
     Soupie to curtail a lot of his driving and 
     
     training. When he was well, he did a 
     
     very proficient job of both roles but he 
     
     preferred driving over training. He 
     
     explained, “I like both. I don’t drive that 
     
     much now. I might drive four or five a 
     
     week. I think ifI quit driving I would get 
     
     old too fast. I like to compete against the 
     
     younger drivers. I like training because 
     
     you always think you are going to 
     
     improve your horse. I especially like 
     
    
   
   
    
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     Behind the Gate 
     
    
   
   
    
     spring training with the young horses and 
     
     getting your older horse back to the 
     
     races. As to trainers driving, it doesn’t 
     
     make much sense to see :1 Walter. Case Jr. 
     
     watching a lucrative stake race when 
     
     some trainers are driving in that race.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     Soupie and Linda were especially proud 
     
     that both their sons, Drew and Heath, 
     
     had established themselves as successful 
     
     trainers and drivers in a very competitive 
     
     industry. Heath was based at Bangor, 
     
     Maine and Drew was established at 
     
     Scarborough Downs, Maine. Their 
     
     daughter, Vonda, could look after a horse 
     
     with the best of them untl illness forced 
     
     her to the sidelines a few years ago. 
     
    
   
   
    
     On September 6, 2002 members of this 
     
     Campbell family drove seven of the nine 
     
     winners at Scarborough Towns. Soupie 
     
     drove Tum For the Best to a 1:58 victory 
     
     in the $25,000 final of he Cianchette 
     
     Dirigo Pacing Series open to fillies and 
     
     mares. On this same card, Heath drove 
     
     two winners and Drew tezmed four win- 
     
     ners. This was a memorzble day at the 
     
     races for a very talentec family. The 
     
     patriarch of the clan emerged with the 
     
     biggest win and a smile ‘0 match, “I’m 
     
     happy for the boys. I gucss it’s good to 
     
     show them I can still Wit the big ones 
     
     when they get a little cocly.“ 
     
    
   
   
    
     It seems like only yestertay that I was 
     
     making my compulsory \xeekend jaunts 
     
     from Charlottetown to Sa‘kville Downs 
     
     for harness racing on Saturday and 
     
     Sunday afternoons but it was over 56