Rewind: Lady Helen & The Neely Family

In this week's edition of Rewind, Robert Smith delves back in harness racing history to recall a special man and his continuing family; a story that stretches back nearly 100 years. Old photos and documents from yesteryear help tell the story.

Late last year a Rewind follower sent me a very old picture he had discovered on the Internet. Beyond that I have no idea of who posted it or for that matter anything else about where it originated. The person who sent it to me was immediately interested in this oldie because of an old story he had often heard repeated at his parental home through the years concerning this horse.

Pictured above is a very nice mare named Lady Helen. In 1929 she was the leading race winner of that season. Her amazing year drew the interest of a couple of people from far away Colorado who decided to purchase her for racing on the larger U.S. tracks. The mare's then current owner, Mr. Nate Neely of Sarnia, Ont., decided to sell.

Buried not so deep within this old picture is a pretty good "chunk" of history relating to one of Canada's oldest and longest surviving families involved in harness racing. A gentleman by the name of Nathan Emmerson (better known as "Nate'') Neely of Sarnia Ontario was well immersed in the sport of harness racing at this time. His lifetime involvement covered almost 50 years right up until his passing.

Ninety or one hundred years ago I doubt that the sport of harness racing in Canada was a very big business by today's standards but there was a lot more going on than one might think. Pictures of horses were being taken, registrations and professional looking pedigrees were being issued and the odd horse was being sold and shipped many miles away. Fairly elaborate eligibility certificates were being filled out to keep proper records and individual earnings. Thankfully the odd one has survived.

Registration papers issued by the U.S.T.A. for Lady Helen. The date of 1939 is shown as that was the year the U.S.T.A. was formed. It shows her having records of 2:06 3/4 pacing and 2:15 3/4 trotting. It is interesting to note that several years after being sold to Colorado interests she was again sold to an owner in Oklahoma. It then shows that Lady Helen eventually was reacquired by Mr. Neely and returned to Canada. Records show that while she was an excellent race performer, her career as a dam was a disappointment.

For many years Nate Neely was a well-known figure in Canadian harness racing circles. He not only owned, bred, trained and drove many horses, he also helped to organize local race meets and in general promote the sport to anyone who would listen. While many of his contemporaries were dabbling with horses who were often "rescued" buggy and plow horses, Mr. Neely had some top notch performers.

He was not afraid to leave his home territory both for racing purposes as well as seeking prospective buyers and sellers. During the years surrounding 1930, Neely owned a pair of full sisters that were pretty much the class of the racing world. The aforementioned Lady Helen, a foal of 1924 and her full sister Miss Hal G (1923) were well known wherever horses were raced. I might mention that Lady Helen occupied a special place in her owner's heart as she was named after his daughter (and only child) Helen who was the mother of Larry Ainsworth, who will enter the story a bit later.

At about this time a rather famous match race took place at Chatham, Ont., literally in Neely's backyard. The two horse affair pitted another noted horse of the day, Jerry The Tramp, against Lady Helen. Legend has it that a huge crowd gathered to watch the race and despite the fact that it is nearly impossible to find many traces of it in local history, it was regarded as one of the great racing spectacles of the times.

On this day Mr. Neely may have been slightly victimized by the promoter of the race who also owned the other horse as well as the track where it was being contested. While Lady Helen was a prolific race winner it was generally known that she was a poor "leaver". Tales of the day stated that the track owner had the racing surface honed to perfection, but only the lane immediately adjacent to the hubrail. The rest of the track resembled a plowed field. As the pair left the switch the "Tramp" horse sped quickly away while Lady Helen "spun her wheels". As she drifted in and gained better traction the other horse opened up an insurmountable lead.

While not a lot of details remain from that day now long ago it is safe to say that while Lady Helen performed admirably, she did not take home the winner's trophy. It was just one of many days Mr. Neely was to enjoy.

A well-preserved Eligibility Certificate from the year 1929 shows the travels of Lady Helen that year. Much of that year's racing activity was recorded in the Province of Quebec. Having a horse of this calibre along with her full sister went a long way to helping the Nate Neely family through the depression years.

For quite a few years Nate's brother-in-law Walter Craig "Shorty" Powell, who was married to the former Bea Neely was a part of the racing operation and did quite a bit of the stable's driving. Originally from England "Shorty" learned the harness racing business but later moved to Florida to operate a motel.

When Nate Neely passed away he left his last horse to his grandson, Larry Ainsworth. From that point onward Larry and later members of his family took a very active part in the sport of harness racing. Their travels took them to many places far and near. As time went on their holdings grew and multiplied and many successes followed. With horses quartered in both Ontario and Florida, the Ainsworth stable was well poised to compete with the best the sport had to offer for many years. Perhaps due to the knowledge gained through years of travelling with his grandfather, Larry became quite knowledgeable and successful in selecting and purchasing young stock at auction. The results speak volumes.

For a number of years the Ainsworth stable enjoyed great success in the Ontario Sires Stakes program and their performers were often at or near the top of their respective categories. As an example during the years of 1995, 1996 and 1997 Jim Ainsworth, Larry's son, won the Johnston Cup emblematic of training excellence in OSS competition. Most or all of his top performing colts and fillies were from their own stable.

Larry recently recalled to me just how busy and quite often successful his stable was at times. He remembered on one particular Saturday quite a number of years ago just how far he travelled in a single day. "A bunch of family and friends journeyed to The Meadows track in Pennsylvania where we saw one of our horses win a big race in the afternoon. We left there and headed for Greenwood where another stable member won an early race in downtown Toronto. To cap off the day we headed back home to Sarnia and made a third trip to the winner's circle following an O.S.S. win." All in a day's work!

Despite a lifetime in owning,training and racing countless very good horses, Larry Ainsworth's favourite memories extend well past the last half century or so. In a recent conversation, Larry, now an octogenarian himself, has nothing but fond memories of his late grandfather. "Grandpa was my hero. I loved to travel to the races with him in the days when one day race meets were all there was. He delivered milk for Silverwoods Dairies and we would start the route very early on a Saturday morning with a plan to finish as quickly as possible. We then took off in the truck with a horse or two and travelled the 30 miles or so, wherever races were being held. We raced all afternoon and on the way home we stopped at a roadside diner for a hot beef sandwich. It just didn't get any better than that and I will remember those days forever!"

Nate Neely (1894-1971) proudly displays one of the many horses he owned down through the years (Neely Family archives)

When "Nate" Neely passed away in 1971 he left this world at about the time the really big era of harness racing was about to take place. He had campaigned his share of good ones when the sport was much smaller. Besides the aforementioned Lady Helen and Miss Hal G he also brought out a few others of note such as Bob Lee, Chestnut Bars and Alice G.

Around 1964 Nate decided to lessen his own "hands-on" involvement with his small stable of horses. He was still very interested but needed less work so he turned his stock over to a fellow townsman from Petrolia named Cecil Coke. The above picture appeared in the local paper at that time.

Mr. Nate Neely can rightfully be considered one of the true pioneers of Canadian harness racing. My thanks to Terry Mullen for sending along that vintage picture of Lady Helen and to Larry Ainsworth for sharing his memories.

A great old family picture of the Neely family taken at the homestead in Sarnia, Ont. Nate is pictured second from the left in the front row. Two of his brothers Orton (rear row second from right) and John (fifth from left) also had an interest in owning harness horses at various times. I have displayed this photo to show what a large old time family looked like approximately 100 years ago. (Courtesy of Neely Family archives keeper Jeff McQueen)

Quote For The Week: "For many of us older folks the road ahead offers far less mileage than the well-travelled one behind."

Who Is It?

Can you identify the gentleman pictured above? (Canadian Sportsman file photo)

Who Else Is It?

Who is the well-known gentleman pictured above? Be sure to remain tuned in during the coming week to see who the people were in this week's photo quiz.