"I always found that he won his races with his head. He wasn't as athletic as other drivers I've driven against, but [he] did it with his brain. He just was a very 'headsy' driver, very smart. He'd make other people make mistakes and he'd capitalize on them."
With the 2015 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame ballot released on Monday, one participant on the ballot has received some high praise from his peers -- including two current Hall of Famers. That participant is driver Bill Gale.
In an article penned for The Guelph Mercury, Dave Briggs received comments from drivers John Campbell and Randy Waples as well as the person who likely knows him as well as anyone, trainer Bob McIntosh.
"He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. We travelled all over the United States and Canada and he won a lot of stakes races for me," McIntosh told The Mercury. "He had the lightest set of hands. He could keep a bad horse quiet. He was very good with them."
Gale is one of three candidates in the trainer-driver category, along with Jack Darling and Yves Filion. Now 66, Gale was one of Canada’s leading drivers for a period that spanned the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Between 1982 and 1997, Gale recorded 16 consecutive $1 million+ seasons. During his career, he won 6,375 races, started 32,134 times and earned $42.1 million. In the fall of ’91 at Pompano Park when he won a pair of Breeders Crown races, he guided King Conch to a world record 1:56.2 win in the $300,000 Two-Year-Old Colt Trot and piloted Three Wizards to an upset victory over Die Laughing and Artsplace in the $357,000 Breeders Crown for Three-Year-Old Pacing Colts.
John Campbell, who was driving Artsplace in that Breeders Crown event, considers Gale to be "easily the best driver" who is eligible and not yet inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"Bill drove for some of the biggest stables and was always in high demand for the most important stakes races on both sides of the border — Breeders Crown, races at The Meadowlands, the Lexington Grand Circuit," Campbell told The Mercury. "I always paid extra attention to whatever horses Bill was driving."
Waples, who receives attribution for the quote that appears at the start of the article, concurs with Campbell and McIntosh, considering Gale to be "definitely be in the top 10 drivers that I ever drove against."
A 20-person Election Committee for each breed will determine the winners in their respective categories. Results will be announced Tuesday, April 7.
For years I have been asked
For years I have been asked who was the best driver in this country and I always
unhesitatingly said "Bill Gale".
I watched Bill's career
I watched Bill's career almost on a daily basis for years in Windsor and Detroit, as a fan, owner and official (starting judge). I've never heard integrity questioned, always a professional and (as he will disagree) give a "bad drive". But the biggest compliment was the cliche "he will always bring you back a horse".
Good luck Bill, well deserved.
A lot of people don't know
A lot of people don't know about Bill's bad back, but I would bet if he were healthier he would have driven a lot more and longer. He had hands that a lot of drivers wish they had. Only with a good back....
One of the best. Like a mouse
One of the best. Like a mouse in the bike looking for cheese. Always kept my eyes on him during a race, he was slippery good. Top ten for sure.
I had the pleasure of
I had the pleasure of watching Bill Gale race many many times. He was definitely a great driver and up there with the best of them and had he raced in the slots era his purses would be much higher. For this reason alone purse money won should not ever be the only deciding factor in whether you make the hall of fame or not. I can only imagine how much more purse money guys like Gale and Dougie Brown wouldve won had they had the slots been around when these guys were in the prime of their careers.
Bill Gale was indeed a top
Bill Gale was indeed a top driver. When i was first able to start betting the ojc because of simulcasting in the early 90's Brown, Condren and Gale were the big 3 on the then ojc circuit. This was the good old days of the industry.