SC Rewind: Years Ago – 1940s

This week's Rewind recalls some of the people and events of the decade of the 1940's in the ongoing monthly feature "Years Ago"

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1940 - Good Day of Racing at Chesterville Fair
September 1940 - Fair goers at this Eastern Ontario town located on the Nation River witnessed some top notch racing as part of this year's annual fall Fair. Organized under the direction of Pres. H. E. Durant and Secretary W. H. Casselman, the show featured the best in agricultural exhibits and the latest in farm machinery. The harness program was the best seen in years with three races of three heats, each for a $100 purse. Enquirer had a productive day, winning two of three heats for driver Cecil Champion, barely missing a third after a costly break which gave the victory to Kathleen Patch. Of special interest to the locals was the reliable Midnight Grattan owned by Charles Pyke of nearby Winchester and driven by his 16-year-old son Lyle. The pair ended the afternoon with two wins and a second and also recorded the fastest mile of the day 2:14 in the Free For All. The starter for today's contests was Karl Wells of Aultsville, Ont.

1942 - Ice Races Held at Westport, Ont.
January 30, 1942 - Two highly successful days of racing on the ice of Lake Rideau drew a large throng of at least 1,000 fans from places such as Edwards, Clayton, Alexandria Bay and Hammond, N.Y., as well as Kingston, Amherst Island and the surrounding district. In the two days, 12 heats of racing were held for purses totaling $240. A Westport horse Hal Grattan was the most successful entrant winning five of six heats for owner J. F. Mulville and driven by his son Gerald Mulville. Daisy Patch showed well for owner J. Murphy of Joyceville as did entries from Kingston, Buridge, Sunbury and Lansdowne. Based on the success of this endeavor, The Westport Racing Association plans on making this a three-day event with larger purses in the future. Proceeds in excess of expenses will be donated to the Red Cross Society and other War Charities.

1945 - Young Ontario Horseman Seeks Employment
A young aspiring Ontario based horseman is pictured this week with one of his stable stars and both are known as Billy The Kid. This young man is seeking employment in the harness racing Industry and will accept a variety of positions with the aim of working his way up. As shown in the photo, he sits well in the sulky, and additionally is attentive to his duties, sober, reliable and conscientious. If anyone in the reading audience would care to make a guess as to the identity of this widely known individual, you are encouraged to do so. Unfortunately due to budgetary constraints, there will be no prizes awarded for correct responses.

1946 - Handicap Races Being Held at Santa Anita Meeting
May 1946 - A number of races have been held during this inaugural meeting in California with "staggered" starting positions. The horses are handicapped based on their starting position with the favoured horse starting as much as 120 feet behind those starting at the wire or "scratch" as it is called. Listed below is the outcome of one such race showing the order of finish and in brackets the handicap distance for each horse.

Trot – Handicap; Purse, $1,500; Time : 2:06 1/2
D. W. Spencer (80 ft.) 1; Kaola (120 ft.) 2; Scotch Goddess (80 ft.) 3; Czar Man (40 ft.) 4; Darnelle Hanover (40 ft.) 5; Frances Dawn (40 ft.) 6; Scotch Child (scr.) 7; Mary M. (120 ft.) 8; Peaceful Abbe (scr.) 9; Agatha Hanover (40 ft.) 10; Janet McKinney (scr.) 11.

1947 O'Brien Wins 11 Heats In One Afternoon
July 11, 1947 - P. E. I. horseman Joe O'Brien of Alberton had a rather successful afternoon of racing at the Union Track in New Glasgow, N.S., on this date, winning a total of 11 heats. Outstanding among his day's work was a three-heat winning performance in a match race. The two-horse race pitted a pair of full brothers against each other with Tip Abbe and driver O'Brien triumphant over Walnut Abbe. At the conclusion of this racing season the then 30-year-old O'Brien left the Maritimes and headed to the U. S to campaign and eventually to California having accepted the position of second trainer in the stable of the famous horseman Sep Palin. During his years of competing in the Maritime Provinces, he raced at virtually every track in existence and held some type of record at most of them. Today he is of course remembered by the entire sport with the prestigious "O'Brien Awards" named after him.