Nothing says spring like mares and foals running around in the paddocks and on Saturday, May 13, Standardbred breeders Beth and Tom Rankin will share their love of horses by welcoming area residents to their St. Catharines, Ont. breeding farm Open House to see their mares and foals. 

The Open House event supports four horse-themed contests coordinated by the newly formed Bill Galvin Racing Alliance (BGRA), including the Youth Literary Derby and the Youth Art Derby.  These contests are for elementary school children and the Rankin’s Open House will provide the equine inspiration that kids may need. Complete rules and details for the contests can be found on the BGRA website.

The Rankins started breeding Standardbreds in 1990 and have enjoyed considerable success. Over the course of 33 years, they have bred about 300 horses at the St. Paul St. West nursery. Currently, the farm is home to 16 broodmares and eight foals with four more foals on the way.

Run Director and R First Class were two of the most successful horses they have bred.

“My greatest achievement as a breeder was having Run Director chosen as a national champion,” stated Rankin of the trotter he named after Mary Edwards, director and founder of the Rankin Cancer Run in St. Catharines.

Run Director won 17 races and bankrolled almost $680,000 during his racing career while earning an O’Brien Award trophy as national champion in the three-year-old trotting colt category in 2018.

Run Director, out of the mare Keep The Spirit and sired by Kadabra, was a fourth-generation product of the Rankin’s breeding program.  They purchased the colt’s great grandmother, Armbro Mink, in 1992 and the mare and her offspring have produced nine $100,000+ winners over the last 26 years.

Rankin’s most successful broodmares were Keep The Spirit, World Class Image and Cool Reins, a daughter of their foundation mare, Armbro Mink.   
World Class Image was the dam of 10 foals who raced and earned more than $1.1 million including R First Class, a winner of more than $495,000.

Cool Reins was the dam of two half million-dollar earners, Adam T and Go Nano Go.

Children and their families are invited to visit the farm and see the foals on Saturday, May 13 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1490 St. Paul St. West in St. Catharines, Ont. Please register no later than May 10 by contacting Rankin Construction at 905-684-1111 during business hours from Monday to Friday. 

(Bill Galvin Racing Alliance)