The Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary season this year with special anniversary dates at tracks around the province where fans will be able to watch OSS Gold or Grassroots and Prospect Series races, view memorabilia from seasons past, enjoy giveaways and more. Don’t miss the next celebration date as the OSS tour heads to Hanover Raceway on Saturday, Aug. 24, where you will be able to take in Grassroots action as part of the Balanced Image Trot card.

The sport of harness racing seems to be ingrained in the very fabric of Hanover and Southern Grey County in Ontario. Countless very accomplished horsepeople from this general location have been heavily involved for generations.

When the OSS program was launched in 1974, Hanover Raceway was chosen as an original host, much to the delight of everyone even remotely involved in the sport. The original format called for racing to be held across the province at 20 different tracks. Six were classed as “A” circuit tracks, while the other 14 as “B.”

The modern day history of the Hanover track took a major step forward in 1964 when pari-mutuel wagering was instituted along with racing under the lights. For many years, the racing remained very low key, dominated by many local horsepeople and horses. And while the crowd interest was keen, the racing product remained at somewhat of a low ebb. The arrival of the OSS series was a welcome sight as top-notch horses began to visit along with many well known owners, trainers and drivers.

That first year, the OSS group made four visits to the Hanover oval and each time they were warmly received by large crowds. At least three seasons’ champions competed at Hanover during that opening year. Garma Hooligan won the first ever OSS event on June 29, 1974. A field of nine three-year-old colt trotters competed and the purse was an astounding $9,382. At this time, many overnight races at Hanover carried a purse of $350 to $400. In the sulky for that milestone win was Brent Davies for owner Dr. Oscar Smith of Ancaster, Ont.

Forty years later, big news was still being made here. In October 2014, the father and son team of Gregg and Doug McNair of Guelph, Ont. made history in the OSS. Gregg topped the leaderboard as the program’s top trainer, taking home the Johnston Cup, while his son was the leading OSS driver, winning the Lampman Cup. These folks proudly call the Hanover track “home.”

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Yesteryears at Hanover Raceway

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Many years ago, a special night was held at Hanover Raceway to pay tribute to veteran horsemen who were instrumental in keeping the sport alive through leaner times. These men, pictured with a vintage high-wheeled sulky, were among those who helped Hanover start up night racing over 60 years ago. From the left are Elmer Fritz, Hugh McLean, Jacob Geisel (seated in the high wheeler) and Frank Carnahan holding the horse.

OSS Scrapbook Memories

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Apaches Fame is shown with trainer and driver Bud Fritz, an all-time favourite at the Hanover track in the sulky. This horse was one of the most exciting and entertaining performers in the last half century.

Apaches Fame won 15 times in 16 attempts in the Ontario Sires Stakes, and in addition to his victory in the North America Cup, he also won major stakes such as the Confederation Cup and later set a track record for aged pacers at Rideau Carleton Raceway in 1991.

This horse had such a following that his legion of fans most often travelled by bus to watch him race. On many occasions, there was barely room left for the horse and driver when the winner’s circle photo was taken.

Apaches Fame is the pacer that many would consider to be the Standardbred that helped elevate the Ontario Sires Stakes program to a world-class producer of harness racing talent. After a brilliant career both on the track and in the breeding shed, he passed away at the age of 26 in 2013.

He was owned by Dovers Venture II Stable, which included Robert Chapple, Dr. Jan Venclik, Ross Cushman, Tom Lightbody and Gary Nolte.

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Garma Hooligan, with driver Brent Davies and wife Callie just to the right.

In the three-year-old colt and gelding trotting division in 1974, Garma Hooligan led his class in earnings with $57,168. Owner Dr. Oscar Smith and his wife are pictured to the right.

This gelding made 21 starts in 1974, first in U.S. competition, later moving to OSS events after changing ownership, and won a total of eight races that year while taking a three-year-old mark of 2:04.4 at Vernon in the early part of the season.

The presenter is Wm. McDonnell on the left, a gentleman who was heavily involved in the administration of these colt races from the very start.

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In June of 1980, the front page of the then popular Standardbred magazine was devoted to OSS action held at Hanover Raceway. In the top picture was a winner all by herself, Goldie Omaha, with Doug Brown in the sulky. This filly was owned by the Pointsetta Stables Inc. of London, Ont. In the middle photo was Silver Foxy Lady, handled by Larry Walker for owner Peter Clements of Dobbinton, Ont. In the bottom was Miss Good and driver Ray McLean for owner Sheridan Revington of Lucan, Ont. She paced to a new lifetime best of 2:05.

Not pictured but winning on that card was Helga Zip for Robert and Bev MacDonnell of Allenford, Ont. In a rather odd coincidence, three of the four divisions were clocked in an identical time of 2:04.

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Jack Kopas, pictured above, was one of the most successful horsemen in the OSS series right from the start back in 1974. The native of Lumsden, Sask., brought out a long line of top-flight horses of both gaits and just seemed to naturally excel in this type of competition.

Just one example of the stars to come out of his operation was in 1977, when he unveiled a young trotting prospect with the interesting name of The Dustman. Owned by David Weldon of London, Ont., this then-two-year-old was following in the path set by many Kopas stars of years past.

In November, as the stakes season was waning, this colt had enjoyed a banner year, winning eight of 14 starts, mainly in OSS events. His clocking of 2:07.3 at Windsor was his season’s best and a new Windsor track record for age and gait. The son of Smoke Dust ended the season at the top of his OSS class in earnings with a hefty $82,575, the highest total in the four-year history of the series at the time.

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Dovers Dottie and driver Dave Wall are shown above. She was a top performer in 1982 and 1983, leading the way for pacing fillies both seasons.

At two, she banked $94,830 and $121,449 as a three-year-old. At about the 10-year mark in the OSS history, these figures were becoming more common.

The combination of trainer/driver Dave Wall and owner Robert Chapple and a few associates were achieving great success thanks to the provincial program.

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A Worthy Lad was an unparallelled success as he went undefeated in his racing career of 30 lifetime starts in 1989-90. He was another top performer from the powerful stable of Bud Fritz. He earned more than $446,000 while dominating OSS events. He was owned by Dr. Joe Johnston, a third generation member of a rather famous racing family that had often been successful in colt racing, dating back to the 1950s.

Following his racing career, Swedish horseman Bengt Petterson paid Johnston $1.5 million for A Worthy Lad, at the time the highest sale price ever for a Canadian-bred harness horse.

In 1998, A Worthy Lad was voted second overall in a poll conducted by the Canadian Sportsman to determine the 25 greatest horses in the Ontario Sires Stakes’ then-25-year history. A Worthy Lad was an OSS champion at two and three. He was also in the very first group of O’Brien Award winners as the top two-year-old trotter in 1989.

Many years ago, “Dr. Joe” revealed a fact about “Lad” that might be unique in OSS history. After his sale to European owners, he was actually kidnapped, but later retrieved by his rightful owner.

(Robert Smith / Ontario Racing)