The tears were unexpected, but Todd Ratchford said the magnitude of the moment – made possible by at least three generations of horsepeople in his family that came before him – hit him out of nowhere when he was standing in the winner’s circle and Ritchie Rich was already walking back to the paddock wearing a blue Ontario Sires Stakes blanket trimmed in gold.

The next day, judging by the slight hitch in his voice, the 29-year-old driver was still emotional about being in the sulky for the lucrative $90,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series victory by the three-year-old trotting colt at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Thursday, May 29.

After all, it was the first career Gold start for Ratchford’s 20-year-old sister, Mary Ratchford, Ritchie Rich’s trainer and part owner.

“It’s about what we’ve all put into it,” said Todd. “To see it pay off the way it did, and to have everyone there at the perfect time – my brother was there, my mom was there – it was just perfect… That was definitely the most emotional win I've had, by far.”

Reached on Monday, Mary said she was still struck by the magic of it all and, particularly, her brother’s reaction.

“Todd doesn't get very emotional very often,” said Mary. “It shows how special that was. Todd came back to the test barn and he was loving on 'Ritchie,' and you could really see how much he cares for that horse. And then it got to me…

“You're going off adrenaline. You get so excited and you get caught up in the moment. But then after the race, once you’ve settled, it hits you, and you're like, ‘Wow, that was pretty impressive. You're a pretty special horse.’ You get a little emotional, but you're just grateful overall.”

That Mary is batting 1.000 in Gold events, the race was the biggest purse she has ever won and the $45,000 payday pushed her past her previous career-best for seasonal purse earnings before the calendar flipped to June was a lot for her to process. In just her second full year of training, Mary has seasonal earnings of $156,573 through Monday, surpassing the $151,690 her trainees earned in all of 2024.

Yet, through her meteoric rise – an ascension that mirrors that of her brother who also had his biggest career purse win in the Gold and was Canada’s Future Star Award winner for 2024 – she has retained a maturity beyond her years forged by a family familiar with the harsh reality of racing horses.

“All week, we were trying to treat it as just another race,” said Mary. “But, in the back of your mind, that was our first Gold. That’s the highest level you can get in Ontario. So, it's pretty special. But, we're just taking it day by day. You don't want to get too ahead of yourself, but it was just excitement. I think that was the best word to describe it."

Todd said Mary is underselling it. She was more than just excited.

“She was ecstatic,” he said. “She was so happy; everyone was just so happy, because going into this year, we had no real expectations for [Ritchie Rich]. Whatever he was, he was. At two, he raced a couple times and he showed a little bit of potential, but we never really knew until his first qualifier at three that we had something special.”

Ritchie Rich, a son of Wheeling N Dealin out of Hola Lola, was bred by Cindy Graham and William Woolfrey of Warkworth, Ont. The trotter is owned by Graham, her friend Carolyn Jarrell and Mary Ratchford.

It was Graham who named Ritchie Rich after the famed cartoon rich boy and then placed the trotter with the Ratchfords in thanks to the family’s past success with a few of her other horses.

As Todd said, Ritchie Rich showed talent at two, but proved to be nothing special, earning just $3,500 with a lone win in a conditioned start at Flamboro Downs. It wasn’t until the trotter reached a major maturity milestone that things literally dropped into place.

“There actually was a huge difference [from two to three],” said Todd. “It all started probably two and a half months ago, maybe. He was always a ridgling and had one testicle that was up… It was kind of a running joke with my mom and sister that were taking care of him – ‘Is it there yet? Did it drop?’ – throughout the whole winter. And then one day, a couple months ago, my mom just asked Mary as a joke, ‘Is there anything? Any surprises?’ She looked and his testicle had dropped. They were freaking out.

“Ever since then, he just blossomed into a big, strong colt and was just full of himself and just confident in his gait. He used to have a funky way of going, just shuffly. Ever since then, he's been flawless.

“We have a homebred trotting filly that [Ritchie Rich] trained down with and he could never, ever beat her. We always thought she was the better one. She had a couple of hiccups qualifying. It took her three times. Whereas he, at three, was one and done, and he was ready to roll right from there. That qualifier was impressive, because he knew exactly what to do without even needing to be taught. He just had that natural instinct to know when it was time to go and time to put the metal down.”

Mary said she has to be careful around Ritchie Rich because he’s a stud. Sometimes, he’ll try to bite, but, otherwise, he’s fantastic, she said.

“When he hits the track, you can't find a better horse,” said Mary. “He jogs perfectly and he’s fun to be around… He's got a great personality. He just makes you smile whenever you look at him. He's always messing with something or he's chewing on something and you just can't help but laugh at him. He just makes your day.”

Ritchie Rich is now 5-2-0 in 10 career starts, with earnings of $83,750 – $80,250 earned this year while posting a 4-2-0 record in seven starts.

With each win, his confidence grows.

“Ever since he's kind of started to figure out the racing part, the confidence is really growing in him and you can just tell when he comes back from the races and he's walking through the barn,” said Todd. “He has a stall down by himself and he has to walk past all the other horses and he's got his chest puffed up and he’s got his neck kinked and he's feeling so good about himself. He’s like, ‘Hey, look at me. I'm the man.’ So, he definitely knows it and he definitely loves the attention.

“In the win picture… he just stood there. He looked around and he was just like, ‘Okay, this is what I'm supposed to do,' and he just knows how to do it… He couldn't even blow out a match after the race. So, I think there's a lot left.”

Mary has the same feeling.

Watching Ritchie Rich lead the Gold field of nine through fractions of :28.2, :56.2 and 1:25.4 and then open up in the lane to record a 1:54.1 victory told her a lot about Ritchie Rich’s ability.

“Todd has yet to have to ask him in any race yet,” said Mary. “When he was sitting pretty on him, that was a pretty good feeling. Around the last turn, he started taking off a little bit and I thought, ‘Okay Ritchie, just do your thing and we're home.’”

Back home in Caledonia, Ont., later that night, Mary said she went right to sleep.

“It was a long night,” she said. “There were a lot of lot of ups and downs. It kind of wears you out. But the next morning, it was like, ‘Did that really happen?’ That's a big accomplishment. It was kind of surreal the next morning, but that night, I definitely got to sleep, but I don’t think Todd did.”

Mary and Todd are, at least, part of the fourth generation of horsepeople from their family. Their great grandfather, Rabbit, invented Rabbit’s Liniment, which is still used by horsepeople today. Their grandfather was horseman Gus Ratchford. Todd and Mary’s mother, Jean MacDonell, is the first cousin of driver Paul MacDonell, who is enshrined in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

“I think I'm probably either third or fourth generation on my mom's side, too,” said Todd.

So, even though Todd excelled at hockey and played professionally in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, a love of horses was a major part of both his and Mary’s DNA.

“Between getting dragged around to Todd's hockey games and to the track, that was pretty much it,” Mary said of her early life outside of school. “But I wouldn't change a thing. It was great growing up around the horses. To be able to continue that and possibly make a career out of that is very special.”

Todd said a life working with horses was inevitable.

“There was no real other option,” he said.

“I definitely am very appreciative of everything and how my career has started, so far,” he said. “It's better than I could have ever expected, for sure, because I do know how hard it is, because I've lived through it as a kid… So, when you have a little bit of success, it goes a long way.”

Mary is currently training 12 and gets help in the barn from her parents, Todd and Jean, her brother Todd and even Todd’s three-year-old son, Brooks.

“I'm still young, and Todd's young, and the whole family aspect of it brings a lot of positivity,” said Mary, adding that in a sport built on dreams it’s important for others to see that even the smallest operation can succeed.

“It’s great for our sport to see that,” she said. “You can still be young, but you can still play with the big dogs. It's opened a lot of doors and I'm excited to see what the future holds, especially with this horse.

“Most people dream about having a horse like this. It’s special in every way. To all of our partners and our family, it's pretty big. I think my grandpa would be pretty proud of Todd and how far he's come and for us having a horse that is beyond words. He’s really an incredible animal and we're just so grateful to have the opportunity to have him and to be to be around him every day.”

Todd said he hopes the Gold victory is a turning point, especially since Brooks is already showing great interest in the horses.

“I hope this leads to a bright future for, obviously, my family and my sister training horses,” he said. “I hope she gets all the attention she deserves, because she works just as hard as anyone, if not harder. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.”

And the riches keep on coming.

(Ontario Racing; photo from left to right of Brooks Ratchford, Jean MacDonell, Ritchie Rich, Todd Ratchford and Mary Ratchford)