In this week's Rewind, Robert recalls the long-awaited arrival of racing under the lights in the Province of Ontario. He also shares a little-remembered incident that preceded the official debut of this form of racing by nearly a year.

People of a certain age (and there are probably not too many left) may recall what a long and painful wait harness racing as a sport had to endure before nighttime racing finally became a reality in Ontario. It had been tried with great success in other areas of North America but, for whatever reason, the powers that be in Ontario were steadfast in blocking it. And the refusal seemingly went on forever.

Many groups and individuals had lobbied long and hard to get permission from the Provincial Government to relax their stand and allow nighttime racing in Ontario. Despite their untiring efforts, Premier Leslie Frost always said, “NO!!”

The advent of night harness racing had come several decades prior when, in 1940, Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island, N.Y. staged what is considered the first extended meeting conducted during the evening hours. Later in the 1940s, Quebec ushered in racing under the lights and it flourished — first at Quebec City and later in Montreal. Many other U.S. tracks staged racing under the arc-lights.

Finally, on May 17, 1961, night racing began in Ontario as London’s Western Fair Raceway launched their inaugural meeting. About a month and a half later, the Old Woodbine meeting became just the second approved in Ontario. Their big night came on July 1, 1961. The long delay for Ontario, authoured by Mr. Frost, was finally over.

In fairly short order, a number of other smaller racetracks installed lights and joined in on the move to the modern-day version of harness racing.

One joking journalist wrote, “Mr. Frost and his partners agreed to allow racing under the lights, having been apparently convinced that such action would not result in the complete corruption of our society as they obviously had suspected it might...” Just the previous year, Mr. Frost was quoted as saying, “In my view enough gambling is done in the daylight...”

A view of the old Morrow Park track and grandstand, home of harness racing in Peterborough for many years. In 1972, area racing moved to nearby Kawartha Downs.

On the evening of June 25, 1960, about a year prior to the official arrival of fully sanctioned and “legal” harness racing under the arc lights, an interesting race meeting took place at Morrow Park in Peterborough, Ont. I discovered a few tidbits of information that should add a bit of interest.

To open the season, a 10-race card was scheduled with a first post time of 7 p.m. This had to be a bit of a tipoff to what may have been in the works. Apparently, after the program was partly over, the lights magically came on!

The following write-up appeared in the June 29, 1960 Montreal Gazette sports section, and perhaps other publications across the land. It described in some detail the circumstances of the Peterborough race meeting.

Apparently, there was apprehension that when the Peterborough group scheduled their next race date a week later on July 1, there would be a repeat performance. However, this did not happen, and when the second race date was announced, it stated that the first post time would be 2 p.m. And that, according to results found in The Canadian Sportsman, is how it played out.

As a matter of interest, the Peterborough Turf Club held four meetings at Morrow Park in 1960. Three were held on consecutive weekends in June and July, with a fourth held in mid-August. I believe the latter was probably in conjunction with the annual fair. I was unable to find out if a second meeting ever occurred that featured any more “light” moments.

On the night in question (June 29), when the lights may have been turned on prematurely, a full card of five races — each going two heats — was held. Purses for each race were all $100. Each race went two different distances: the first was a three-quarter-mile dash, while the second was the more customary one mile.

A perennial favourite at the Peterborough track, Ray Lowery was the driving star of the night. He scored four wins with Brooklyn Gal, Gunner Axworthy (2), and Carl W Grattan. He also recorded at least two second-place finishes. Jack Warner was a double-heat winner with Mary Jane P., owned by Marvyn Preston of nearby Norwood. Hugh Stewart, Gerald Lowery, and others also had good showings.

An interesting horse in competition at each of the three meetings was a gelding named Gus Scot. At the time, this “elderly” campaigner was 16 years old. He was owned and driven by Harold Hooey of Orono and that season was still recording wins. He went postward a total of 48 times (46 trotting, two pacing) and came home a winner nine times!

Perhaps the most amazing part about this horse, sired by Scotland and out of the mare Agnes Worthy, was the fact that his dam made him a half-brother to the great trotting mare Proximity. He had lifetime earnings of nearly $35,000 and a record of 2:08 on the trot and 2:02 4/5 pacing. That year he added a paltry $692 despite his nine wins. I suspect Mr. Hooey was pretty proud of him.

Another horse and driver that fared well during those early-season race days was Lu Attorney. This six-year-old mare was owned, trained, and driven by Miss Retta Herrington of nearby Brighton. Retta was well known in the area and beyond and participated for many years as a driver. Her skills took her well beyond the “B” track circuit, as she regularly drove at the Jockey Club tracks, where she more than held her own.

This small happening at Peterborough was an example of how badly Ontario horse people wanted to have nighttime racing made available to them. Who knows if perhaps this race night nudged the rule-makers into the decision that finally came the following year.

A great view of racing under the lights at Roosevelt Raceway, where nighttime racing was pioneered in 1940.

A very early scene at Roosevelt shows the huge crowds that enjoyed night racing for many years before it started elsewhere.

In a headline story appearing in the Montreal Gazette issue of May 9, 1961, Dr. John Findley of Arnprior, Ont. stated the following:
“Night racing will mean bigger purses and that will attract better horses to make for better racing. In addition, it may mean that we won’t lose our top drivers to the U.S. Many have left the Province because our racing has remained at the country fair level far too long. The top drivers have gone elsewhere to earn their living; people such as Clint Hodgins, Bud Gilmour and Johnny Chapman are just a few. All are top men and would probably be living in Canada if we had good racing. There can’t be good racing without night racing!”

Quote For The Week: “There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.” – Henry Ford

Who Is It?

This photo was taken at London in 1961 when a number of well-known drivers appeared at the Western Fair track to celebrate the coming of racing under the lights. Among them were several future Hall of Famers and other widely known drivers, including one very young “up-and-comer.” See how many you can recognize.

Who Else Is It?

Can you identify this fellow appearing at Roosevelt Raceway over 50 years ago?

Where Was It?

Can you identify the location of this track that offered racing under the lights long before it came to Ontario?

(The correct answers will be posted here by Robert as a comment in a few days.)