Thousands cheered for him down the lane. Hundreds stormed into the winner’s circle to stand by his side after a victory.

San Pail was not just a beloved racehorse - he was an athlete that brought people together and truly made his mark. By Garnet Barnsdale

Rarely has a racehorse meant so much to so many people the way San Pail has.

The 2016 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee and 2011 North American Horse of the Year developed a rarely-seen massive following over the course of his storied rags-to-riches career which culminated in his thrilling 2011 Breeders Crown triumph in front of his adoring masses on his home course, Woodbine Racetrack.

And my family and I even have a much deeper connection to San Pail and his connections than most, because of the generosity and kindness of the Hughes’ family, who made a dream come true for one of San Pail’s biggest fans -– my sister Linda –- in her final days on earth.

The tremendous following that the son of San Pellegrino developed is a phenomenon rarely seen these days at a racetrack, and is something which hasn’t been duplicated since ‘Pail’s’ retirement. Each race night, the ‘Pail Posse’ would be directed (on Facebook) by the matriarch of the group, ‘Mama Pail’ Susan Hughes (owner/trainer Rod’s mother) to wear clothes the same colour as the saddle cloth that had been assigned to the star trotter. She would encourage new fans to join in the fun with social media posts like: “Come on out and cheer for Pail and join us in the winner’s circle for the photo. Pail loves to meet his fans!”

Woodbine Entertainment Group announcer Ken Middleton –- who coined the group’s ‘Pail Posse’ name –- explains how he came up with that moniker. “His ‘fan club’ in the winner’s circle seemed to grow on a weekly basis, and I guess it was something that just seemed appropriate to say,” Middleton remembers. “It was the same people every week, with a few more friends and family members joining in on the fun every week. You don’t see a lot of that in this day and age. It kind of reminded me of Cam Fella’s following from back in the day.”

The Pail Posse was a phenomenon that grew from a typically small racetrack gathering early in the gelding’s racing career.

“Funny thing is it started off with just my dad Jerry, wife Emily and I going to the races,” owner/trainer Rod Hughes said. “Then the better he got, the more people started showing up. People started getting behind him after he set the track record at Kawartha when he was three.”

The Posse would typically assemble on the apron, decked out in the assigned colours and interact before the race. Many new friends were made on these nights, but there was no mistaking what everyone had come for: they were all there to support and cheer on their hero, and cheer they did! In the 40 years I have been following local harness racing, I cannot remember ever hearing a crowd as loud as the Pail Posse cheering him to victory in the 2011 Breeders Crown at Woodbine over the two standout European trotters, Rapide Lebel and Commander Crowe. I often relive that electrifying moment in time by watching the race on YouTube and every time I do I am amazed at the sustained roar of the crowd from start to finish which reaches a crescendo as San Pail and Randy Waples reach the wire victorious. That is truly a night that anyone who was there will remember forever. The throng that came down for the winner’s circle –- estimated at more than 300 fans –- was so large that San Pail could barely be seen in the panoramic winner’s circle picture!

“There was a lot of build up to that race, and it lived up to the billing...that’s for sure,” Middleton recalls. “His fans were down below and I could hear them all roaring when the field came out of the final turn.” When the winner hit the wire, Middleton bellowed into the loudspeaker: “San Pail, U DA MAN!” “It was just a spur of the moment thing,” he recalls. “I’ve always tried to simply be spontaneous. He sure was “The Man” that night. What a performance.”

San Pail’s Maple Leaf Trot three-peat in 2011 was also a night where his Posse showed up en masse, ready to boisterously cheer on their hero. Kathy Wade Vlaar, Director of Industry Marketing for Standardbred Canada, remembers it as one of the high points of his career.

“In June of 2011, I contacted Rod Hughes and Glenn Van Camp and asked if San Pail could be one of our Faces of Racing to help promote our newly-created I Love Canadian Harness Racing Fan Club,” Wade Vlaar explains. “The Fan Club was very fortunate to have a superstar horse to promote racing that came turn-key with wonderful people who were willing to share him with the fans! For the next three years, (and beyond) Pail was the Fan Club’s poster boy and the catalyst for getting many fans interested in the ILCHR Fan Club and harness racing.

One of my own favourite racing memories of San Pail was the 2011 Maple Leaf Trot night. Needless to say, Mohawk was a sea of purple (he had P.P.#9), and for anyone who didn’t own anything purple, the fan club team gave out purple boas and purple beads, which went like hotcakes, along with 500 ‘I Love San Pail’ buttons. People wore purple shirts, purple hats, purple shorts, purple dresses, purple watches, purple shoes and sandals, purple scarves, purple flowers. There was every shade of purple imaginable! The energy and atmosphere at the track that night was intoxicating! It’s an adrenaline rush when there’s that kind of energy at the track. When San Pail stepped onto the track for the post parade, the crowd erupted. When he made front just past the quarter, the cheering escalated...when he crossed that finish line first, the cheering and yelling was deafening! The winner’s circle was a sea of extremely happy purple fans.

Many members of the Pail Posse reached out with their stories when I recently posted a message in San Pail’s Facebook group (which has 374 active members).

Susan Harris, 60, from Bowmanville remembers San Pail’s second Maple Leaf Trot win in 2010 as a fond memory.

“Susan Hughes had put together red sand pails with Pail’s name on them and put colouring books and treats in them for all the younger Posse members. Susan Hall brought homemade cookies and squares to all home races for everyone. My mom Doreen Brock, the oldest Posse member at 86, dyed her hair blue for one of the races in which he drew post two.” Harris says she has memories that will last a lifetime. “The cheers from the grandstand when he raced is one thing that I will never forget,” she remarks. “You could tell by watching him that he loved it. He loved to race and win.”

Joanne Robinson says that she fell in love with San Pail through her boyfriend Dave Van Camp, who is the nephew of the breeder/owner of Pail, Glenn and Donna Van Camp.

“I had the honour of spending 2011 going to all of his races in the company of Glenn and Donna, so watching Pail race will be a forever memory,” she recalls. “My favourite was watching him race at the Red Mile, where there were worries about travel, him not eating well and that red clay! But he succeeded beyond dreams and to see Glenn’s eyes and hear lovely Donna’s cheers brought heart bounding excitement to Dave’s and my hearts. I am grateful for being a small, tiny part in this horse’s big life.”

Susan Hughes, who could be found at the rail of every one of San Pail’s races with daughter Rhonda, remembers the first Maple Leaf Trot win as one of his biggest moments.

“The big thing was beating Lucky Jim that year who hadn’t lost in 12 races and was racing against all the top horses like Arch Madness who had won this race the year before,” Susan Hughes remembers. “It was very emotional. I was crying all the way down the stretch. That was the most exciting race, although the Breeders Crown is up there, too.”

“There will never be another horse that will have that kind of following again,” Hughes’ cousin Susan Hall says. “The way that Rod invited anyone out that wanted to get their picture taken in the winner’s circle got people involved.”

My own most vivid and treasured memory of the great champion and the Hughes’ will always come not from a race, but from a visit arranged for my sister Linda in December 2014. Linda, a charter member of the Posse had become gravely ill. We knew, and she knew, that she didn’t have much time left. My wife Kim thought it would be nice for Linda to have a picture of San Pail to put in her room in the palliative care unit where she was spending her final days on earth.

“Why don’t you bring her out to the farm to get a picture with Pail?” Rod Hughes replied.

That was all we needed to hear but we knew we had to move fast. The next Sunday we picked Linda up at Baycrest Hospital and set off for a “day out.” Many times she asked where we were going on the way there and each time I replied, “It’s a surprise.” Her final and correct guess was a question to me. “Where we are going, does it have seven letters?” With tears in my eyes I nodded yes and Linda’s tears of joy flowed freely. We arrived at the Hughes farm and Linda enjoyed a visit with San Pail followed by lunch at Jerry and Susan Hughes' house where she viewed the Hughes' vast harness racing memorabilia collection. On the way home Linda was beaming. “I have to tell (my daughter) Lauren that I scratched a big item off my Bucket List,” she exclaimed. “Actually there was only one thing on it.”

As my sister and I embraced to say goodbye it became clearer how much the visit to see San Pail had meant to her. “Thanks,” she said. “It was the BEST day. Ever.” This was the last time Linda would leave Baycrest as she passed away less than two weeks later. But we had been provided with a great gift that day and a memory to cherish forever. San Pail was in our Hall of Fame long before he was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. He always will be.

Rod Hughes sums up his star trotter’s appeal best. “I think that he wasn’t from a big stable and he wasn’t from a big name trainer is what made him so popular,” he says. “He was a small guy’s horse, ya know.” Hughes beams when speaking of San Pail’s Hall of Fame induction. “It’s pretty special to have a horse on the wall there for sure.” In typical Hughes family fashion, nothing is ever taken for granted. “Emily, Wyatt, Trace and I would like to thank my family and all the fans,” says Rod.

No, thank you; for the ride, the memories, and for the Canadian racing legend known to his followers simply as ‘Pail’.