In this week's Rewind Robert Smith takes readers back some 65 years to 1959 and a very special race held at Montreal's Blue Bonnets Raceway. At this time an alliance of top tracks had joined forces and this grouping included the very up-and-coming Blue Bonnets track in Montreal.
Way back in 1959 Canadian harness racing took a major step forward when a then important series of races made their first visit to Canadian soil. The series which was called The H.T.A. Series. Those initials stood for "Harness Tracks Of America" and the races they sponsored and organized brought out the top talent then available. When race organizers decided to hold their first race in Canada it was a major event.
By the end of the decade of the 1950's most knowledgeable folks in harness racing circles were definitely acknowledging that racing at Montreal's two top tracks, Blue Bonnets and Richelieu Park was at or very near to being on a par with many major U.S. tracks. The facilities especially at Blue Bonnets were currently under intense renovations.
In February of 1959 racing officials at Blue Bonnets were notified that they had been accepted as a member of the H.T.A. group. The upcoming program included a series of races for four-year-old pacers with a total purse value of $250,000, to be held at 16 different tracks across North America. It was billed as the world's richest harness racing series. The Montreal-based track was Canada's only member. The series would make two visits to Blue Bonnets.
Also at this time it was announced that Lucien Bombardier, current race secretary of Blue Bonnets, had been named a director of the organization. One of his first duties was to attend the group's annual meeting in late February to be held in Boca Raton, Florida. Based on the difference in daily high temperatures of the two locations it was undoubtedly a nice way to start his new role.
A view of Blue Bonnets new state of the art clubhouse and grandstand in the background as a field of horses follow the starting gate.
On August 29, 1959 a group of four-year-old pacers made the first ever appearance of this H.T.A. travelling series in Canada. It was a landmark happening and a further indication of just how important Canadian harness racing was proving to be. In days past top performing U.S. horses seldom journeyed to Canada. The reasons were pretty simple, the competition level and the purses just did not warrant the trip.
On this history-making day a record crowd of 10,318 were on hand. This total erased the existing record of 8,987 set just a week previous to this. The mutuel handle was $409,920 which topped a very recent record of $367,987 set just a week earlier. Also of note was the fact that for the first time ever wagering on a single race went over the $50,000 mark when $53,000 was bet on the featured race of the day.
The main event of the day was the $11,892 H.T.A. Pace and it was won in convincing fashion by an American invader named Tar Boy. This four-year-old pacer was at the top of his class and had proven so with his previous performances that season. Tar Boy was a son of Tar Heel and was owned by the well known T.J. Zornow stable of Pittsford, N.Y. He was trained and driven by top U.S. horseman Levi Harner, a gentleman well known to Canadian horsemen who raced on the Buffalo and Batavia circuit.
Note: The purse of $11,892 for the H.T.A. event is equal to approx. $124,100 in today's dollars adjusted for inflation.
Tar Boy came into the race very highly favoured in the eight-horse field. Most of the starters were from the U.S. but one local entry fared quite well in the final summary. Surprisingly Checkout, a 60-1 outsider owned by Maplewood Stables of Montreal took down the third place finish with Jim Weiner in the bike.
Tar Boy, sent off at 1-4 led for the entire mile and was never really challenged. At the wire a fast-charging Wil Counsel came closest to the winner but it appeared that Harner had the race well in hand. While not publicized in the summary, the driver of the runner up was the winning driver's son in law, Wm. 'Bud' Gilmour. The winning time was 2:02.1.
H.T.A. Winner: Driver Levi Harner and Tar Boy are feted in The Blue Bonnets winner's circle after capturing the Blue Bonnets segment of the H.T.A. Pace in 2:02.1. The purse value was $11,392. Shown here left to right are Rolland Desjardins, general manager of Blue Bonnets; director Rene Thomas who donated the trophy to commemorate the first H.T.A. in Canada; driver Levi Harner; racing secretary Lucien Bombardier; Don MacFarlane, president of the H.T.A. and Sidney Anton, comptroller of Hazel Park in Detroit.
Two weeks previous to this an earlier leg of this series was held at Batavia Downs, another H.T.A. member track. The winner was Bye Bye Byrd, who just edged out Canadian entrant Mighty Dudley and driver Keith Waples by a scant nose; third was Tar Boy. The winning time of 1:59.2 tied Bye Bye Byrd's own world record for four-year-old pacers. (Not sure why neither of these horses did not compete in the Montreal race.)
This day was regarded as the individual highlight of the 1959 Blue Bonnets' season. Both attendance and betting records were eclipsed as the track enjoyed completion of the first phase of a multi-million dollar renovation program. The winning time achieved by Tar Boy in the H.T.A. event was the fastest of the 1959 season, tied with an identical clocking by Devastator the very next day. This clocking was just one-fifth of a second off of the existing track record of 2:02 set by Duane Hanover set in June of 1957.
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Duane Hanover appears in the Blue Bonnets winner's circle with a host of guests. From left: Lucien Bombardier; Billy Haughton; co-owners Mr. and Mrs. Karl; Eugene Lajoie of Blue Bonnets; Rene Chartrand and co-owner Francois Seremba. Take note of the gigantic Sunday afternoon crowd on hand to witness this record-setting event. (Harness Horse)
Quote For The Week: "When everyone is thinking the same, then no one is thinking." - Unknown
Who Is It?
Who is this chap who was well known at the Montreal tracks?
Who Else Is It?
Can you identify anyone in this old photo taken at Blue Bonnets a little over 50 years ago? The winning horse was Satin Mir.
(The correct answers will be posted here by Robert as a comment in a few days.)