Robert Smith reviews the career of a veteran horseman named Mervin Kirkness in this week's edition of the SC Rewind
.
When veteran horseman Mervin Kirkness was born on a farm in western Canada during the height of the Depression, things were pretty "lean". A roof over one's head and a seat at the table was considered a luxury. One of eight children, "Merv" entered the world May 7, 1933 in a small rural Saskatchewan hamlet that bore the name Punnichy. To fully appreciate its pronunciation (Poo-Knee-Chy), you really have to hear it from someone who was born there. Located in the Touchwood Hills region on the CN Line, its current population is still below 300 and was even lower back then.
The love of horses and the beginning of his lifelong involvement began at a young age. Despite the tough times, Merv wasn't like most children of his era who walked the customary "five miles each way to school and always in a blizzard." Instead he got a ride to school each day which was quite unusual. The "lift" came about by riding his pony to a small one room school that was home to just a handful of students. A stable on the grounds housed his pony until school let out at day's end. Such was life in those bygone days out on the "lone prairie".
Around the end of WW II, the Kirkness family moved further east and took up residence near Virden, Manitoba, the town that was about to be known as the "Oil Capital of Manitoba". It was here that his first real involvement with the standardbreds began. An area horseman by the name of Ray Dryden gave the young teenager a job as a groom and eventual trainer. The harness racing season was relatively short and moved from town to town and from one fair to the next. Many fine horsemen trace their roots to this region of the country and the racing was extremely well organized and competitive. The names of Jim Wiener, Bob Silliphant, Norman Temple, Jim Kealey and Jack Kopas were a few who hail from or raced frequently in this region along with others mentioned elsewhere.
Merv's first public appearance in the sulky came at nearby Carman, Manitoba behind a horse named Barax who provided him with a third place finish. A winner of the Manitoba Futurity at three, he was just an average horse at this time. Racing as part of a three-horse entry all owned by The Drader Stable of Dunrea, Man., Merv found out that the owner usually picked out the best horse for himself as Hank Drader behind Royal Chuck won both heats. The other entry, Roxie Lauderdale was handled by Clarence "Sugar" Gagnon, another well known horseman from this area. While not a "fairy tale" start, it marked the first of many drives in a career that was to span several decades and cover a lot of the Continent and virtually every major racing centre on both sides of the border. Merv was never among the leading trainers or drivers, but his results were always productive based on the smaller operation he preferred.
In the mid 1950's as the Drader Stable made a long eastward trip to Quebec, the young trainer driver went along. Their destination was the Three Rivers track. Getting there was an adventure in itself as several stable hands road in the box cars along with the horses. Although they took mattresses, Merv said "when that train got rolling you didn't rest much". Merv quite liked it in La Belle Province and also soon found another reason to stay. A young gal named Cecile Dufresne, who was not from a racing background but attended the races, eventually became Mrs. Kirkness and the trips were less frequent to Western Canada. He recalls some great times at the Three Rivers track where in the off season many social events took place and people gathered to put in the winter months. Apartments above the stables served as dance and gathering rooms. Horsepeople were even able to run a "chit" for certain things and pay when the racing season resumed.
Merv soon had a number of his own horses as well as operating a small public stable. He learned a lot in a short time. He purchased several horses sight unseen, taking the sellers’ word over the phone and most turned out well. Another experience saw him accept some horses through an intermediary who said "race them less frequently and you'll make money." The owner soon called and said “get racing them at least twice a week or…” When Merv gave a dissenting opinion he got a surprise. As he went to the stable for the evening feeding, the horses had been trucked away by the owner! Despite the perils involved with race driving, Merv's most serious accident was two broken fingers when his mare My Little Margie choked down and fell during a race. A couple more of his horses were Old Gold, Brandy Hal and the aptly named Mervin Hal.
In the mid 1960's Mervin began working for Wilbur Thompson a noted horseman from Weyburn, Sask., and the stable's travels eventually led to Southern Ontario. With the coming of winter racing at Windsor in the fall of '65, Merv moved to the town of Leamington, a popular training locale. He has resided there ever since and two of the three Kirkness children were born in that town. Following his long tenure with the Thompson operation he also worked for a number of other outfits including John Campbell, Pat Crowe and The Silver Maple Farm in Michigan. If you ask Merv if he has ever been to a certain track, the answer is usually "Yes"; and he probably liked it there, too.
Today at the age of 77, Merv is basically retired but remains active and in good health. He still feeds daily for a few local trainers at the Leamington track such as Jim Ellis, Rod Duford and Reg Rollings. He also spends time with his family although many miles separate them. His daughter Angela is a teacher in the far northern Ontario town of Sioux Lookout and son Daniel, who works in radio, lives at Cobden, Ont. Lyne, his youngest, lives in the nearby town of Essex. Unfortunately six years ago his wife passed away but luckily the couple had travelled extensively including several winters in Florida with their camper and also had time to see their four grandchildren growing up.
With Mervin's long and interesting career in the sport he could probably write a book, but he's not likely to. I'm just glad that he has shared his pictures and told me some good stories to add to my "book".