“I Did Whatever I Could Do To Be Around A Horse”

Tim Twaddle recently made the trek back to his hometown to be enshrined in the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame. And, like he did during his discussion with Trot Insider, the accomplished driver/trainer tried his best to convey his love for the game. “I did whatever I could do to be around a horse,” he said.

The St. Catharines Standard covered Twaddle’s induction into the local sports hall, and the magnitude of the honour was not lost on the 55-year-old horseman that now calls Canonsburg, PA home.

(Left to Right) David Gorman, Diane Hilko, Mark Johnston, Tim Twaddle and Stan Ciesla (Stan was accepting on behalf of his late brother, Hank Ciesla) after being inducted into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame (Image courtesy the St. Catharines Standard)

Twaddle retired from driving after nerve damage in his hand forced him to focus solely on training. Although the nerve issue was the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ in terms of the sulky, the hard-nosed horseman was knocked down many times in his career, only to come back stronger and more determined.

First and foremost giving thanks to the former Garden City Raceway, Twaddle said that, throughout his career, “the highs were extremely high, but there were a lot of lows, too.

“I would hit the ground a lot of times, and I didn’t bounce very [well].”

Twaddle took the time to pay some respect to some of the medical professionals that helped put him back together again and again.

“I’m grateful for the Niagara Rehab Centre,” he said. “I’m sure they don’t remember me, but I remember all of them very well.”

(With files from the St. Catharines Standard)