SC Rewind: Rewind Trivia

This week's edition of Rewind takes on a slightly different format.  Robert Smith has assembled a few trivia questions,  including a couple of old photographs for the reading audience.  Have a look and see how many you can figure out.  

This is a first attempt at providing a few trivia questions for the reading audience to test their knowledge on a few items randomly selected from days gone by in harness racing.  Don't be afraid to join in; nobody will be keeping score. 

#1 - Over the years there has been the odd occasion when a line broke or somehow malfunctioned during a race.  One possible solution was to have the driver leave his customary sulky seat and climb on the horse's back to bring it under control.  In the above scene a young driver did that very thing.  The track was Freehold and the U.S. driver was just 20 years of age at the time.  Can you identify this then young lad who is still very much involved in the sport?  The caption to the photo read as follows.

"Freehold Raceway patrons viewed an outstanding piece of horsemanship in the first race recently. Twenty-year-old (Fill in the blank) had to move his accustomed seat in the back to an astride position atop Rocket Aries approaching the start. The right line had broken and (Fill in the blank) move quickly to restrain his horse and keep him away from the rest of the field."

#2 - At the age of 16 Wm. "Bill" Wellwood entered the world of harness racing.  Despite being a third generation member of a racing family he had never been around horses previous to this.  He joined his Uncle Harold's stable as a groom and eventually became an accomplished trainer and driver.  By 1966 he went on his own and opened a public stable. 

He started out small, having just two horses in his fledgling stable.  Among his first chores was to employ a groom.  Can you tell us who that first hire was?  Name him if you can. 

#3 - The below item appeared in a 1959 newspaper photo.  The caption that was below it has been copied (minus the names) and displayed as a clue to the identity of this threesome.  Can you put at least a last name on the brothers?  

"Three brothers pose during work on their 60 acre farm on Five Point Road in Colts Neck.  The brothers from Staten Island bought the run-down chicken farm and are converting it to a modern stock farm for harness horses. The eldest brother at 30, was the winningest driver in New Jersey last year.  They will board, train and drive horses for others but don't plan to own horses themselves." 

#4 -  I am quite sure that a lot of readers will remember a horse from the 1980's named Armbro Agile.  He was owned and trained by a gentleman named Blake Bennett from Mossley, Ont.  He was a great performer and at the peak of his career travelled to Europe to race.  He was handled by a number of well known drivers. 

The following item appeared in a 1983 issue of The Standardbred magazine,  a very popular publication of the day.  The text shown below is exactly as the original stated but without the name of the driver.  Who can tell us who that gentleman was?  

"A $10,000 conditioned trot on Sunday evening saw favoured Armbro Agile make up ground in the lane to record his second straight win in 2:00.3.  (Fill in the blank) was in the sulky for the first time behind the Dream Of Glory four-year-old owned by Blake Bennett of Belmont, Ont."  Who was the driver?  

#5 - A copy of a once important document is shown above.  This item was around for a very long time. What was it called and what was its use?  

#6 - Shown above is a once popular device found among the equipment of many harness racing stables.  Can you tell us what it is and what it was used for?  

#7 - Geography 101 

When the Ontario Sires Stakes program started 50 years ago in 1974,  a total of 20 individual tracks hosted events that season.  Can you name the four tracks that were the following: 

1. Farthest north
2. Most southerly 
3. Farthest east 
4. Most westerly 

#7A - How many of the four locations above still host OSS races as of 2024? 

Quote For The Week: "The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Tony Robbins

Who Is It?  

Can you identify any of the individuals in the above photo taken in 1960.  The picture was taken after a win in the Peninsula Stake, a series of colt races held for a number of years at several Niagara Peninsula small town tracks.  The lady presenting the trophy is Mrs. Tom McDonnell. She did a lot of the typing and clerical work involved.  The gents at either end were well known in the area and throughout the sport.  The driver was very young and soon became well known. 

Who Else Is It?  

Can you identify these two young lads in this 1990 photo?  The fellow on the right was receiving an award for his driving skills at the old Elmira track from Mr. "Forever Young" on the left.  Let us know.  

Blast From The Past 

HORSEPOWER AD 

The above item appeared in a November 1952 classified ad in the Sherbrooke, Que. newspaper.  Interesting and I wonder how many applicants they received.