Fifty years ago the sport of harness racing in Canada was still mainly just that, a sport. The era of night racing, extended race meetings, substantial purses and year round racing was still around the proverbial corner
. One of the up and coming trainers of that era was a young fellow from Goderich named Ron McGee. Recently I have had the pleasure of several visits with him and we have used the opportunity to discuss a lot of the history and happenings of days gone by.
Ron was born into the horse and car business and followed his father Reg McGee, a Goderich auto dealer and horse enthusiast. The McGee's had a "neat" setup right in the town of Goderich. Their stable was just a few blocks from the town track and they "jogged" the horses to the local oval for their daily training routines. In 1951 at the age of 16, Ron made his first public appearance in the sulky at New Hamburg behind an old trotter named Joe Bunter .He soon became a fixture at all the local tracks, driving the family horses and eventually took on other horses to train and drive.
As the sport started to grow, he joined the many horsemen who took in the Woodbine summer meetings.
Ron's greatest day in the sport occurred on Labour Day Monday September 7, 1959, and how fitting it was for it to be at his hometown track. The Goderich track located in the town termed "Canada's Prettiest Town", was among the best known in the Province for its quality of racing, purses paid and overall facilities. This day was no exception with 10 heats scheduled, headed by the feature race, the 1959 Supertest Three-Year-Old Pace carrying a purse of $4,047.52. A crowd of nearly 3,000 were on hand. Ron was a "busy" man that day to say the least, and when the shadows of late afternoon began to fall on the shores of Lake Huron he had accomplished what few others in the sport ever have.
The then-24-year-old teamster was scheduled to drive in eight heats. He had been named a late replacement behind Supertest hopeful Poplar Flash C as regular driver Harold Wellwood had just suffered a broken leg while racing in the U.S. He was faced with a further dilemma when one race had two entrants from his stable; one belonging to his mother and another was his father's. Son Ron chose Lenas Girl, his mother's horse and a wise choice it was as two victories came behind this four-year-old. Two more wins were courtesy of Virginia Atom property of fellow townsman Bob McLean. A further pair of winning scores were behind Valuable Jerry Lee owned by father Reg. This horse later went on to stardom after being sold to U.S. interests via Harold Hewson.
The featured Supertest drew a total of 15 entrants requiring two eliminations. Poplar Flash C, owned by St. Mary's, Ontario-based fur rancher Wib White was declared the winner, based on a win and a second which was identical to the standing of Patsy Chief L, owned and driven by Talmage "Tom" Dainard, then of Tillsonburg but a native of Saskatchewan. Also winning a heat but finishing seventh in the other was Highland Atom driven by Red Tilden for Wheatley owner Clive Srigley. The declaration as winner was based on the fastest heat of the day, 2:12 3/5 posted by Poplar Flash C. It was a joyous day for the young teamster and one never again equaled in his driving career. Simply stated, "everything just all came together that day," said Ron recently (click here to view the scorecard from the day).
The times may seem slow by today's standards but some of the provinces best colts,fillies and drivers were on hand that day. Such drivers as Keith and Murray Waples, Ed Arthur, Lloyd Turvey, Bill Harvey and Neil McRann were on hand, some with multiple entries. Several colts had paced much faster miles at such U.S. tracks as Vernon Downs but that day they were no match for the combo of Poplar Flash and Ron McGee. At the end of his day's work the junior McGee had seven wins and one second in eight trips behind the starter. The announcer that day was Bill McDonnell and his job had a lot to do with repeating the words "Ron McGee Wins again!"
Around 1976 McGee put aside his career as a trainer driver and became an O.R.C. judge, a position he held until retirement. He has had a rather long and unique vantage point in the sport for some 60-plus years. He has sat behind, beside and often in front of a lot of horses as well as being perched high above in his years as a judge. He turns 75 in mid-March and has seen a lot to say the least. His memories of that day in September are still pretty vivid, despite the passage of over 50 years.
Ron still lives in his hometown and works part time for his brother Ken at his other life long interest - dealing with vintage automobiles, and a business that supplies data for the older vehicles. His wife, the former Jean Houze a member of a noted racing family from Mitchell, Ont., passed away some 10 years ago. I am grateful to Ron for his many reminiscences.