In this week's Rewind column, Robert Smith takes readers back to a January Saturday afternoon in 1983 at the beloved old Greenwood Raceway. It was indeed a day like no other that this historic spot had seen in what was then its 108th year of staging racing, both standardbred and thoroughbred. To say that there was a lot going on that day was a gross understatement.
It seems somehow that if something a bit strange and exciting was likely to happen, there was a good chance that it just might occur at the "Downtown Track," which was Greenwood Raceway in Toronto.
The afternoon of Saturday, January 29, 1983, which is now a mere 43 years ago, was a huge day at Greenwood. Much of what happened was somewhat anticipated but, at the end of the day, a couple of unusual things had occurred. When the track closed forever 10 years later, undoubtedly a couple of the records set on this day had never been bettered.
For many years, Saturday afternoon at Greenwood was a huge drawing card, regardless of the racing talent or even the weather. On this day, unlike many other wintertime Saturdays, the weather was quite mild. A total of 16,822 fans filed into Greenwood that afternoon. This was right up there with the largest crowd ever but fell a bit short of the record of 18,389 set in 1972.
Title from Ottawa Citizen newspaper
Most of this day's fans entered with dreams of going home with at least a portion of the largest Sweep Six pool in Ontario history. This, combined with an unseasonably warm January day, helped to set the stage.
As for the mutuel handle, that was another story. The huge crowd was fuelled by the possibility of a huge payout based on the betting feature known as "Sweep Six." This betting choice required that a bettor select six consecutive winners from the fourth through the ninth races — a challenging task, to say the least.
After four previous cards resulted in no winners, the carryover had grown to a whopping $323,539. Lured by the growing prize, 16,822 fans poured an additional $2,604,589 (grand total) through the track windows to further inflate the "Sweep Six" pool. The second-largest crowd in the track's history established a new one-day wagering total for either standardbred or thoroughbred racing.
Reportedly, syndicates spent many thousands on the betting but, early in the six-race contest, many soon went out of business. When heavily favoured Hucks Girl at 3-5 failed to win the afternoon's featured Blizzard Series final — the second Sweep Six race — the number of live tickets plummeted from 44,922 to only 964.
When Garmor Easy, driven by Tom Strauss, won the sixth contest at 4-1 odds by a nose, the hopeful list dropped to 157. When Damon Seelster, with Ted Jacobs in the sulky, an even-money favourite, took the next race, the list shrank to just 59. Things were getting ever more tense. In the eighth tilt, Witty Wil, a 7-1 choice driven by Dave Wall, was the winner and the list of thrill-seekers sank further to a total of just five!
Before the ninth and final race of the "Sweep Six" took place, a short skirmish occurred in the stands when reportedly a bettor tried to sell his live ticket for $200,000! I could find very little to verify the validity of this incident beyond a brief mention in an Ottawa paper. The eventual winner, which brought the whole affair to a climax, was perhaps an aptly named hero, Canadian Crown, a five-year-old bay gelding by Bye Bye Roger. The winning driver, with his second winner's circle visit, was Tom Strauss.
The question then became: who was the winner (or winners), and how much did they win? For those who like to play with numbers, the winning combination was 6-5-2-2-1-7.
Two winning tickets, each worth $380,537.20, were cashed from the betting pool. An elderly man from Ottawa, who declined to be identified, took his windfall in the form of a cheque. Meanwhile, two gentlemen, both of Toronto, who were cousins sharing a ticket, walked off with cash and cheques. The two were identified as Joseph Gustavas and Frances Macalla.
Gustavas, employed as a printer, arrived late at the track and saw only the last two races involved in the betting. "I thought I was driving (in the final race) myself," he said. "Let me sit down please," said an unruffled Macalla, who had worked for a candy manufacturer for the past 17 years. "I'm the one that did all the work!"
And so ended one of the really great and exciting days of harness racing at Greenwood. First of all, it was a new Canadian record for mutuel handle for the entire program. The betting pool of $761,174, which was shared by just two tickets, established a new record for an exotic mutuel pool in Ontario racing history. It was one WILD DAY!
RECAP OF THE RACE DAY
Race 1 Winner – Rhea Mae, Driver Ron Waples
Race 2 Winner – Maribest, Driver Rheal Bourgeois
Race 3 Winner – Hornby Steve, Driver Steve Condren
Race 4 Winner – Horton Herbert, Driver Bill Megens (Start of Sweep Six wagering)
Race 5 Winner – Chasamar Holly, Driver Dave Wall
Race 6 Winner – Garmor Easy, Driver Tom Strauss
Race 7 Winner – Damon Seelster, Driver Ted Jacobs
Race 8 Winner – Witty Wil, Driver Dave Wall
Race 9 Winner – Canadian Crown, Driver Tom Strauss (End of Sweep Six wagering)
Race 10 Winner – Cowboy Wann, Driver Brent Davies
BLIZZARD SERIES FINAL
The featured race of the day was the Blizzard Final, a race for fillies and mares. While it was an exciting and eventful contest, it was forced to take a lesser role than usual because of the other things going on. With a purse of $22,600 on the line, the 10 top money-winners in the series answered the starter's call.
Although Chasmar Holly had won one leg and finished second in two others, she did not gain favoured status in the final. The six-year-old mare saved her best for last and chipped in with a stakes record of 2:00.4 to take the victory. Driver Dave Wall got up in the final strides to grab the lead from heavily favoured Hucks Girl and earn the win.
To add a bit more drama to the afternoon, Hucks Girl (Harold Smalley) was moved back to third for an interference violation in the stretch. This placing advanced another aptly named entrant, Live Ticket, a 90-1 outsider, into the second-place spot. Chasmar Holly was owned by the trio of Barry Irving of Stouffville, along with trainer Stan Brown and Lewis Palmer, both of Oshawa.
Since this event happened about 43 years ago it is interesting to see what the payoff on that day would amount to in today's dollars. Adjusted for inflation, the value of the total betting pool would be approx. $2,121,515.00. With just two winning tickets, the individual winning ticket value would be approx. $1,060,618.33.
A new millionaire in Ottawa and two cousins in Toronto who instantly became "half millionaires." A rather nice day at the races!
NOTE: Be sure to see the Who Is It? photo shown below.
Quote for the Week: "To be the best you have to beat the best." – Unknown
Who Is It?
Can you identify anyone in this photo connected to today's story?
Who Else Is It?
Can you identify this young fellow? He was present for the big hoopla that happened in today's story. This photo was not taken on that day. Let us know who you think he is.
Where Was It?
This old postcard dates back to 1905. Can you perhaps identify where the location was? Unfortunately, it is no longer around, but it did serve as host to both standardbred and thoroughbred racing for over 100 years.
(The correct answers to the above photos will be posted here by Robert as a comment in a few days.)