The Meadows and the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association will honour and remember the late Bob Key, longtime breeder and owner who died Jan. 27 at the age of 87, with a winners’ circle ceremony Wednesday (Feb. 3) at 12:15 p.m.
As part of the ceremony, a driverless horse from the Key stable will be walked from the paddock to the winners’ circle. In keeping with COVID-19 restrictions, the number of participants there will be limited to six; among them will be Rich Gillock and Kim Hankins, MSOA president and executive director, respectively. Track announcer Jeff Zidek will recall some of Key’s many achievements.
Key was a successful industrialist who founded and operated Key Bellevilles, Inc. in Leechburg, Pa., about 60 miles northeast of The Meadows. However, his presence in racing was just as significant. He may best be known for winning the 1993 Hambletonian with the homebred American Winner and for breeding and campaigning the millionaire half-siblings Winning Mister and Win Missy B, both out of American Winner’s daughter Winning Missbrenda.
But with his stable of racehorses and breeding stock, which may have numbered several hundred at peak, his impact on day-to-day racing — particularly at The Meadows — was profound. In recent years, he generously spread his horses around, providing work for a dozen or more trainers simultaneously.
His results as an owner may be unmatched in the sport. He finished in the top 10 in owner earnings for the last 13 years consecutively and in the top four in each of the last 11 years. Consider the Bob Key line since the USTA began compiling and archiving owner statistics in 1992:
• Starts — 26,886
• Wins — 2,868
• Earnings — $44,190,235
And those results include only horses solely owned by Key; if horses he owned in partnership were added, the statistics would be even more staggering.
(Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)