In this week's edition of Rewind, Robert Smith takes a look back at some of the personalities and events from the decade of the 1940's in the ongoing monthly feature Years Ago. The sport was greatly hampered by WWII in the early part of the decade but rebounded in a large way in the period immediately following the end of global conflict.
1941 - Race Days Held At Stratford Fairgrounds
At this time the Stratford Turf Club presented one of the top race meetings in the entire Province. Local hotel owner David Pinkney, who was also a horse owner, was the longtime promoter and organizer. Despite some weather uncertainties, the two-day meeting on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 was carried out successfully with a total of eight races which included 24 heats in total.
Undoubtedly the highlight of the gathering was the two Futurity races staged on the second day. This marked the 13th annual staging of the Standardbred Society's signature races. These races had showcased many future stars as the best young horses of both gaits were featured. The purses offered provided quite an incentive for the people who wished to breed, raise and race colts as two and three-year-olds.
Results of the 1941 Futurities
Pine Ridge Babe was a three-heat winner for owners Brooks Bros. of London and driver Jack Finnerty.
Barbara Lee, owned by the Manchester Farm, was a three-heat winner with the farm's head trainer and driver Jack Finnerty in the sulky. The first four finishers were all sired by Lee Harvester, who was Canada's leading sire of trotting stock at the time. He stood at the Manchester Farm in Galt, Ont.
The double victory by Mr. Finnerty was something never accomplished by any one driver before this day.
Note:The approx. value of $2,500 in 1941 adjusted for inflation amounts to approx. $49,200 in today's dollars. Nice purse back then!
1944 - Hambletonian Continues During WWII
Despite many races being cancelled and tracks closed during the war years (1939 - 1945) the famed Hambletonian continued.
Yankee Maid was the winner of the 1944 Hambletonian at Goshen, N.Y. The trophy presentation to owner A.L. Derby of Wichita, Ks. was made by James Cagney, motion picture star. The driver was Henry Thomas. On the far left is Lt. Richard Derby, son of the owner in military uniform. (Photo courtesy of Hambletonian Society)
Note - A special anniversary for the Hambletonian will occur later this year as this famous race will stage the 100th race in its now very long existence. Canadians have played a large role in its history dating back to the first contest in 1926 when Canadian born driver Nat Ray won the inaugural with Guy McKinney.
1947 - Harness Racing Popular At Three Rivers Track
In the years following WWII harness racing in the Province of Quebec enjoyed a resurgence along with many areas across the land. Exhibition Park located in Three Rivers was a bustling beehive of activity at this time and attracted many horsemen from quite a wide area.
During Exhibition week in August 1947, most of the top horses in the Province appeared during the week-long meeting. Heading the list was the trotter Provident who won the $1,000 Free For All Trot in three straight heats for owner Emile Blondeau of Quebec City. Highland Frisco won the top pacing event with two wins and a second while Saratoga was 1-2-2 in the $800 event. The week's exciting program concluded with a five-mile event taken by Laura Volo, pacing the long distance in 12:34 4/5.
A large crowd is shown at Three Rivers during 1947 Exhibition Week. Every winning horse was listed as Quebec-owned with the exception of one. That was Smokey Dale owned by A.D. Harrison of far away Brandon, Man. The size of the crowd pictured above was an indication of the popularity of harness racing at this time.
1948 - Starting Gate Becomes Popular
The 1948 season in Ontario harness racing saw the emergence of the revolutionary starting gate in many areas of the Province. In May of 1947 the first new starting gate made its appearance at Sarnia. That history making event involved the creation of Tom McDonnell of Hamilton. Later that year Tillsonburg automobile dealer Art Whitesell introduced his new version at the town of Grand Valley.
An early version of the Whitesell starting gate is shown in action at the Tillsonburg track. I am just guessing but this may have been his first gate, if not a very early one.
After being put to use at several race meetings in southern Ontario later that year the 1948 season saw a huge increase in demand for this new invention. After many years of frustration with the old open scoring system of starting races the new gate made a vast improvement in conducting the sport.
Note - Art Whitesell continued to operate his starting gate for many years at many small town venues. When night racing came to Ontario in 1961, Art was the starter at London's Western Fair track and he served in that capacity until his passing in 1980.
Quote For The Week: "It's the most people I've ever been ignored by." - Singer Vince Gill jokingly said after performing in front of a huge audience.
Who Is It?
Can you identify the driver in this old photo taken during the relatively short time that single shaft sulkies were all the rage? I believe it was declared illegal to use in late 1973.
Who Else Is It?
Can you identify the driver in this old photo?
From The 1940's
Can you identify this gentleman who was definitely around (and winning races) during the decade of the 1940's? Tell us who he is.
(The correct answers will be posted here by Robert as a comment in a few days.)