SC Rewind: Years Ago - 1970s

This week's Rewind is the monthly feature Years Ago and Robert Smith has selected a few old pictures and short clips related to the decade of the 1970's. That means that names and faces from 40 to 50 years ago will be a part of this week's offering. My hope is that many of you will find an item or two that brings back a happy memory from the past.

1970 - Grise On The Rise

Photo courtesy of Montreal Gazette

July 1970 - Followers of the sulky scene at the big Montreal tracks are beginning to notice a rising star on the horizon and his name is Serge Grise. The now 26-year-old sulky sitter just scored his first hat trick of the season at Richelieu Park over the weekend. His victories came behind Lonesome Valley, Beaute Coloniale and Devil Mir and vaulted him into the top spot in the driver's standings based on his 52 wins. He seems almost certain to reach at least 100 victories for the season which will be a milestone.

Young Grise would like to better his career wins total for a season which is 94, garnered just last season. He began driving on a full-time basis three years previous to this and each year his win totals have improved. His career best of 94 in 1969 was achieved by winning 76 races at the Montreal tracks and 18 more at Quebec City and Three Rivers. Serge trains and drives for his father's stable which currently numbers 13 head and is likely to increase in size. He is also in demand as a catch driver.

The orange and red silks of the Grise family have been prominent in recent years with the team of father Alcides as trainer and son Serge doing the driving. Unfortunately the senior member of the family is currently on the sidelines recovering from a serious track accident. The Grise Stable has a nicely equipped horse van which sports the stable colours and transports their charges wherever they need to travel and they also ship for others when time permits.

1971 - New Publication Launched

Shown above is a very early 1971 copy of Canada's newest harness racing publication first known as The Standardbred Record. The magazine's description was "Dedicated To The Improvement Of Canadian Standardbred Racing And Breeding." See below for a trivia question related to this cover photo.

Back in 1971, which has somehow quickly become 50 years ago, an enterprising and capable young lady by the name of Barbara Waples (later Lennox) started a new print publication and it was initially called The Standardbred Record. Her headquarters were first located in Orangeville, Ontario and later in Acton. Her background and upbringing certainly were contributing factors in leading her in this rather unusual and challenging direction. She being the daughter of Keith and Eileen Waples, thus not a lot more elaborate introduction is necessary.

In time, through her diligence, foresight, professionalism and vision for the future, her magazine rose to world-class status and was read by many who wished to be well-informed. The format, colour and overall quality rivalled any publication in the business. I am proud to have been even a small part of her success as for several years I penned a column titled Looking Back; a series that chronicled the sport's earlier days and personalities. One lasting memory I personally will always associate with this column was the logo Barb chose for me which was the old traditional soft silk hat that all drivers once wore before the days of helmets. It was a theme that most often evoked memories of a bygone era, but ones well worth remembering.

Early in 1971 her first issue came rolling off the presses. A small notice posted on page 3 showed some important facts. "The Standardbred Record is published bi-weekly and distributed by mail to all residents of Ontario who are members of The Canadian Trotting Association. Subscriptions $5.00 per year." The fact that a year's subscription cost the princely sum of $5.00 tells us that quite a bit of time has passed and a lot has changed in 50 years.

To this day, a number of the old back issues of The Standardbred serve as a treasure trove of information, pictures and, yes, even inspiration in what I am doing at the present time. In writing for the Internet, things have changed drastically, but you still require good background information.

"Looking Back," I say "Thanks" to Barb for a job well done and a job now well remembered.

1972 - Moffatt Scores Four On Sunday Card At Windsor

London-based horseman Rick Moffat put together the winningest card of any driver in the first six weeks of Windsor's summer meeting on the afternoon of Sunday, July 23. The 25-year-old sulky sitter, who got his start with fellow London-area horseman Neil McRann, was red hot. He started out the day with a fifth-place finish in the opener but was right back in the second with a winning drive behind Mighty Gent. He followed this with another win in the fourth with Stately, Kon Tiki in the fifth and Lus Imp in the sixth. After watching the next three races from the paddock he came within a proverbial whisker in the tenth and final when he was second behind Leo's Star.

Moffatt joined a rather select group of drivers who had scored four or more victories at Windsor since its opening in October 1965. Herve Filion led the elite group with six wins on opening night 1969, Carmine Abbatiello had five while Greg Wright had two four win cards in 1971 and Percy Robillard previously also had a four-win performance.

The 1972 season turned out to be a productive one for Moffatt (shown above) as he recorded 116 wins in 615 drives, also winning $98,000 in purse money, the best numbers of his young career.

1976 - Randy Fulmer Has Record Day

Courtesy of The Windsor Star

Saturday March 8, 1976 was a "really big day" for a young 20-year-old Windsor horseman named Randy Fulmer. He had a taste of how the big time drivers spend their days and nights. In the afternoon he was off to Chicago's Hawthorne Park where he piloted the trotter Rising Wind to an upset victory in the Erwin F. Dygert Memorial Trot. That race was named after Mr. Dygert, a man who was instrumental in bringing night time racing to Chicago. Rising Wind, now a five-year-old, was owned jointly by Fulmer, Louis Moisson and Dan Cottingham. As an outsider the horse paid $69.40 to win in the $50,000 event, trotting in 2:04.

Following that event Fulmer was on a plane headed back home. That evening at Windsor he resumed his winning ways as he piloted Super Baron, owned by his parents Bruce and Frances Fulmer, in the featured pacing event. Off as second choice to favourite Harry Fritz (Bill Gale), the young reinsman was home first in 2:05.3. Not quite finished with his day and night's work, he came back to win the ninth race behind Brideys Bullet. Apparently he was still not getting the attention of the bettors as he paid a whopping $54.40 to win in this one. Again Fulmer co-owned this horse along with Kathleen Cottingham of Tilbury.

1977 - Leamington Opens 1977 Season

Sunday April 17, 1977 marked the opening day of harness racing at Canada's most southerly racetrack, Leamington Raceway. A card of 10 races, most with a field of seven starters, went postward for starter Bob Givens (even though the program showed Gibbons). Other racing officials were the following:

Judges - Allan McManus, Norman "Bucky" Platford and Laurence Geisel
Patrol Judge - Jarvis Ross
Announcer - Robert Q. Smith (no relation)
Race Secretary - George Deacon
Paddock Judge - Bob Brown
Track Vet - Dr. Gordon Gilbertson
Gen. Manager - Bob Pearson
Fair Board - Marj Knight

I thought it would be interesting to show a list of all drivers programmed that afternoon. I have listed them in alphabetical order and shown the number of wins earned that day in brackets.

Marty Adler, Hector Armstrong (1), Lou Beaulac, Ken Bogart, Richard Carroll, Norm Desserault, Rodney Duford (1), Pete Dupuis, Larry Eaid, Bryce Fenn, Chuck Fraleigh, Lyle Grineage, Norm Harrison, Wm. Hamm, Wm. Holden, Earl Hyatt (1), Rick Kennedy, Albert List, Gordon Mairs, Lonnie McCorkle, Dennis McFadden (1), Ted McFadden (1), Doug McIntosh, George McKenzie, Lorne McKenzie, Norm McKnight, Dick Mitchell, Jack Rich, Bruce Richard, Ross Roselle, Nelson Shay, Ross Siddall (1), Lazlo Simon (1), Dean Stevens (1), Walter Srigley, Andre Thibault, Vaughn Webster (1), Dale Williams.

The featured race of the day was won by Shelly Duke, driven by Dean Stevens for owner Arthur Maskell of Goderich pacing the mile in 2:07.4. Finishing second was the current track record holder Peggy Lynne 2:03.2 driven by Earl Hyatt for owner Jos. Booth of Dresden. Purse $1,200.

Quote For The Week: With the major league baseball season just getting under way, why not have a quote from Yogi Berra. "It's always nice to win the home opener even if it's on the road."

Trivia Question: Can you figure out where the front page picture on the 1971 Standardbred Record was taken? Not too much to work with.

HAPPY EASTER to all in the reading audience as we celebrate a rather early Easter this year. It is a wonderful time of year as we see the magic of nature with the return of green grass and the warmth of the sun. It can't come too soon.

Who Is It?

Can you identify these two fellows as they appeared at the 1976 HTA convention in Palm Springs, California?

Who Else Is It?

Here is a good one. We have one horse and 14 people. Can you name the driver because that's all I have? If anyone else looks familiar let us know. The winner paid $13.00,$ 6.40, $5.60 which may explain at least some of the smiling faces. Abahazy photo collection.

Be sure to stay tuned for the correct answers during the upcoming week. They will appear in the comments section.