In this week's Rewind Robert Smith recalls a rather memorable evening at Greenwood Raceway in January of 1985 when racing resumed after a lengthy strike by the horsemen. This piece contains quite a few names of people and horses from that era.
Pollution Control with Garth Gordon handling the reins hits the Greenwood wire a winner in the mile time of 2:03.2. The first race win signalled the start up of racing at Greenwood Raceway after nearly a month of darkness necessitated by a horseman's strike which saw 19 racing cards erased. As racing action resumed Greenwood management offered free admission, parking and programs as a welcome back gesture to fans.
On Monday evening, January 28, 1985 an unusually large crowd recorded at 12,405 were on hand to watch an 11- race program at Greenwood Raceway. The recent times had been marked by a series of moves and counter moves by the Ontario Jockey Club management and members of the O.H.H.A. group representing the horsemen. An almost month-long strike that began with the cessation of racing on New Year's Eve had caused considerable strife between the two parties as is usually the case in such situations. The racing fans were obviously happy to have order restored.
The two groups were at odds over a number of issues and after considerable negotiating, strike action was taken. The entry box had been the subject of a boycott beginning with the Jan. 1st card which would have kicked off the 1985 season. One of the main points of contention was the awarding of 4:00 p.m. post times for the thoroughbreds at both Woodbine and Greenwood. The harness faction felt that this infringed on their historic right to night-time posts.
As the strike continued on, a number of developments were proposed or announced but eventually averted with the new agreement. Plans were underway for an earlier start to the thoroughbred season and also Flamboro Downs had requested more race dates to fill those left by the Greenwood blackout. These items fell by the wayside as racing resumed. Also at one point there was fear that those stabled at Greenwood would be asked to leave which of course did not happen.
At one point, the talk of building a brand new track even became a topic of discussion. Mississauga builder and horse owner Harold Shipp indicated that he would be willing to look at building an ultra-modern Toronto area harness facility. Shipp reported that while in Florida he had been contacted by Joe Burke of the OHHA to see if he had an interest in the project in the event that the horsemen decided not to race at the OJC's standardbred tracks.
The final outcome received by the horsemen's group fell far short from the terms they were seeking but the committee stated that they feared that the next step which would have been binding arbitration could have been disastrous. A statement by Joe Burke, O.H.H.A. general manager said "We felt we could lose everything." Additionally Gord Sherwin, the Association's president felt that the horsemen gained much respect through the stoppage even though many of their demands were not addressed in the new one year agreement. Others involved in the bargaining committee besides Messrs. Burke and Sherwin were Lloyd Smith, Bill Wellwood and Stew Firlotte as O.H.H.A. reps along with horsemen Wes Coke, Ron Waples and Tom Strauss.
As racing resumed the Greenwood race office scrambled for horses for the first few cards. A number of stables had moved to other venues such as The Meadowlands but order was soon restored. In an attempt to resume racing as smoothly as possible Greenwood offered free general admission, programs and regular parking for the January 28th card of racing. The fans responded with 12,405 in attendance and a whopping $1,550,477 sent through the mutuels.
During the strike a number of horsemen raced at different locations well beyond their normal schedules. OJC regulars Doug Brown, Reg Gassien, Paul MacDonell and Tony Kerwood, all of whom began their careers at Kawartha, headed back to open the new season at Fraserville. Brown scored the fastest trip on the Sunday card as he steered Autumn Glo in the Preferred Pace in a 2:03 victory. Increased attendance was witnessed at both Orangeville and Flamboro. Steve Condren had a hot hand at Flamboro, scoring a hat trick.
Race results from Monday January 28, 1985. This was the card that marked the resumption of live racing at Greenwood.
Race 1 - The winner was Pollution Control, a gray three-year-old by Smog driven by Garth Gordon for owners Anthony & Joseph Spadafora and Marco Zuppa. Time for the $2,800 event was 2:02.3.
Race 2 - Alpha Centauri gave driver Doug Brown his first of two wins in the only scheduled trotting event. Winning owner was Muddy York Stables of Oakville in the evening's slowest time of 2:05.3.
Race 3 - Remy Oregon was the winner in 2:03.4 for Brent Davies and owner The Lacombe Stables in this claiming event.
Race 4 - Dave Wall was home first with Fleeting Warrior for owner Sheldon Rose of Downsview.
Race 5 - This was the evening's featured race a Preferred Pace for $10,500 and went in the quickest time of 2:01 to Armbro Arctic still listed under the ownership Stewart McCall of Seaforth and handled by Steve Condren. Sadly just a short time prior to this Mr. McCall, then 63, had died in a farming accident. For many years he had raised and raced horses bearing the "Callwood" prefix.
Race 6 - Brigadier Hanover was victorious in this one in 2:03.4 for owner P.C. Wellwood Enterprises of Milton with Wm. Wellwood at the controls.
Race 7 - Link paced home a winner with co-owner Jerry Duford in the bike who shared ownership with Wm. Redman of London. Time of the mile was 2:01.3.
Race 8 - H F Mack, a six-year-old son of Springfield, trained by Fred Hoffman who also co-owned along with Don Bulger and Gord Doyley, was the winner driven by Dave Smith.
Race 9 - Barry Drury won this one with Trojan Leroy in 2:01.1, a horse he also co owned with Adanac Farms and Dom Galati. The purse of $7,900 was the second highest of the program.
Race 10 - Mr. Drury was right back in the winner's circle, this time following a successful drive behind Star Quality owned by Roger Patten of nearby Don Mills, Ont.
Race 11 - The evening drew to a close when Jimmy The Greek in rein to Doug Brown scored in 2:02.3 to give him his second win of the session. The happy owner of this son of Bret Hanover was Frank Theoret of Hamilton. And so resumed the 1985 racing season.
An interesting list from Dec. 31, 1984 - When the last night of racing was held at Greenwood just prior to the strike the following drivers were the winners of the 10 races. All still pretty familiar after the passage of 32 + years. Paul MacDonell, Dave Smith, Richard Webb, Steve Condren (2), Larry Walker, Tom Strauss, Gord Brown, Ron Waples Sr., and Roger Mayotte.
The merits of the 28-day long strike are now long lost in the sands of time. It was a new era when harness racing was conducted more along the lines of other businesses where collective bargaining was a part of the way things were handled and eventually settled.
Long lines of bettors study their programs as they wait in line to place a wager at Greenwood