SC Rewind: In The News

In this week's Rewind Robert Smith takes a stroll back in time to 1980 as he recalls a number of happenings and names ofthose who were "In The News"  back then.  His reminiscence includes a number of old photos of the newsmakers for your viewing pleasure.  This offering is somewhat reminiscent of how we used to become informed back in the day;  long before the Internet presented our news almost as it happens. 

Fastest Mile Of Early Season At Mohawk 

Apr. 19 - Fans in attendance at Mohawk witnessed the fastest mile of the young season when Banker Fretz swept under the wire in 1:58 even to take the top spot in the Free For All Handicap. It was a new lifetime mark for the Harold J gelding and marked his seventh win in 16 starts despite the fact that the season was barely in its fourth month.   Guided as usual by co-owner Garth Gordon who shares ownership with Dr. Wright of Cobourg, the speedy five-year-old has finished in the money in 15 starts.  Finishing second was Armbro Turk (Harold Stead) while

Serpico Hanover (Doug Brown) finished third.  The win added $6,000 to Banker's bankroll, raising his season's earnings to close to $55,000. 

While Harold Stead had to settle for second in the FFA,  he was a bit luckier in the Jr. FFA as he reined Hampton Hall to victory.  After Silkys Bunny and Carl MacArthur "played the rabbit" in the early going, Stead was able to unleash his horse in deep stretch to gain the win in 1:58.2.  Brian Baker of Toronto was the winning owner. 

Young Trainer-Driver Has Dream Horse At Blue Bonnets 

(Photo courtesy of the Standardbred)

Benoit Lefebvre and his eight-horse stable was far from the largest at Montreal's Blue Bonnets but at least one of his pupils would be welcome in anyone's outfit.  A horse he termed as his "best friend" was carrying more than his share of the load at the current meeting.  A horse with the catchy name Shoers Dream, claimed for $20,000 the previous year, had already returned over $31,000 by April of 1980. 

Benoit told a reporter "Shoers Dream is the key to my operation.  Without him, things would be very tough at times.  I only have seven other horses and none are in his class." Lefebvre also stated that he was the best horse he's ever had.  He summed up that the horse's success was due to one simple attribute. "What impresses me most is the

fact that he seldom has two bad races back to back."  

Maritime Banquet Honours Top Performers 

Two Maritime tracks recently honoured the best of the 1979 season at separate banquets, both of which were very well attended.  

At Sydney a long list of people and horses were honoured for their performances during the previous season.  On hand to join in with local personalities was Bill Galvin, veteran journalist and publicity guru who was then with the C.T.A. Also at the head table was Frank Daniels, USTA Director for the area.  

Honoured at the dinner was Sonny Rankin, the winningest driver in the Maritimes with 131 victories during the 1979 season.  Based on average John MacDonald was the top driver at. 313 followed by the aforementioned Sonny Rankin and Don Rankin at. 294. Tom Hall was recognized as the top non-driving trainer. 

Awards for top performing horses went to Jersey Meadows, named horse of the year.  This mare won $6,300 for owner Harold LeBlanc. Dr. Carlyle Chow had two top performers:  Sunrise R Bright, top three-year-old pacer and also J P Glen, top two-year-old.  Miramichi Bert, owned by Art Kennedy, and Flying News, owned by Francis and Phonse MacEachern, were honoured as top dash winners with 16 victories apiece.  That is a lot of trips to the winner's circle. 

The other recent awards banquet was held at Truro, generally regarded as "one of the prettiest tracks in the Maritimes."  Among the award winners was Emmons MacKay, who won the Rinaldo Haley Memorial jacket as the top driver of the 1979 season.  MacKay had a standing of 25-17-14 in 103 starts good enough for a. 379 average.  Bill Leblanc was second while Roy Burton was third with an average of 305. 

In other categories Dale Pinkney, son of veteran trainer-driver Phil Pinkney, was crowned rookie of the year.  In the horse category, six-year-old Robbie Brewer was named pacer of the year.  He was owned by Ted MacLeod and Jim MacGillivary and trained and driven by local favorite Clayton MacLeod. The top trotter award went to Exit Smiling,

owned by Dr. Geo. Bishop who set a Maritime-bred record for four-year-old mares with a clocking of 2:06.2.  Elwood Shaw was her trainer and driver.  

On hand to perform the duties of guest speaker was Nova Scotia Attorney General Harry How. 

Tulip Trot Won By Peel Erin At Connaught Park 

(Photo courtesy of the Standardbred)

One of the top class events of the Connaught Park season, The Tulip Trot was won by Peel Erin in a very swift 2:05.1 trip for driver Norman Jones.  The win was a bit of an upset as the favoured Speedy Demo N, driven by Mario Baillargeon, had to settle for second money.  The winning time was a new lifetime effort for the High Level mare and was only three-fifths of  a second off of the track standard for trotters. 

Increases of over 20 percent in both attendance and wagering have been substantial enough that Connaught management have added an extra day of racing each week for the remainder of the season.  This will mean that

five cards per week will be on schedule, much to the delight of the paying customers.  In the driver's standings Rick Zeron leads the pack with an average of .372, well ahead of Robert O'Dwyer with .310 and Darrell Coville who is the dash leader with an even 50 wins to date. 

On May 19th some of the Continent's best pacing talent will be spotlighted as this year's edition of the Connaught Cup will be featured.  Eighteen crack pacers have been paid up for the track's signature event.  Handicappers will have a tough job with such standouts as Tijuana Taxi, Striking Force, Dangerfield Bruce, Bold Zip,  J Js Metro and Jumbo Dynasurge in the field. 

Quote For The Week:  “He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.”  Attributed to none other than Yogi Berra. 

Who Is It? 

This fellow was not a big name driver on the OJC circuit but he looks pretty comfortable here scoring a win at Mohawk in this 1980 photo.  (Photo courtesy of the Standardbred )

Who Else Is It?

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Can you name this fellow? Not a Canadian is your only clue. 

Bonus Photos

#1 - Who is this gentleman pictured above? He looks like he was enjoying the moment.  (Hoof Beats photo)

#2 - Can you name this chap? This picture was taken many years ago but I believe he is still around.  (Hoof Beats photo)