In this week's edition of Rewind Robert Smith recalls the glory days of harness racing in Montreal and remembers one of the great horsemen of that era and also one of his principal owners. Together they formed a top notch stable that was very successful for a long period of time despite the high level of competition.
Fifty or so years ago, the sport of harness racing was doing very well, especially at the two big tracks in Metropolitan Montreal. When weekends rolled around during the peak season, the action was unbeatable. Many local horses competed week after week and things really heated up when top contenders came in from other jurisdictions, usually the U.S.
While nearly all of the harness world took Sunday off, the opposite was true at Richelieu Park and Blue Bonnets. The feverish pitch started early in the week as the local newspapers previewed and hyped the big race or races. While it might be bit overstated, the Sunday afternoon action sometimes rivalled a Stanley Cup final game or the conclusion of the World Series. People came out early and in droves; many had been to Sunday morning church services and figured what better way to spend a glorious Sunday afternoon. Maybe some of their recently placed prayers would be answered. I was reminded recently that among the crowd was often a Priest or two; yes even men of the cloth were there as well!!
Back in the mid 1960's, one of the most successful and visible racing stables in the Province of Quebec was operated by a gentleman named Roger White. Equally prominent was his major owner and long time harness racing enthusiast, Allan Leblanc of Quebec City. Roger White, a native of Quebec City, first studied under horseman Jules Giguere before launching his own stable at the hometown oval.
Roger's driving career began with a most unusual twist, combining some pretty improbable numbers. His first victory was about the strangest mating of youth and age imaginable. At the age of just 17, 'Jolly Roger' as he was sometimes called scored his first lifetime win behind a horse named Joseph Guy, who at the time had reached the ripe old age of 18. In harness racing it is just about impossible for a driver to be younger than the horse he or she is driving, but back then I guess it could happen and did at the Quebec City oval.
This 1967 photo shows owner Allan Leblanc of Quebec City and driver Roger White with their star performer Timely Knight following one of his many victories. This horse was named 'Canada's Horse Of The Year' in 1964.
By 1967, Leblanc -- who was then 55 years of age, married and the father of six and already grandfather of eight -- had been in the sport of harness racing for some 14 years. His "horse" interest, however, went back much farther. He was first bitten by the horse racing bug as a young boy growing up in Campbleton, New Brunswick. He spent every moment possible walking and cooling horses for his father, the late Thomas Leblanc who was a jockey. His father died at a fairly young age and the younger Leblanc for a time drifted away from the horses but certainly never forgot them.
The family moved to Saskatoon and later to Winnipeg where Allan became involved in the produce business. He soon became a manager in a large company that consisted of a 34-store supermarket chain. Some time later he moved back East to Quebec City and set up a business of his own, selling wholesale fruit. The new endeavour soon prospered. Once back in Quebec and nearer the racing scene, the bug which had been dormant for many years once again came to life.
Around 1954, an opportunity to buy 14 horses from an estate arose and Leblanc was eager to take the plunge. The lure of entering the realm of harness racing ownership, particularly as a change of pace from his business routine, was just what he wanted. However his wife was vigorously opposed to the idea but he eventually coaxed her into agreement, albeit against her wishes.
The years that immediately followed were not as rewarding as planned to say the least. Several losing seasons which saw at least $15,000 in red ink were more than painful; the drought lasted a long five years. One early bright spot was a trotter named Hartford Tass, who helped pay many bills with his wins at Quebec City. However by 1966, Leblanc admitted things were a lot better at home as his horses grossed $165,000 that season. The plan was finally coming together. A big part of it, along with better luck, was the input of resident trainer Roger White.
By 1967 Canada's Centennial Year, the combination of owner Leblanc and his trainer Roger White were on a roll. They had a stable of 12 horses, a number among them were household names in many racing jurisdictions. In their lineup was an 11-year-old stallion named Sir Winston Pick; his entrance into their ownership was a complete accident. White had endorsed a cheque for a friend who bought the horse at a U.S. auction. When the friend defaulted and couldn't pay the $5,000, owner Leblanc rescued White and bought the horse. Not all such stories have happy endings, but this fellow went on to win over $170,000 for the pair.
Another great performer of this era was Timely Knight, purchased on White's advice for $15,000. By the age of six, the son of Good Time had banked a nifty $200,000. Among his victories was the 1968 Canadian Pacing Derby at Greenwood Raceway in Toronto as he defeated Blaze Pick and Keith Waples, with True Duane and Chris Boring third.
Timely Knight in rein to Roger White heads the field with Cloverland Direct (Del MacTavish Sr.) second and Monsieur Richelieu (Benoit Cote) finishing third. (Harness Horse)
While Mr. LeBlanc was fortunate to have many great performers he was quick to point out in a 1967 interview "My hobby doesn't earn only, I spend a lot too. It's like the stock market -- you make and you lose. I bought a colt for $5,000 and sold him after three years for $150. If you can't afford horses, forget the sport. It packs a dividend that the fruit business certainly doesn't. Life would be a lot duller without my hobby; it sure can be fun."
In a 1965 article published in The Star Weekly, legendary harness racing scribe Jim Coleman wrote about Roger White in the most glowing of terms. "The new breed of drivers is exemplified by Roger White of Quebec City who was recently named Canada's 'Harness Horseman of the Year'. White, a courtly impeccably-groomed chap who maintains his headquarters at Blue Bonnets Raceway, resembles the Vice President of a Madison Avenue advertising agency. He is what racing publicists would gratefully describe as 'a credit to the game'."
Indeed Roger White was a great stable operator as horseman Garth Gordon recently related to me. "There were some great looking stables in Montreal back then but Roger's was special. He had a green and white awning and a few touches that set his outfit apart from the others. There were natural wood Houghton jog carts that were washed every day and put up on wooden blocks to keep them clean; everything was polished. I used to go over to his stable and just stand there and admire it. I knew all of the grooms and Roger too. I wish some of today's trainers could see how stables were kept back then."
Roger had some pretty good assistants; among them, Guy Contant as well as several of his brothers namely Eddie, Denis and Henri.
As most long-time followers of the sport of Canadian harness racing know, Roger White met a very tragic and untimely death in 1971. While en route to a horse sale at Harrisburg, Pa., he lost his life when the small plane he was travelling in crashed during a storm. He left behind a wife and three young daughters. At the age of 40 White departed from the scene just as he was ascending the ladder of success. His passing left a huge void in the Montreal backstretch.
In 1976 Roger was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Despite his young years he had already accomplished a great deal not only through his training and driving feats but also as an ambassador wherever he travelled. Above all he was highly respected by everyone in the sport. Ironically the horse which turned out to be the best of his career was Silent Majority, a colt he had selected and developed as a two-year-old just the year before he died. A quote from his HOF bio states "Silent Majority provided a magnificent postscript to Roger White’s life."
Roger White is still fondly remembered by all who knew him.
A horsemen friend of mine
A horsemen friend of mine told me that when Roger was racing in Chicago in the mid to late 60's he won the Invitation pace four weeks in a row with four different horses.
Another thing I remember about Roger is he very seldom he wore any boots on his horses as shown in the picture of Timely Knight. Proving what a great horsemen he was.
A true caring and gentleman.
A true caring and gentleman. I remember one year we had a terrible winter storm in Montreal, nearly everything was closed on account of the amount of snow that had fallen, we could not get out of the back stretch, the kitchen was closed and for all of the grooms living in the tack rooms on the track, there was no food, but here comes Roger with a friend and on their skidoos they had a load of BBQ chickens from the chalet, everyone got feed.
He was a small (medium) size man with a BIG HEART, he treated people with love and respect. I sure missed him when he left us. Thank you Mr. Smith once again for your recallings of such nice people involved in the harness racing business, I am sure Aline and the children will appreciate your rewind. Have a good day.
This is a wonderful
This is a wonderful story.
Roger White was one of the greatest Canadian horsemen ever.
I look upon him as a combination of the Canadian version of Billy Haughton and Stanley Dancer. He had Billy's outgoing and friendly personality and Stanley's meticulous and immaculate stable care. His stable was a thing of beauty to behold.
The one thing that was perhaps overlooked was as noted Roger did purchase and develop Silent Majority for Irving Liverman and himself. But Silent Majority's legacy will live as long as harness horses are being bred. He sired Abercrombie, a sire for the ages, who in turn sired Artsplace who sons and daughters and grandsons and and granddaughters are found in the pedigrees of most of the top racehorses performing today.
Artsplace, together with his stablemate Western Hanover are the most dominating sires of this generation.
The following interesting
The following interesting note was received from Gilles Noel.
My father Angelo Noel was the owner of Monsieur Richelieu pictured in today's story. He bought the horse from Mr. Hubert Soucie while he was working on the landscape of his barn at Richelieu Park. He became the first Quebec bred horse to go in 2:00 and I was at the racetrack that night. I saw it from the barn as I climbed on the fence because I was too young to enter the stand. My father had to listen to the race on the radio because of his heart disease. He told me that he was more nervous than if he would have been at the racetrack. I think this was a real Cinderella story and it made the front page of many newspapers at the time. This horse was part of the family. Thank you.