NHL alumni Doug Gilmour and Rick Vaive are the latest clients to join TheStable.ca, a fractional standardbred racehorse ownership operation based in Guelph, Ont.
The hockey duo are the 468th and 469th clients to join TheStable.ca since it was created by Anthony and Amy MacDonald just three years ago. Clients from 10 countries across the globe share ownership of more than 100 horses.
Gilmour, now 55, played 20 seasons in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and his uniform number 93 is retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"This is an exciting partnership," said Gilmour. "I’m thrilled to be a part of TheStable.ca. They’re doing some amazing things for the sport of harness racing. And I look forward to cheering on Mo Bettor throughout his two-year-old career and beyond."
Between 1979 - 1992 Rick Vaive played for the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres. He scored prolifically with the Leafs, becoming the first 50-goal scorer in franchise history and surpassing that threshold three times.
"It’s going to be an exciting summer! I’m thrilled to be an owner with TheStable.ca,” said Vaive. "I’m looking forward to visiting the barn, cheering on Mo Bettor at the track, and learning as much as I can about the industry from Anthony and his team."
Gilmour and Vaive join TheStable.ca at the height of its early success this season, with 35 stake race competitors now in action and another seven slated to debut soon. In the past three weeks, TheStable.ca has earned $400,000 USD in five jurisdictions, boasting a record of 11-7-7 from 41 starts. TheStable.ca now has stakes winners in Ontario, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois, including three undefeated colts in three U.S. jurisdictions.
The operation allows clients to purchase as little as one percent of a horse, making the thrill of racehorse ownership accessible to the mainstream.
"We’ve built a program that revolves around entertainment, customer service and added value purchasing," said Anthony MacDonald. "We simply provide the things which the general public demand in their daily life.
"Fractional ownership’s inclusiveness has proven to be a path back into the general public — a place in which racing desperately needs to exist,” continued MacDonald.
"Models like TheStable.ca have absolutely and unequivocally shown that reaching and engaging the mainstream is very possible. Affordable racehorse ownership marketed as an entertainment product is financially unmatched in society," said MacDonald. "You cannot attend many mainstream sporting events for the costs attributed to affordable ownership in horse racing. And the first-person participation level makes our sport absolutely unique."
In just its third season in business, TheStable.ca will have starters in both the coveted Peter Haughton and Hambletonian races on August 4 at The Meadowlands in New Jersey.
(with files from TheStable.ca)