SC Rewind: Years Ago - 1990s

The current edition of Rewind is the monthly feature 'Years Ago' and this time harkens back to the decade of the 1990's.  Pretty recent stuff by historical standards but 1990 was 32 years ago by the way!   The pictures and short stories recall the news makers and a few recollections from back then.  

1991 - Drivers Reaching Milestones 

In the days before we reached the current level of sophistication in record keeping the USTA periodically issued lists of drivers who were reaching certain milestones.  Shown below is one such list issued in May of 1991.  Lots of names of Canadian born drivers are in virtually every category.  

List courtesy of Northeast Harness News publication 

1994 - Pacific Rocket Wins 29th Provincial Cup At Windsor 

Thanks to a late season surge by the outstanding pacer Pacific Rocket, trainer Bill Robinson enjoyed his second straight Provincial Cup victory.  Despite a driving rain that made racing conditions unpleasant the three-year-old whiz paced the mile in 1:52.3 to equal the all-age track record at the Windsor oval.  This win gave the combo of trainer Robinson and driver Jack Moiseyev their second straight cup win after taking it in 1993 with Presidential Ball. After the race a happy Moiseyev said "same result but in a totally different way;  this one went a lot smoother."  His reference was to the fact that Presidential Ball did not see the rail in the 1993 race. 

After a win the Cup elimination a week earlier, the Robinson trainee was sent away as the morning line favourite despite drawing the number 7 post.  At the head of the lane they had built up a four-length lead and it appeared that the "Rocket" would become the fastest horse in the history of Windsor Raceway.  However a strong headwind dampened his effort at a new track mark  but he did tie the current record set by Frugal Gourmet way back in the 1987 Cup and equalled by Presidential Ball.  The winner was co-owned by Peter Heffering of Port Perry, Ont. along with U.S. interests. 

Water Tower, a son of Abercrombie trained by Bob McIntosh for the Ohio based CSX Stable closed for second with Mike Lachance in the sulky while Duke Duke took home third place money.  This was the 29th edition of Windsor's signature race, first held in 1966. The 1994 edition carried a purse of $200,000.  When the inaugural race was held in March of 1966, the purse was a hefty $15,000 then Canada's richest race in harness racing history. 

1994 - Village Jiffy Closes Season With A Win

A week after winning the Breeders Crown event for older pacers at Freehold  Village Jiffy went to Foxboro to close out his very successful 1994 season and career with a winning effort.  He was then slated to move to the Armstrong Bros. farm as a resident in the stallion barn, but came back to the track in 1995.

It was billed as the greatest day in the history of New England harness racing and the 1994 Inaugural of the Bert Beckwith Memorial was everything that people hoped it would be. Outstanding preparation and a strong media effort brought nearly 5,000 harness loyalists to Southeastern Massachusetts to view the outcome. The day's festivities were centered around the $50,000 Beckwith Memorial and the best pacers in North America did answer the call. Heading the list was 1993 Horse of the Year, Staying Together. One of the greatest mares of all time, Shady Daisy, was also on hand for the big event. World Champion, Silver Almahurst was another tough competitor. The field was rounded out with Sam Francisco lrv, Tibet and The Starting Gate, a truly stellar contingent... except for one more ingredient...the star of the show, Village Jiffy. Coming off a win in the recent Breeders Crown at Freehold, the son of Cam Fella appeared to be the horse to beat...and he did not disappoint. The four-year-old pacer, trained by William Wellwood and capably driven by Paul MacDonell went to the top boldly and never looked back, scoring a convincing victory in 1:54.2 in the Inaugural event. 

The 14-race program generated a handle of nearly $450,000, the best since harness racing returned to New England three short years previous to this time.  It was a day that will long be remembered by those in attendance. 

Connections of Village Jiffy gather in the Freehold winners circle following a victory in the Breeders Crown event for aged horses and geldings.   Driver Paul MacDonell is near the far right and Paula Wellwood representing the owners is at the horse's head.  (Photo and a portion of the text courtesy of Northeast Harness News archives) 

1995 - Hambletonian Predictions 

CR Kay Suzie (Photo courtesy of the Hambletonian Society) 

July 1995 - It was about the time that "speculators" were accustomed to making some predictions for next month's Hambletonian.  High on the list was the talk about the possibility of a filly having a good chance of winning the annual classic. Not since Duenna won it in 1983 had such an event occurred.  If owner- trainer Carl Allen were to drop his filly's name in the box interest might heighten.  CR Kay Suzie was the young lass in question. 

On June 6th the young trotter had sped to a new lifetime mark of 1:54 3/5 in taking the New Jersey Sires Stakes at the Meadowlands.  Reflecting on her fast record Allen said "she'll go against the colts in the Yonkers Trot and the Budweiser Beacon Course and who knows, maybe the Hambletonian."

Did she start? Yes the decision was made to start CR Kay Suzie and she appeared at one point to have the winning of the race in sight but made a costly break and finished sixth and thus missed any further competition.  The winner of that year's race was Tagliabue driven by John Campbell and trained by his brother Jim for owners Arlene and Jules Siegel.  Do a couple of those names still seem familiar when we talk about the most recent Hambletonian?

This filly's brilliant career earned her a spot in the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame.  CR Kay Suzie was bred,  trained,  owned and driven by Carl & Rod Allen Stable 

Quote For The Week: "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." - Mark Twain. 

Who Is It? 

Can you identify the three gents in this old Blue Bonnets photo? 

Who Else Is It? #1 

Can you identify the rather young driver in this photograph that was taken in 1972 an even 50 years ago at Clinton? It looks like they had to contend with a bit of mud that day but that's all in a day's work for harness racing people.  A slight clue - this fellow is pretty familiar with the Clinton track's surface.  The winning time was 2:15. 

Who Else Is It? #2

Who are the folks in this photo from quite a few years ago? I'll bet they were at a sale. (Photo by John Jones courtesy of the Standardbred) 

Blast From The Past 

BACK TO SCHOOL 

With Labour Day weekend comes the traditional return to school for many students.  The old photo shown above was taken about 80 years ago at a school located in Ottawa.  It brings back memories of a bygone era but much remains unchanged as the years roll by.  Clothing and shoe styles have changed a bit but the smiles on the faces of the students remain the same. Good luck to all students during the coming year.