Tom Porchak Passes

At the age of 95, Tom Porchak finally encountered something he couldn't fix. The longtime harness racing industry participant passed away in hospital after a battle with cancer on Saturday, May 17.

Born on November 28, 1929, Tom Porchak was raised south of Ingersoll, Ont. in the hamlet of Verschoyle, one of 12 children raised by Charles and Mary Porchak. He was the last surviving member of his generation.

Tom plied his trade in a number of construction and factory settings — pipelines, textiles, heavy machinery to name a few — before becoming a foreman at the Kelsey Hayes brake plant in Woodstock, Ont. It was in Woodstock where Tom would eventually settle, marrying Mary Lendvay in 1954 and starting a family in 1955. Tom and Mary had three boys — Roger, Jamie and Jeff, all born and raised in Woodstock before the family of five moved to a farm just north of Woodstock in 1977. That farm would eventually become known as Jayport Farm, raising Standardbred horses for six decades.

With the help of his family, Tom managed a modest breeding operation and it was safe to say that he punched above his weight class. He raised, sold and raced many notable horses across Ontario over the years. The first major success for Porchak came in 1985 when Jayport Worthy Vic garnered divisional honours in Canada as the Canadian Trotting Association's Two-Year-Old Colt Trotter of the Year, winning the precursor to the modern-day O'Brien Award. Other campaigners of note included stakes winners Jayport Raider, Jayport Express and Jayport Sweetheart.

In 2003, under the advice of his son and pedigree researcher Roger, Tom purchased broodmare prospect Kash Echo, in foal to Dream Vacation, at the Harrisburg Mixed Sale. Her 2004 foal, Jayportcashforlife, provided Tom with his first Grand Circuit stakes victory by virtue of her 2006 Champlain Stakes score at Mohawk Racetrack. Later that year, Jayportcashforlife's full sister, Susies Magic, captured the Breeders Crown at Mohawk in what would have seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime score for a Standardbred breeder.

Lightning actually struck twice for Porchak as he ventured back into pacers in late 2018 with a broodmare purchase. Seeing Beachy Girl listed for sale online, Porchak purchased the stakes-winning daughter of Real Desire. In 2019, the Mach Three-sired son of Beachy Girl, Century Farroh, was named Canada's Three-Year-Old Colt Pacer of the Year and in 2020 he repeated as a divisional champion while also garnering Canadian Horse of the Year honours.

Just 24 hours after Tom's passing, on Sunday, May 18, Jayport Cash scored a 30-1 upset in his Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots division at Flamboro Downs for his maiden-breaking win. According to trainer Josh McKibbin, Cash's barn nickname is 'Tom' and it's hard not to think there was some divine intervention in that half-length victory.

While also owning a number of broodmares over the years, Tom was also a shareholder in many of Canada's top stallions including Hall of Famers Balanced Image, Kadabra, Angus Hall, Muscle Mass and McWicked.

During his days as an industry participant, Tom was never one to mince words or keep his opinions to himself. Tom enjoyed success with trainers the likes of Tom Strauss, Wayne Langille, Bill Borth, Pat Hunt and Brent Belore, and each of those horsemen could surely share a time where Tom's bark was worse than his bite. The same could be said for staff at Standardbred Canada, who endured a colourful earful or two over the years both before and after his son Jeff was part of the organization. Roger and Jeff joked that they can now take damage control off their lists of responsibilities.

As the old adage goes, the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man. Tom loved being outside and being on the farm, and in his later years he would enjoy watching his broodmares and foals from his sunroom, while also enjoying watching harness racing on HPItv, spotting songbirds and listening to country music. He also enjoyed working on his own cars and farm equipment when able, often using his depression-era ingenuity to his advantage.

Predeceased by his wife Mary, and siblings Wanda, John, Peter, Walter, Carl, Rosie, Henry, Ed, Joe, Pauline and Stanley, Tom is survived by sons Roger (Jan), James and Jeff (Amber) and grand-children Aynsley, Colton, Ava and Lauryn, as well as special friend Iola MacKenzie, who has been a stalwart in Tom's life for the past 20 years.

The family would like to offer special thanks to and acknowledge Drs. Wendling and Bauman from the London Health Sciences Centre, as well as Rob, Tammy & Jenna McNiven at Twinbrook Farm for all their efforts and expertise in Tom's later years.

Cremation has taken place, and as per Tom's wishes there will be no public service.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Tom Porchak.