Trying to please both his appetite for horse racing and his parents’ wish that he get an education, a young Ian Moore quit post-secondary school twice. Eventually he found a way to balance the two, and became a successful horse trainer and veterinarian. Now 70-years-old, the man who flies his own plane, plays hockey with men half his age, and trains horses as good as anyone, Dr. Ian Moore has been named the leading trainer in Canada for the first time. It’s been quite a ride, but just looking at Doc’s daily routine, it’s not a ride that’s slowing down anytime soon. By Chris Lomon
When Dr. Ian Moore was recently named Canada’s Trainer of the Year for 2023, it was the culmination of a life’s work and passion for the sport. The PEI native knew from a young age that training Standardbred racehorses was what he was meant to do, and after some twists and turns along the way - as well as years spent training to become a veterinarian - he’s reached the pinnacle of his profession. Yes, the 70-year-old horseman - who seems to be going on 30 - knows his way around a racehorse, and along with flying his own airplane, playing hockey and baseball, swimming, and a plethora of other things, he somehow finds the time to train a top stable of them.
When he looked closely at the photo and the accompanying words underneath, Dr. Ian Moore was reminded of the promise he made himself over 50 years ago.
The snapshot that he stared at on his phone, an image from the pages of a high school yearbook, prompted an ear-to-ear smile from the man seeing it for the first time in decades.
“Not too long ago, someone sent me that photo, and it said under my picture that I wanted to be the most educated horse trainer - that goal was always on my mind.”
Even in the times when a Standardbred life seemed to be a longshot at best.
Growing up in Prince Edward Island, Moore had no ties to horse racing.
His mother had a disdain for it, an aversion prompted by her own father’s reckless gambling habits.
But the sport and its equine stars were irresistible to a wide-eyed Moore.
“I started hanging around the track when I was about 12. The janitor, Lester Chappell, from the local school took me there one day - the school wasn’t far from Summerside Raceway in PEI. A couple of days later, my mom took me to see the RCMP Musical Ride at Summerside, and we watched the races in between. I guess she was the one who inadvertently hooked me on racing. I just loved everything about it.”
His relationship with education was far more complicated.
It was, at times, a source of friction between Moore and his parents.
“I actually quit school twice, much to the chagrin of my mother and father,” he recalled with a chuckle. “The first time, I was in Pennsylvania, and I saw the great champion Albatross win the Adios, and I thought to myself, ‘I would like to win a race like that someday’.
“The second time I quit was after I started at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC)... because I was spending most of my free time at Truro Raceway.”
On more than a few occasions, horses and horse racing usurped his studies. And it was during those collegiate days when Moore eventually purchased his first horse as well.
In the summer of 1972, after he quit school at NSAC, Ian went to work at Argyle Farm in Ontario, and go on the road with horses for Dr. Russ Furness, a Veterinarian from PEI, who had great success in harness racing as both a trainer and driver on the old OJC circuit.
A conversation with Furness in August, 1973 however, was the impetus for Moore’s return to the Maritimes and to school.
“He sat me down in late August and said I had to go back home and go to school. So I did go home and back to NSAC - this was after quitting twice.”
Moore was also given a special gift to take with him.
“Dr. Furness had a wooden trunk made for me, painted blue, white, and black, with an ‘M’ on it. I still have that to this day, but I don’t use it anymore.”
Back in the Maritimes, Moore resisted the urge, at least for a time, to head to the racetrack or spend money on buying a horse.
As he found out though, achieving both was easier said than done. And the view from a certain spot at his dorm regularly tested his willpower.
“I went back to school in 1973, and I didn’t get a horse that semester. I stayed away from the track, although it was difficult because on the third floor of the dorm I stayed in, I could look out the window and see the lights at Truro Raceway.”
That self-control had its upside though, including higher grades and an unexpected windfall.
“I ended up with a 72 average and the PEI government gave me a $600 bursary because I did so well in school. Well, guess what I did with that money?”
The right answer to that question, in racing parlance, is a 1/9 shot.
“I bought a horse named Chris Pat. I started hanging out at the track again and stabled with Cyril Smith, who is the father of Clark Smith, also a talented horseman from PEI. I used to shoe the horses and drive for Cyril.”
Moore, it seemed, had finally struck a horse-school balance.
“I tried harder when I had the horses and ended up with a 76 average in the spring… I graduated in 1975.”
It would be a game-changing time for Moore, both academically and in racing.
For the first time, he believed he could find happiness in both.
“I wanted to be a horse trainer, and secondly, after the talk with Dr. Furness, I wanted to go to school again. I got accepted at St. Clair College in Windsor, with the goal of becoming an animal health technician.
“I remember sitting on the steps outside my parents’ house, waiting to go to the bus station and on to Windsor, and my dad said, ‘You don’t want to be a technician - you want to be the one hiring the technician.’”
Realizing that goal would have its share of twists and turns.
Still, Moore, who had met his wife-to-be Nancy in high school, felt more confident than ever that he could handle any adversity.
“I didn’t get into vet school the first time I applied - I guess my marks weren’t good enough. The only option we had was the University of Guelph Veterinary College. They had a class of 120 and they allowed only six people from the Atlantic region.”
Eventually, he was accepted. And fittingly, horses played a pivotal part in his years at Guelph too.
“I didn’t end up going to Windsor,” Moore shares. “Before I got into vet school, Nancy and I both went to the University of Guelph together. I went to the Ontario Agricultural College and took Animal Sciences, and she majored in Psychology. She took that so she could try and figure me out,” he laughs.
“We had between one to three horses together, and that’s how we paid our way through school. We had a nice one named Saunders Glory. In the three years at school, he made just under $70,000, which was huge back then. We bought a little house in Guelph for $28,000 and we sold it for $38,000 when we graduated. So, I had the best of both worlds.
“When we got out of school - I earned my Agricultural Degree in 1977 - I focused more on being a career veterinarian. I had no student loans to pay off - I paid any money off through the horses we owned. Nancy eventually had $2,500 in student loans, which we were able to pay off. That was all because of the horses.”
Horses like Flying Caper, a pacing son of Flying Bret, who was sent to Moore by respected New Brunswick horseman Marcel Barrieau.
Homework, horses, and sports were the Moore trifecta.
“I never had more than three horses when I was going to vet school. There was a lot of studying, plus I was playing hockey, broomball, and varsity volleyball - my time was fairly limited. But I enjoyed it all.”
The first job experience for Moore was far less memorable. That’s when he discovered office life was not for him.
“I ended up getting a job with the Department of Agriculture as a Farm Management Specialist - I hated it. I was there for about two to three weeks, and I couldn’t stand it. When I was working there, I got accepted into Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), which would start in January 1978, so I quit my job and away I went.”
After graduating from OVC, Moore quickly earned a reputation as a respected vet in his home province.
“With PEI being such a small place, I had to be available 24/7 with my practice,” he remembered. “When the chance came along, in 1996, to work for the Atlantic Veterinary College in PEI, I decided to do that instead. I established the Ambulatory Equine Service for the college and stayed there for 13 years.”
Moore’s conditioning career, which had officially started in 1971, yielded some successes over the years, including a 17-win campaign with a 0.501 UTRS in 1993.
Buddy Hanover, a son of Big Towner, was a multiple winner for Moore that season.
“For a number of years, I only had one or two horses, but I wanted one of them to be a top-class horse from PEI, so I wouldn’t be in conflict with most people that I had worked for.
“It went along that way for some time, and we had some decent horses during that period. I had good partners and good owners, which made it even more rewarding.”
A horse by the name of Astronomical would eventually be the one to take Moore from up-and-comer status to established talent.
He took notice of the pacing son of Astreos at the Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale in the fall of 2003, and when Hip #75 was brought out, Moore was convinced the bay had a bright future in store.
There was only one problem: the price tag. It took Doc $10,000 to collar him.
“When I saw him at the sale, he looked the part, but I didn’t have the $10,000. I looked for partners and brought in William Shearer and Ron McLellan. Ron thought I paid too much for him, so I gave him the chance to not be part of the ownership group. But he decided to buy in anyway.”
Moore paid for his share in two ways, specifically, training and vet work.
“I was able to pay it off in about three or four months,” he shares.
Astronomical would easily pay for himself and far beyond.
Moore sat in the race bike for all but one of the colt’s two-year-old starts in 2004, and many other times during the horse’s 121-race career, but there was one head-turning performance in September of that rookie season that really stands out.
“He was a very good two-year-old, including a start in PEI, where he set the track record on the old track, in 1:56,” recalled Moore of the 30-length win and accompanying record that stood for 12 years.
It was off to Ontario after that, but if it wasn’t for Doc Moore’s faith in the colt, what came next may have never happened.
“We were actually shipping him to Ontario when my phone rang - it was Peter Heffering. The horse was a son of Astreos, and he stood at Tara Hills. They offered us $300,000 for him but I said ‘no’. He couldn’t believe I turned down that kind of money… I don’t think he was too happy with me,” Moore laughs.
“We took him to Ontario, and he won Gold Series races and did well out there too. He changed things for me.”
Change things indeed. Astronomical earned more than $400,000 in his sophomore season, and went on to race through his seven-year-old year for his connections, making starts along the way in races like the North America Cup and Confederation Cup, as well as multiple Gold Cup & Saucers back in PEI.
After retiring to stud with just shy of $800,000 in career earnings, Astronomical’s modest stallion career boasts veteran pacer Casimir Richie P (p,1:49.1s; $475,078), a horse developed and trained to multiple WEG Preferred victories by Doc Moore himself.
After Astronomical, more success soon followed.
The list of champions under Moore’s tutelage is long and impressive.
Malicious, State Treasurer, Shadow Play, Arthur Blue Chip, Rockin In Heaven, Percy Bluechip, Century Farroh, Lawless Shadow, Stockade Seelster, Tattoo Artist - all have made their mark on the racetrack, and some beyond the wire, in the breeding shed.
As for which one holds standing as the best he’s been connected to, Moore provides a quick response to the question.
“Shadow Play, for sure. He was amazing as a racehorse, and he is an outstanding sire too.”
The 2022 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee was a World Champion. His victories include the Little Brown Jug, Adios, and U.S. Pacing Championship, just to name a few.
A son of The Panderosa-Matts Filly, Shadow Play went 20-9-5 from 49 starts, with $1,559,822 in purse earnings while taking a mark of 1:47.4 along the way.
Not bad for a $16,000 purchase at the 2006 Black Book Yearling Sale.
As a sire, Shadow Play has produced six millionaires including the world’s fastest Standardbred, Bulldog Hanover, along with Desperate Man, Lady Shadow, Backstreet Shadow, Kendall Seelster and Percy Bluechip.
“He was a great athlete,” praised Moore. “What he did on the track and as a sire is truly incredible - just amazing at everything he has done.”
The same can be said of Moore.
A two-time recipient of the O’Brien Award for Horsemanship over the past decade, Moore recently claimed his first Canadian Trainer of the Year title at the 2023 O’Brien Awards.
It was a fitting triumph for the longtime horseman, one made more special by having the awards held in his native PEI.
“I feel humbled by it. I also feel very honoured to be recognized as a finalist. There are a lot of trainers who are perhaps more deserving than I am, so this means a lot. I am very grateful for everyone who works with me, the owners and partners, and the wonderful horses.”
Moore had an abundance of them in 2023.
The 70-year-old reached a career milestone by eclipsing $3 million in seasonal purse earnings for the first time in 2023, a campaign that included a Canadian Pacing Derby crown, courtesy of older pacing stallion Tattoo Artist. An O’Brien Award divisional winner himself, Tattoo Artist fashioned a million-dollar season while boosting his career bankroll to $3.2 million before being retired to stud.
“It just seems like every race we’ve ever had with him, there was never a moment where I was disappointed that he did not give his 100 per cent best. I can’t say that about a lot of horses, but I certainly can about him,” lauded Moore.
The highlights did not end there.
Moore trained O’Brien Award divisional winner Stockade Seelster, one of the sophomore pacing colt stars in the Ontario Sires Stakes program, along with top efforts in marquee stakes events in the U.S. Moore also trained Storm Shadow and Clever Cody, two-year-old pacing colt Sires Stakes champions in Ontario and Ohio, respectively.
Working with and developing young horses has become a labour of love for Moore.
“Since the Astronomical days, I have gone from racehorses, which I used to have, to training young horses. I love that. I have been training young horses down here in Florida and sending them up north in the spring to race.”
With that shift has come a change in approach to his training craft.
Moore has also assembled a top-notch team to help him manage the workload.
“It got hard to buy racehorses, so one of my approaches was that I was going to make my own, by buying them as yearlings and developing them into a racehorse.
“That’s why I have good partners - probably somewhere in the 30 range - which makes it so much easier.”
Moore, who has a pilot’s license and owns a plane that he flies to Florida and back annually, is not interested in flying solo with his racing career like he once did.
A few years ago, Doc Moore was diagnosed with heart arrhythmia (when the electrical signals that tell the heart to beat don’t work properly).
“It was stress-induced, and it always seemed to happen around August. In the last few years, with the changes I have made in my lifestyle, I haven’t had any issues at all.”
Reliance on others has become a welcome staple in his Standardbred life, as a trainer and a vet.
“You need a lot of things to do things well. You need good people, good grooms, good trainers, good assistant trainers, good owners, good partners, a good feed program - there are a lot of things you need to make it work when you have young horses.
“I have been so lucky to have those good people to work with over the years. I have had a lot of people work for me over the years on the vet side - I learned how important it is to treat people well and respect them just how I would want to be treated. I rely on their knowledge and ask for their input.”
While much has changed in terms of how he runs his racing operation, one constant for Moore, who calls Cambridge, Ontario, home, is the lifestyle he enjoys away from the racetrack.
The sedentary life is not for him.
“My energy gets a little less as the years go by. For me, that [high energy] has been my entire life. I had a conversation with Dr. Barry Ling - he used to own horses with Mike McDonald from PEI - one day in an elevator. I was driving stock cars at the time, and he said, ‘What’s an old fella like you driving stock cars for?’ I said, ‘Well, when I’m in a box, I won’t be able to do it, that’s for sure’.
“It could be a long life, so you might as well live it to the fullest and enjoy the dance while you are here.”
Moore’s calendar is always full even outside of the stakes season, whether it’s his daily swims, taking to the skies for a tour around the Sunshine State, playing baseball once a week, or lacing up his skates to play hockey twice a week.
He briefly toyed with the idea of giving up hockey, but when he saw a familiar face on the news, he quickly changed his mind.
“I was going to quit hockey this year because I have a lot more sore spots than I used to. I was watching CBC News from Charlottetown on my phone, and they interviewed Gerard Smith, who is a longtime racing official in PEI. He played high-level hockey and baseball in his younger days - he’s now 81 - and he is still playing hockey, even after a year with a knee injury.
“They asked him if he was too old to play hockey and he said, ‘You don’t get old from playing hockey, you get old when you stop playing hockey’. I turned to Nancy and said, ‘I’ve got to keep playing hockey.’”
Two broken ribs, the result of a morning training accident on the racetrack last February, limited Moore to a handful of hockey games last year. A shoulder injury two years ago required surgery - or so Moore was told.
“We have a little swimming pool here in Florida. I was supposed to have shoulder surgery, but I didn’t at the last minute because I didn’t see how I could run a stable of young horses. I could throw underhand when I was playing slo-pitch baseball, but swimming has really helped my shoulder - I can throw overhand almost as good as I did before. And I can still play hockey and shoot the puck pretty good.”
Although he doesn’t have the same slick moves as fellow Maritime NHL stars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, Moore hardly looks out of place whenever he plays with and against men half his age.
“I feel great. I play on Sundays with 20-year-olds and on Wednesday, it’s an over-35 league. I’m the oldest one, but they still have to catch me sometimes.
“The night before we flew to PEI for the O’Briens, I actually had an 11pm game. I got home a little after one [o’clock am], and woke Nancy up at 3:15 [am] so we could get to the airport,” he laughs.
Slowing down on the rink or at the racetrack is obviously not on the radar for now.
Moore has contemplated easing back on both, but those thoughts are fleeting.
While he knows that moment is inevitable, his philosophy, whether in his career or personal pursuits, will keep the focus on tomorrow.
“The bottom line is that for my whole life, I have always tried to cram in whatever I can in 24 hours. Why change that now?
“Every so often, I will tell Nancy - she has been along with me the whole way to enjoy the ride, and has been a rock in my corner for so long - that maybe we should cut down on the number of horses or casually walk away, but she always says the same thing: ‘I doubt that’. I will probably always be busy. I’ll never retire and sit in front of the TV all day,” he promises.
Like those certain times at his collegiate dorm, Moore often looks out the window at his place in Florida each morning.
Although he doesn’t see the racetrack lights that he once did, he does feel the same sense of happiness when he draws the curtains.
“Life gets tougher, but the love for racing and vet work is still there. I recently got a call here in Florida to come see a horse who had a nasty cut on its leg. So, I did. Maybe I grumbled a bit heading out the door, but when I got there, I enjoyed helping. I love every minute of racing and helping people. And when I see the sun shining, it makes me feel good.”
As does the knowledge that the longtime student of the game lived up to those words found in his college yearbook.
“I did want to be the most educated horse trainer I could be. I didn’t exactly make it easy on myself, but I guess I can say it all worked out in the end.”
DR. IAN MOORE STABLES HONOUR ROLL
TATTOO ARTIST p,1:47.1s ($3,272,258)
STATE TREASURER p,1:47 ($2,072,450)
STOCKADE SEELSTER p,3,1:48.4s ($1,595,158)
SHADOW PLAY p,1:47.4 ($1,559,822)
CENTURY FARROH p,1:49s ($1,557,016)
PERCY BLUECHIP p,3,1:51.1f ($1,023,216)
ROCKIN IN HEAVEN p,1:49.2s ($1,012,233)
LAWLESS SHADOW p,3,1:48.2f ($995,579)
MALICIOUS p,1:50.1f ($810,712)
ASTRONOMICAL p,1:50f ($782,873)
WELLTHEREYOUGO p,1:51.3h ($721,705)
CLASSIC PRO p,3,1:51s ($671,687)
ARTHUR BLUE CHIP p,1:50.1f ($552,759)
CASIMIR RICHIE P p,1:49.1s ($475,078)
IMPECCABLE p,1:51.1s ($465,986)
CLEVER CODY p,2,1:50.4s ($415,810)
GREATEST ENDING p,3,1:50.3f ($399,559)
STORM SHADOW p,2,1:51.1s ($375,154)
ODDS ON PLATINUM p,2,1:52.2s ($370,207)
GOOD WILL HANOVER p,3,1:50s ($368,314)
This feature originally appeared in the March issue of TROT Magazine. Subscribe to TROT today by clicking the banner below.
