On Sunday, July 28th I was scrolling down Facebook and gasped upon reading the news that Bob McIntosh, one of the greatest trainers in the history of our sport, and in my mind, the greatest trainer/breeder of all time, had passed away at the age of 71.
For many years I only knew of Mr. McIntosh - I didn’t actually know him. I raced against him a bit in earlier years but had only really spoken to him a few times, in more recent years, when he’d be purchasing an ad in our Holiday Issue of TROT.
Then, five years ago, I made the decision to make our May magazine what would become our annual Twos In Training Issue, and I’m glad that I did.
One reason I’m glad is because people have told me how much they enjoy reading the interesting back-stories, and learning a little ‘inside information’ about our up-and-coming young equine stars. But the other reason is because I then got to have an annual chat with Bob McIntosh about his babies. And trust me when I say that he was truly an incredible man to talk horses with.
Every April he’d just ask that I give him a few days' notice so he could write down the names of some of his better two-year-olds that we’d be discussing. In his words: “I only really learn their names a few months from now when it comes time to enter them.”
That may well have been true, but once he knew those names, I promise you, he never forgot them.
TrackIT is a wonderful resource that I know I couldn’t live without, but when it came to Bob’s mares - dozens and dozens of them - and their foals that raced - hundreds of them - his mind was like a steel trap. I know that he didn’t need a computer to keep track of them, because every year while we’d sit and talk, he’d name the dam of the horse we were discussing, and then he’d start rhyming off what she did on the track and what all of her offspring did as well. I’d follow along on the mare’s TrackIT Stakes Pedigree page, and he was NEVER wrong.
When he’d say something like, “I’m pretty sure her fifth foal was a Sunshine Beach gelding named ‘XYZ’… he won in 1:53 as a three-year-old and made a little over $200,000,” you could be guaranteed that XYZ was that mare’s fifth foal, that it was a Sunshine Beach, and that the mark and earnings he quoted were accurate.
I know that many horsepeople, including myself, can recite the names of many horses they raced, and winning times and earnings from many years ago, but Bob could literally do that when it came to hundreds of horses - including for their dams and siblings.
Our annual conversation, which was supposed to take 30 minutes but often took close to two hours, has always been a fascinating one, and a highlight, to say the least.
And humour was always present when chatting with Bob as well. This past year, when discussing a homebred Bettors Delight filly of his, he laughed: “...if anyone tells you that they knew one was going to be great, at this stage [April], they’re lying to you. You don’t really know if they’re going to win races until they race. It’s like being in a bar fight - you really don’t know if the guys with you are going to step up until it happens, and they don’t turn and run out the door…”
* * * *
On July 29th, the day after Bob’s passing, stalwart Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh won the first Olympic Gold Medal of her career. As I watched her win that, and two more like it in the ensuing days, I couldn’t help thinking about Bob.
As I watched Summer’s bathing cap pop up-and-down from the water during the breaststroke and/or butterfly, I’d see that familiar name, ‘McINTOSH’ on the side. It reminded me of Bob.
As I watched her draped in the red-and-white Canadian flag on the pool deck following her medal ceremonies, I’d think a bit about the other superstar Canadian named McIntosh, who was adorned in red-and-white, around North American racetracks for decades.
One Canadian icon gone; another just starting to hit her peak.
Something tells me that Bob would have somehow appreciated the sad irony.
* * * *
During our chats, Bob often spoke of his sons, his late father, Jack, and his late wife, Patty. And when he spoke of Patty especially, you could hear in his voice how much he missed her, since her passing in December, 2021.
This year, when discussing his two-year-olds with me, he twice brought up his foundation mare, Lingerie; first sharing the story of how he and his cousin Al originally acquired her, and later, proudly boasting that at 38-years-old, and still part of his retired broodmare band, that she must be approaching a world record for being the oldest living Standardbred.
About six weeks later, on May 29th, I read on the SC website of Lingerie’s passing, and whether or not she was the world’s oldest, I know that Bob couldn’t have been more appreciative of her, for what she did for his career.
Standardbred racing across North America lost a great participant on July 28th. I like to think that Bob has been reunited with his wife, his father, his foundation broodmare… but either way, we haven’t entirely lost him, because his exploits as a trainer, and the legacy he’s left as a breeder, will continue to influence our sport for decades to come.
R.I.P. my friend. I’m really going to miss our yearly chat.
Dan Fisher - [email protected]