Alberta's Contribution - Canadian Horseracing Hall of Fame
A trip to the 96th Canadian Derby at Century Mile Racetrack just south of Edmonton provided an opportunity to speak there about the enormous depth of Thoroughbred racing talent from Alberta formally recognized by the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame since its inception in 1976.
Jockeys from Alberta, either born there or
relocated there,
A trip to the 96th Canadian Derby at Century Mile Racetrack just south of Edmonton provided an opportunity to speak there about the enormous depth of Thoroughbred racing talent from Alberta formally recognized by the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame since its inception in 1976.
Jockeys from Alberta, either born there or
relocated there, harvested the names of many of Canada’s most recognizable riders. In fact, the first three jockeys inducted into the CHRHF in its inaugural class, George
Woolf, Johnny Longden and William ‘Smokey’ Saunders all had their roots in Alberta.
Woolf, from Cardston, Alberta, was affectionately known as the ‘Iceman’ for his unnerving ability to perform spectacularly
at the highest level becoming the best money rider of his era despite a constant battle with diabetes. Woolf coyly manipulated the famous 1938 Match Race by putting Seabiscuit on the lead to defeat the more fancied War Admiral.
Woolf headed the North American money won list in the early 1940s. He worked tirelessly with fellow Alberta riders
Johnny Longden and Red Pollard along with the legendary Eddie Arcaro for the rights of other jockeys establishing the Jockeys’ Guild.
Just prior to his planned retirement Woolf tragically died in a racing accident at Santa Anita in 1946. Annually, since 1950 the Guild members vote for the George Woolf Memorial Award recipient recognizing exemplary personal and professional conduct among North American jockeys. Johnny Longden born in 1907 was originally from Wakefield, England. His family relocated to Calgary, Alberta, when he was five and Longden was raised in Taber, Alberta.
The Longden family’s transport from England was not without incident as their train arrived too late in Southampton necessitating them to miss their planned passage on the Titanic.
Longden was a contemporary of George Woolf and started riding on the bush tracks but he departed for Santa Anita in 1927 and rose in prominence eventually winning a
Triple Crown with Count Fleet in 1943. Longden took over from Woolf in the mid 1940s as the leader in money won and also races won. In 1942 Longden accounted
for the Canadian Derby aboard Maginot Line.
On September 3rd, 1956, Longden became the world’s winningest rider with victory 4,871 at Del Mar.
Longden’s final ride and one of his most dramatic victories came in 1966 aboard, George Royal, in the San Juan
Capistrano Stakes scoring by a desperate nose and moving his career win total to 6,032 the most of any rider anywhere.
Longden then shifted his energies to training and a highlight came in 1969 when he sent out Majestic Prince to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes for Alberta based Frank McMahon. The pair had much earlier shared ownership in Alberta Ranches.
William ‘Smokey’ Sunders was born in 1915 in Bozeman, Montana, but relocated to Calgary when he was eight years old. By the early 1930s Saunders was competing in California before moving East.
In 1935 Saunders became the youngest rider to sweep the U S Triple Crown deftly guiding Omaha for legendary trainer ‘Sunny’ Jim Fitzsimmons. Saunders’ Interrupted riding career ended in 1950 and he subsequently became a racing official.
The 1980s offered a loaded calendar for jockeys with Alberta roots entering the Hall. John ‘Red’ Pollard born in Edmonton in 1907 was from the same era as Woolf,
Longden and Saunders and registered his initial win in 1925.
After an itinerant stint at Fort Erie racetrack, Pollard who craved winning and loathed losing gained sudden momentum when he relocated to nearby Detroit in the mid 1930s connecting with trainer, Tom Smith, the conditioner of Seabiscuit aboard whom Pollard enjoyed 18 wins. An injured leg in 1938 unfortunately necessitated that Pollard cede the mount on Seabiscuit to Woolf for the famous Match Race with War Admiral where Seabiscuit and Woolf prevailed. Seabiscuit joined Pollard on the sidelines with a damaged leg but both were healthy again in 1940 and combined to win the important Santa Anita Handicap in Seabiscuit’s final race. Pollard was inducted into the CHRHF in 1982.
The following year ‘Hustling’ Hugo Dittfach was inducted. Dittfach, a refugee from East Germany, found a welcoming home in Alberta and made the most of the opportunity becoming the leading rider there before relocating to Toronto in 1958. Dittfach was soon the leading rider there, too,
and in the 1961 Queen’s Plate aboard longshot, Blue Light, nosed out Longden’s favoured mount, Just Don’t Shove.
Dittfach’s incredible work ethic was often noted by his contemporary rivals and allowed him to reach his goal of 4,000 career wins. Fellow Hall of Fame jockey,
Richard Grubb, vividly recalled that moment. “Hugo was a straight up guy and the racing community was rooting for him to reach the milestone. After that historic win, Hugo strolled from the winner’s circle
and into retirement.” Calgary born Jim Fitzsimmons was recognized by the CHRHF
in 1984. He starred in the west before travelling east to Toronto and in a career marked by inordinate success with fillies and mares, Fitzsimmons accounted for two Queen’s Plate wins.
In 1962 Fitzsimmons scored aboard E P Taylor’s, Flaming Page, who would later foal, Nijinsky. Five years later Fitzsimmons
beat the boys again when Conn Smythe’s grey filly, Jammed Lovely, won the Plate at generous odds.
Don MacBeth, born in, Red Deer, took the first of his 2,764 wins while in Lethbridge in 1967. He travelled extensively and won
at the highest level wherever he landed taking riding titles along the eastern seaboard from New York to Florida. Macbeth had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. That was the case in 1982 when MacBeth won the $1M Japan Cup with Half Iced. Two years later he captured the first ever Breeders’ Cup race rallying Chief’s Crown three wide in the stretch in the $1M Juvenile at Hollywood Park. MacBeth passed in 1987 and was inducted the following year into the CHRHF Of the first thirteen riders inducted, seven had significant Alberta heritage.
Don Seymour relocated west and became Alberta’s top jockey from 1981-86. Seymour cemented his reputation as a top
money rider with Canadian Triple Crown sweeps in 1989 aboard, With Approval, and in 1990 with, Izvestia, both for Kinghaven Farms and trainer Roger Attfield. Seymour
was feted by the CHRHF in 1999.
Gary Boulanger is one of two recent Alberta inductees. Born in, Drayton Valley, Boulanger, began riding in 1987 and succeeded as leading rider at Longacres in Seattle and at Calder in South Florida. While riding at Woodbine in 2001 he won the Canadian Oaks and Queen’s Plate aboard Sam Son Farms’ brilliant filly, Dancethruthedawn.
A devastating racing accident at Gulfstream Park in 2005 shattered his riding plans and kept Boulanger out of the saddle
until his return in 2013. In the interim Boulanger turned his talents to the training side of the game. Boulanger finished
his riding career with a flourish at Woodbine retiring in 2018 with 3,610 wins and two years later was inducted into the CHRHF.
The most recent inductee from 2025, Perry Winters, was born in, Camrose, and was Champion jockey in Alberta seven times and won over one hundred stakes races. His 2,984 career wins rank him second to only Boulanger as the winningest Alberta
born jockey. Winters credits his success to being laser focused. “It was dedication-dedication to a sport I loved. It was never a job. It was what I loved to do. I enjoyed it.”
Donald H ‘Duke’ Campbell was the earliest of the rugged Alberta trainers to enter the Hall in 1984.
Born in, Frankburg, in the south of the province, Campbell was an itinerant horseman initially finding work in Calgary before moving throughout the prairies to land various jobs during the Depression. In Winnipeg in the employ of James R Sp
Donald H ‘Duke’ Campbell was the earliest of the rugged Alberta trainers to enter the Hall in 1984.
Born in, Frankburg, in the south of the province, Campbell was an itinerant horseman initially finding work in Calgary before moving throughout the prairies to land various jobs during the Depression. In Winnipeg in the employ of James R Speers, Campbell, worked on the first mechanical starting gate in the country. He eventually moved East to work at E. P. Taylor’s National Stud where he prepared young horses for the sales. It was here in the mid 1960s that Campbell sensed the early potential of Sandy Hawley. Hawley would go on to become one of the world’s most noted jockeys.
Hawley fondly recalled that time. “Mr. Campbell had a huge influence on my career. I met him at Windfields Farm in Oshawa in 1966. He took to me to Woodbine and became like my second father.
He taught me all the fundamentals about riding and introduced me to Colin Wick who became my agent. So, if it wasn’t for Mr. Campbell, who knows how my life would have turned out.”
Roy Johnson from, Airdrie, was fittingly the first trainer to win the Queen’s Plate with a western bred and in fact did it twice in a four-year period. Johnson’s pupil, Whistling Sea, owned by Paul Olivier who conducted business in Calgary captured the 1965 Queen’s Plate with thrilling front end tactics, ironically, holding off trainer Duke Campbell’s, Flyalong.
In 1968 Johnson won the Plate with Golden West Farm’s, Merger, like Whistling Sea bred in, Okotoks, just south of Calgary. Johnson eventually added to his big race prizes notching key career wins across the country including scores in the Quebec Derby and in a series of Western Derbies. Johnson concluded his career in the west and was honoured by the CHRHF in 2003.
The following year Ronald K ‘Red’ Smith also joined the Hall. Smith, originally from Vancouver, made Alberta his home and established unapproachable training records there becoming the perennial leader. Smith at once deflects the credit for such significant success. “Good help, good staff, good grooms, good foremen, good people and super owners-Bory Margolus and Don Danard.” In 1977 Smith garnered the Sovereign Award as Canada’s Outstanding Trainer. Smith was also a long time breeder and consignor in the province and a further industry contribution included a near three-decade commitment as a director of the Alberta HBPA Two other venerable Alberta trainers whose profiles continue to gain traction within the industry are Robert ‘Red’ Mackenzie and the late ‘Colonel’ Dale Saunders. Both trainers have been formally recognized in recent years by the Jockey Club of Canada.
Saunders was recognized in 2023 with E. P. Taylor Award of Merit for his outstanding career achievements and Smith was presented in 2024 with a Special Sovereign
Award to commemorate his longevity in the game specifically becoming Canada’s oldest winning trainer at age 96 in 2023.
The initial induction in 1976 of horses to the CHRHF understandably featured icons Northern Dancer and his son, Nijinsky, a winner of the English Triple Crown. But not to be outdone Western Canada also had its representatives including, George Royal, an iconic warrior from British Columbia.
Alberta’s best, Joey and Duchess of York, were al
The initial induction in 1976 of horses to the CHRHF understandably featured icons Northern Dancer and his son, Nijinsky, a winner of the English Triple Crown. But not to be outdone Western Canada also had its representatives including, George Royal, an iconic warrior from British Columbia.
Alberta’s best, Joey and Duchess of York, were also Included in the first induction class. Joey, a Depression era hero known as ‘the people's horse’ was famous for his incredible stretch energy and won 55 times in his career and in 1935 was Canada’s leading earner.
Duchess of York, a foal of 1923, was considered the best mare of her era in Western Canada.
Duchess of York won 38 races from Alberta to Ontario with other winning stops in Louisiana and California.
Major Presto an inductee of 1982 was bred in British Columbia but was sold early on to Edmonton interests. He won 18 stakes/Handicaps and was one of the most popular competitors in the Province
and throughout the west.
Among the dedicated, Builders, in the Hall’s first class, Robert James Speers, truly stands out as a blanket representative of Western Canada. Speers was at once a promoter, innovator, benefactor, businessman, entrepreneur, gambler, race horse owner and eventually became the country’s top breeder.
Under his stewardship tracks were estab
Among the dedicated, Builders, in the Hall’s first class, Robert James Speers, truly stands out as a blanket representative of Western Canada. Speers was at once a promoter, innovator, benefactor, businessman, entrepreneur, gambler, race horse owner and eventually became the country’s top breeder.
Under his stewardship tracks were established and meetings were conducted from Calgary and Edmonton all the way through the prairies to Manitoba. Mechanical starting gates were
introduced, a modern Pari-Mutuel system was implemented, accountability and respectability were nurtured in racing. Once Speers had a foot hold in the west beginning in Winnipeg in his late
teens in 1900 his impact on the game grew. In 1925 he established the Prairie Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Speers remained an influencer even after his death in 1955 as those he had put in
place continued his legacy.
Working alongside Speers during a period of substantial growth for Western racing were the pair of Lou Davies and Judge George Schilling both of whom had been recruited by Speers and given pivotal positions from which to operate.
Lou Davies was initially helpful in creating and distributing racing form charts and track programs to racing officials and western patrons. Davies later built on Speers’ work quarterbacking the
Western Canada Racing Association to many successes. Davies helped introduce daily double wagering and was at the forefront of implementing totalizator equipment. It was through Davies’ efforts
that Speers’ dream of a mechanical starting gate was brought to fruition. Davies inducted into the CHRHF in 1977 spent fifty years working on behalf of the racing industry and was a founding member
of the National Association of Canadian
Race Tracks.
George Schilling also inducted in 1977 was recruited by Speers because of his vast experience as a racing official. This was parlayed into a pivotal role as a Presiding Steward bringing accountability
to prairie racing. Where only the most lax
‘Hudson Bay Rules’ were in place, Schilling through his authoritative actions levelled the playing field. That he was perceived by most as both fair and practical made for an easy transition.
Both Davies and Schilling were early advocates of the use of radio to promote the game and to educate its participants. Their pioneering efforts in the west
were well rewarded.
Business interests brought two of Western Canada’s brightest luminaries, Max Bell, from Saskatchewan and, Frank McMahon, from British Columbia to work, breed and race in Alberta.
Bell was in the newspaper business as the
proprietor of FP Publication, Canada’s largest newspaper syndicate which included the Calgary-Albertan. A further attr
Business interests brought two of Western Canada’s brightest luminaries, Max Bell, from Saskatchewan and, Frank McMahon, from British Columbia to work, breed and race in Alberta.
Bell was in the newspaper business as the
proprietor of FP Publication, Canada’s largest newspaper syndicate which included the Calgary-Albertan. A further attraction to relocate to Calgary was his growing involvement in the oil and gas industry.
A highly successful horse racing and breeding Partnership was harmoniously struck with McMahon, founder of Pacific Petroleums and the Westcoast Transmission Company who likewise nestled into Calgary. The pair partnered in launching Alberta Ranches with the Longden family and enjoyed initial success racing in California. Subsequently,
Golden West Ranches, in Okotoks, Alberta, was launched by the pair. Bell and McMahon enjoyed significant success in Alberta, across Canada, in the United States and in Europe.
In 1965 McMahon and Bing Crosby bought into Bell’s colt, Meadow Court, who promptly won the Irish Derby that year and then the King George & Queen Elizabeth stakes.
In 1968 Bell and McMahon captured the Queen’s Plate with their Alberta homebred, Meger. A few years later McMahon on his own account won the 1969 Kentucky Derby with his outstanding colt Majestic Prince who also won the Preakness for then trainer Johnny Longden who had earlier partnered with McMahon in Alberta Ranches.
Max Bell was inducted into the Builders category of CHRHF in 1977 and McMahon was latter honoured in the Legends Category
One of the many Builder inductees to be influenced by James Speers was Lee Williams. His beneficence was felt throughout the Alberta racing community.
Williams was also a breeder of note whose filly, Sonoma, was the first distaffer to capture the Canadian Derby. Williams was a big promoter of the race from his perch as the President of th
One of the many Builder inductees to be influenced by James Speers was Lee Williams. His beneficence was felt throughout the Alberta racing community.
Williams was also a breeder of note whose filly, Sonoma, was the first distaffer to capture the Canadian Derby. Williams was a big promoter of the race from his perch as the President of the Edmonton Exhibition Association. Williams played a significant role in the launch of racing in Lethbridge. He was inducted into the CHRHF in 1982.
James William Wright was elected to the
Hall the following year. He transferred west
and held significant industry positions in
Alberta racing as Vice Chair of the Alberta
Racing Commission and President of the
Alberta HBPA.
Wright, a successful breeder, further promoted racing as the owner of Assiniboia Downs. In 1990 Wright was recognized by the Jockey Club of Canada with the E P Taylor Award of Merit for lifetime achievements.
Ernest D Adams elected to the CHRHF in 1984 came from India and helped organize racing in Western Canada along with Robert James Speers.
Adams from his Calgary base held many influential positions in Alberta racing including Director of the Calgary Exhibition and Chairman of the Alberta Racing Commission before wrapping up his career as a respected Steward.
Walter Sprague improved Alberta racing as Director and President of Northlands. When the Canadian Derby was uprooted and moved from Winnipeg to Edmonton in 1957 Sprague made sure the welcome
mat was out at Northlands. Sprague a community leader won the Canadian Derby in 1962 with Western Morn. He was elected to the CHRHF in 1989
Barry Margolus the owner of Elmbrook Farms in, Gibbons, Alberta, dominated racing in the province in the 1970s and received national recognition with Sovereign Awards as the country’s Outstanding Breeder in 1975 and Outstanding Owner two years later. Margolus entered the Hall in 2019.
A more contemporary inductee, elected to
the CHRHF in 2022, Edmonton native,
Charles Fipke, set out on divergent
life paths and each proved
highly rewarding.
Racing beckoned in the early 1980s and Fipke gradually achieved success before ascending to the highest level at home and internationally and is now a widely celebrated breeder and owner.
As a renowned geologist, Fipke, from his base in Kelowna, B.C. successfully explored the North West Territories where he partnered in discovering the famed Ekati Diamond Mine.
Fipke dovetailed his successful ventures
allowing his philanthropy to emerge and
generously support vital health care initiatives. Fipke’s outstanding life’s work resulted in him being presented the Order of Canada.
Curtis Stock who grew up in Calgary and
relocated to Edmonton is one of
this country’s great story tellers. Horse
racing has benefitted immensely from
his talent as a reporter, as a weaver of human interest stories, as a detective of equine overachieving and as a revealing author.
Stock has dominated the Sovereign Award writing categories over the decades and recently his book detailing the lives of Canada’s first family of jockeys, ‘The Turcottes’ received industry acclaim. Stock was welcomed to the CHRHF in the
Communicator’s category in 2017.
That those with Alberta Heritage have
Inordinately contributed to the vast
development of thoroughbred horse racing in Canada is a certainty.
DUCHESS OF YORK
ROY JOHNSON AND R.K. SMITH
ROY JOHNSON AND R.K. SMITH
ROY JOHNSON AND R.K. SMITH
