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The Golden Age of Horse Racing in Canada
Many fervently subscribe that the one of the very best periods in Canadian horse racing took place during the 1960s.
Two of the country’s most noted horses, Northern Dancer in Ontario and George Royal in British Columbia were foaled in 1961. The pair were ranked first and second among all Canadian breds in earnings during their peak.
The racing scene was flush with future Hall of Fame trainers, Yonnie Starr, Gordon Peter McCann, Frank Merrill Jr, James Bentley, Arthur Warner, Lou Cavalaris Jr., Jerome C Meyer and Duke Campbell from the Prairies.
The owners who chased E P Taylor in the standings during those heady days, Joseph Seagram, Jean Louis Levesque of Montreal, George Gardiner, Conn Smythe, Max Bell originally from Saskatchewan and Frank McMahon originally from British Columbia were among Canada’s best ever.
Big name riders then included Avelino Gomez, Chris Rogers, Hugo Dittfach and Jim Fitzsimmons. Yet, this era also gained distinction because of four renowned apprentice riders that it produced, Ron Turcotte, Richard Grubb, Robin Platts and Sandy Hawley, like all mentioned here, Honoured Members of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Ron Turcotte from Drummond, New Brunswick, spent some rudimentary time at Windfields Farm in Oshawa and then after getting some much needed racetrack experience made the most of his apprenticeship period. It began in 1962 with a winning ride at Fort Erie and by season’s end he was the winningest rider in the country, a feat he repeated the following year.
Turcotte’s early departure for tracks on the eastern seaboard of the United States proved instantly rewarding and eventually led to a highly productive union with fellow Canadian, trainer Lucien Laurin. In 1972 Turcotte won the Kentucky Derby for the future Hall of Fame conditioner aboard Riva Ridge and the Belmont Stakes, too, and then completed the Triple Crown sweep the next year with his most famous mount, Secretariat.
Turcotte’s forced retirement the result of a paralyzing spill in 1978 at Belmont was agonizing. While potential and acquired talent were his hallmarks during his riding career, courage, marked his life after racing. Turcotte bravely and enthusiastically lent his support to a variety of charity causes and was a great promoter of his celebrity mount, Secretariat.
Turcotte received the Order of Canada and was recognized by his peers with the George Woolf Memorial Award named in honour of his fellow Canadian who died in a racing accident at Santa Anita in 1946 just prior to his planned retirement.
Turcotte was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1980 and had entered the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga the previous year.
The annual rotation of race meetings on the then Ontario Jockey Club circuit called for stops at Fort Erie in the spring and summer with the balance of the action at Toronto area tracks, Greenwood located in the eastern section of downtown Toronto and Woodbine in the northwest suburb of Etobicoke.
Fort Erie’s spring meeting was typically contested in cold, wet weather over muddy and sloppy tracks giving rise to the monikers ‘Fort Eerie’ or ‘Fort Dreary’. While similar conditions, prevailed at Greenwood for the early and late meetings there, it largely escaped notoriety as nothing seemed to rhyme with the name of the track
But it was the perennial summer venue at Fort Erie that everyone craved. The racing community eagerly transitioned from Woodbine to the resort town for a six week getaway stay from mid July through Labour Day weekend. The pleasant weather was enticing. The cottage lifestyle and the proximity of the informal dwellings made for a chummy atmosphere. The BBQ culture promoted impromptu gatherings. The Horse people enjoyed the more sedate pace of daily chores. The horses, too, loved the more verdant and serene Niagara setting. For young riders, some initial, away from home time, was welcomed and it provided an opportunity for maturation and bonding but at the same time for some prank hazing. Turcotte successfully rode Northern Dancer there in the summer of 1963 to a promising debut win.
“There was not as much pressure at Fort Erie as Woodbine, even though there were big races to be won,” said Platts.
“At Fort Erie in the summer I got to know older riders such as Chris Rogers and Avelino Gomez and some of the other young riders starting out. I enjoyed it and did well.”
Rigid labour standards in those days necessitated apprentice riders to be under contract. Conveniently, a prominent owner connected to the stable would hold the contract of an aspiring rider. The largely one-sided benefits to the owners included advantageous weight allowances that were in play disproportionately lightening the load their horses had to carry and the waving of the customary rider fees. For the apprentices the agreement provided horses to ride to help advance their skill.
As apprentice riders Platts and Grubb were contracted respectively to George Gardner, a future Hall of Fame Honoured Member and Ward C Pitfield, a successful business man, owners who had their horses trained by future Hall of Fame conditioner, Lou Cavalaris Jr, and so the young riders worked for Cavalaris, the leading race winning trainer in North America in 1966. For Platts and Grubb there was no signing bonus, yet, by special agreement, they received full fees when riding for their contract holder.
Cavalaris a stickler for details in the running of his highly successful stable, taught his riding pupils well with direction and discipline. “Richard was already a finished rider when he came to me in 1965,” said Cavalaris. “He was the more natural of the two and we launched his career first. By contrast Robin was not a rider when he came to the track that same summer and we waited a year with him. They both worked hard and were hungry for success. The timing of their launch and the favorable conditions within the stable worked well for both sides.”
A pre requisite in those days for young riders was to daily attend the showing of the film patrol coverage of the previous day’s races. A Steward or patrol judge was almost always present and offered critical reviews of the riders’ performances. Veteran riders often stopped by and offered helpful advice to the apprentices sometimes in a stern tone so that the messages meant to lead to improvement wouldn’t be missed.
Suspensions to apprentices for riding infractions, were dished out regularly by the Stewards and were much more harsh in those days, a typical suspension being 10 racing days. When such downtime involved either Grubb or Platts, they were expected to carry out their responsibilities for the stable such as galloping horses in the mornings or being aboard for timed workouts. Also, it was not uncommon for Grubb or Platts, leading riders at the time, to be given the afternoon task of marshaling Cavalaris runners to the post astride the stable pony. A poor ride on one of the stable’s runners in the final race of the day more than once landed Grubb or Platts the inglorious chore of ‘hot walking’ that horse back at the barn moments after the conclusion of the racing card.
Grubb during his first full season as an apprentice in 1967 was Canada’s leading jockey with an astounding 230 winners with a lofty success rate of 26%. Grubb, who served with distinction as a long tenured Ontario Racing Commission Steward at the conclusion of his riding career fondly recalled those times. “Then, trainers nurtured riders kept them back until they were ready to ride,” said Grubb. “Discipline was key, and Lou was the boss you didn’t question him. It taught you to develop good work habits. I was fortunate to have someone such as Lou who cared. He was more than a boss. He was a mentor.”
Grubb embraced the excitement early in his career of winning seven races in a row over an eight race card at Woodbine.
In all he accounted for more than 1,600 wins at home, in the United States and while representing Canada at International competitions. He was the most recent addition to the Hall of Fame from his famous group of four.
Platts became a noted money rider winning an inordinate number of stakes events among his 3,245 victories including the 1968 Canadian International stakes. His career highlight came in taking four Queen’s Plate scores a record he shares with Avelino Gomez and Sandy Hawley. One of Platts’ favourite horses, two time Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame Inductee, Overskate, ironically lost the 1978 Queen’s Plate in a tight photo to the Hawley ridden Regal Embrace. But Overskate and Platts subsequently won the two remaining legs of the Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales and Breeders stakes. In total Platts accounted for eleven victories in Triple Crown stakes races. Hawley likened Platts’ successful style to that of California icon, Laffit Pincay Jr. Platts also represented Canada with distinction at international competitions. He was welcomed to the Hall of Fame in 1998.
Sandy Hawley, like Turcotte, Grubb and Platts also blossomed under the direction of a future Hall of Fame trainer, Duke Campbell, who guided the promising youngster from Oshawa through his reinsmanship lessons initially at Windfields Farm then at Woodbine and set him up with his longtime agent Colin Wick. Campbell’s impact on Hawley was instrumental in preparing him for his successful unveiling. Hawley in addition to being Ontario‘s leading rider in his first season of action in 1969 earned an Eclipse Award as the outstanding apprentice in North America.
Hawley credited his time in Fort Erie as an important early ingredient in his progress. “Fort Erie added to the variety of tracks and surfaces that helped develop my skills. The racing community was closer there. It was social and relaxed. Learning close-up from journeymen such as Hugo Dittfach, Avelino Gomez, George Gordon, Don Hale and John LeBlanc was a big help,” said Hawley
Dittfach a winner of 4,000 races who was a 1983 inductee into the Hall of Fame never felt threatened by the group of Turcotte, Grubb, Platts and Hawley but recalls he was hopeful they would turn out to be future stars.
“Hawley learned so quickly,” said Dittfach. “You could trick him once but he was smart enough that you couldn’t trick him twice. He was a good rider even then. The other good apprentices of that time, well, if you were fortunate to beat them you knew the result would be different next time,” mused Dittfach.
In 1970 Hawley was the runway leading rider in North America with 452 wins. Hawley’s migration to various locales in the United States presented him with possibilities not available at home. He was the champion jockey in wins there in 1970 1972, 1973 and again in 1976 when he earned an Eclipse award as champion jockey in North America.
That Hawley subsequently excelled against the world’s deepest jockey colony in southern California which included Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay Jr, Chris McCarron and Eddie Delahoussaye reaching 6,450 victories was no surprise. Among Hawley‘s big race winners at home were four Queen’s Plate scores in the 1970s.
Hawley entered the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1986. He was also inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame at Saratoga in 1992. Like Turcotte, Hawley was awarded the Order of Canada and was recognized with the George Woolf Memorial Award.
The golden age of horseracing in Canada importantly provided the country and the world with a sustained supply of renowned riding talent for the following decades. Turcotte, Grubb, Platts and Hawley left a collective legacy of championships titles, big race wins, prestigious awards, international recognition and vivid induction ceremony memories.
Jim Bannon