It has been announced that horseman George ‘Buddy’ Regan, 78, passed away on Tuesday, November 24.
News of Regan’s passing has come via Fred Hudson, who stated that Regan’s cause of death has not yet been announced.
Regan was born December 23, 1936, in New Castle, New Brunswick.
During the 1970s, Regan established himself as one of the premier New York (Roosevelt and Yonkers Raceway) trainers. From 1971 through 1980, Regan had a string of 10 consecutive $1 million seasons, and during the same time period he won more than 10 Roosevelt and Yonkers Raceway training titles.
Regan started his career working for Joe O'Brien and Stanley Dancer. He later went to work for trainer Frank Mollica and in 1966 he branched off on his own.
While Regan was an accomplished driver himself, he chose to primarily train his horses and leave the driving to others, such as Carmine Abbatiello and Lucien Fontaine. Some of the horses that Regan trained were Call To Arms, George Van Allen, Gypsy Bret, Mr Sandman, Frank T Ace, and Sureshot Hanover.
Further details will be announced as they become available.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of George ‘Buddy’ Regan.
(With files from the USTA and Fred Hudson)
Condolences to all Buddy's
Condolences to all Buddy's family and friends. In the early 70's I wanted to leave a couple of horses at Roosevelt and after careful thought I decided on Buddy as the best. For the next 10 or 15 years I sent him the odd horse to race and I found him to be an excellent trainer and very honest. Although I have not seen him in recent years, I still feel his passing will leave a gap that will be hard to fill.
John S. Findley.
A friend and a great horse
A friend and a great horse trainer. RIP. Buddy also trained the great Tarport Hap.