SC Rewind: Years Ago - 1940s

For the first Rewind of 2024,  Robert Smith offers up the monthly edition of 'Years Ago'.  This is a feature that recalls the people, events and memories from a selected decade.  This time it's all about the 1940's,  a tremendously eventful period in the overall history of harness racing.  The decade was filled with a lot of "first ever" happenings and milestones.  As usual a number of old photos accompany many of the short stories.  

1940 - Canadian Sportsman 70 Years Young 

By 1940 The Canadian Sportsman had already been in existence for 70 years having started publication in 1870.  It was rightfully advertised as "The Oldest Turf Journal In America" as shown above.  Published in Tillsonburg, Ont., at this time it listed Harvey F. Johnston as Proprietor and R. Gordon Craig as Associate Editor.  

Subscribers were able to receive a year's subscription for $2.50 in Canada (about 20 cents a month) while U.S. residents paid a slightly higher $3.00.  At this time and for many years each issue contained eight pages of news, announcements and advertisements.  News from across the Dominion was included in most issues as well as reports and results from numerous U.S. locations.  Each year at Hambletonian time a fairly elaborate run down of the big race was published.  

Many issues contained letters from readers which contained news of recent happenings, upcoming events and other interesting items.  On occasion when controversial issues arose, differing opinions were presented in the interest of fairness.  

1941 - Saratoga Opens New Track For Night Racing 

Saratoga as it appeared on opening night in 1941 

The Saratoga grandstand as it appeared in the latter stages of construction 

On June 26, 1941 Saratoga Raceway became the sport's newest racetrack facility and was the first to be built for night time harness racing.  The two tracks that preceded it and both opened in 1940,  Roosevelt Raceway and Batavia Downs had been retrofitted for night harness racing.  The first day of racing at Saratoga Raceway attracted 4,048 fans and the mutuel handle was $28,515. 

1946 - Phillips Starting Gate Introduced At Roosevelt Raceway 

In the period just after the end of WWII the sport of harness racing received a huge boost in popularity.  One of the major happenings was the introduction of the mobile starting gate.  For a few years prior to this time Steve Phillips -- a native of Xenia, Ohio -- had experimented with several starting gates which met with varying acceptance.  When given the opportunity to build a state of the art vehicle with funds supplied by the management of Roosevelt his new starting car became almost an instant success.  It allowed for fair starts and predictable post times. 

Philips remained at Roosevelt as their starter for many years and in later years was joined by his son Charles (left) shown in the above photo.  According to old track folklore the senior Phillips was always well dressed, usually wearing a suit coat and tie and never the same ones in successive days. 

On May 24, 1946, the Steve Phillips mobile starting gate was introduced to the crowds at Roosevelt Raceway. The gate was an instant hit and the track’s popularity grew immensely from that point on. The following year, the gate made its appearance in Canada and soon became a "must" at nearly all race meetings.  

1947 - Big Race Day At Tillsonburg, Ont. 

The above photo shows a view of a Supertest gas station, a popular sight in days gone by.  The Supertest Oil Co., located in London, Ont., were sponsors of very popular stakes races for two- and three-year-old trotters and pacers for many years.  These colt races offered generous purses and winning owners received silver trays which were presented by Company officials.  The first race was held at Leamington in 1944 and the program lasted until about 1974 the year the O.S.S. began.  

July 9, 1947 - A large crowd was on hand to welcome the pacers and trotters at the Tillsonburg town track on this date.  A full afternoon of racing featured keen competition and close finishes throughout the program.  A total of five races, each going three heats, provided 15 individual contests thus making for one of the largest single days of racing in the province.  

On this day the newly created Supertest Stakes for three-year-old pacers was the headline event of the day.  The race which carried a purse of $4,274.48 drew nine entrants.  The winner was Lee Grattan Bars, owned by Al Leverington of St. Thomas, Ont. (see note below).  After winning the first two heats he finished second in the third heat to Mr. Herbert owned, trained and driven by Wm. Herbert of London.  A time of 2:13 achieved in the final heat was the fastest of this event.  The purse for this race was astounding given the fact that the purses offered for all of the day's other events was $300.  Entry fees and a substantial contribution from Supertest Oil Co. obviously made the difference. 

Note - In 1947 the Year Books did not always include the name of the winning driver and that was the case with this race.  I believe that the winning driver may have been Levi "Jiggs" McFadden as he often drove this horse. 

The Tillsonburg track was among the Province's best racing spots for many years and each year featured multiple race days.  Jack Climie, a local horse owner and well respected starter, was often involved in organizing the programs and also served as the announcer. 

In the above photo owner and driver Alf Moore of Sarnia moves Lorne Lee on the outside to overtake Dillon Flicka, driven by owner Edward Arthur of Otterville, Ont., in the secondary featured event.  A portion of the large Tillsonburg crowd is visible in the background (D.B. Weldon Library, LFP Collection)

When the Supertest Stakes came to town it was a rather big happening.  Shown above is a store window in downtown Tillsonburg advertising the event.  Race days at small town tracks were usually well attended especially if the weatherman cooperated. 

1948 - Ralph Baldwin Leading Driver For 1948 

Ralph Baldwin ( U.S.T.A. photo) 

Canadian-born horseman Ralph Baldwin, a native of Lloydminster, Sask., was the sport's leading money winning driver in 1948 according to U.S.T.A. figures shown below.  After starting his career racing across the prairie Provinces with his father Homer,  Ralph scored his first win in 1933 at the age of 17.  He eventually made his way to Toronto's Dufferin Park where he enjoyed success during winter racing.  

Following a distinguished stint in the military service with the Canadian Army he returned to racing circles after WWII.  His talents soon took him to the U.S. where he was an immediate presence on the Grand Circuit.  He held several top jobs as head trainer and driver for top U.S. stables such as Castleton Farm, Arden Homestead Stable and Two Gaits Farm.   

In 1948 the leading race winner was Harry Burright, who did a lot of his racing in the Chicago area.  His win total was 129 as he edged out second-place finisher Levi Harner who scored 127 victories.  In the top 10 race winners there were no Canadian-born drivers. 

The above chart shows the year end statistics for 1948 based on money winning drivers.  I believe that everyone on the list eventually became Hall of Fame members.  As a comparison in terms of today's dollar values the $153,000 credited to Ralph Baldwin that would amount to approx. $1,988,000 adjusted for inflation. 

Quote For The Week: Sign at a Poultry Farm, "Fresh Eggs...laid while you wait." 

Who Is It?  

Can you identify these two horsemen who were among the most successful trainers and drivers especially after WWII.  These two fellows shouldn't require too many clues.  

Who Else Is It?  

Can you correctly identify this trio of well known horsemen from the 1940's and later?