(Ron Waples (right) with fellow Hall of Famers Doug Brown (left) and Bill O'Donnell at Clinton Raceway)
Hall of Fame driver Ron Waples said there is an easy explanation why Caroldon’s Knight was the horse that changed his life: “Because I was broke and he was a nice horse,” Waples said, laughing. “I was in my 20s.”
Caroldon’s Knight was one of the first horses Waples purchased. He bought the son of Adora’s Dream—Star Zenith for $12,000 in the early 1970s. The pacer went on to earn nearly $280,000 racing in Ontario and Waples was on his way to the upper echelons of his sport.
“He was a nice horse to drive. He got me a little recognition,” said the modest 71-year-old reinsman, who went on to win nearly 7,000 races and almost $75 million in purses en route to enshrinement in both his sport’s Canadian and U.S. Halls of Fame.
As to what Waples liked about Caroldon’s Knight, Waples quipped: ““His heart. He was then, like I am now — lame.”
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