The OSS is celebrating its 50th anniversary season this year with special anniversary dates at tracks around the province where fans will be able to watch OSS Gold, Grassroots and Prospect Series races, enjoy giveaways and more. Don’t miss the next celebration date as our tour heads to Grand River Raceway, where you will be able to take in OSS Gold Series action.
Grand River Raceway is truly from the modern era.
This racing facility was built with much more than harness racing in mind as it was opened as a multi-use facility on Dec. 3, 2003. However, it didn’t open for its first card of harness racing until April 26, 2004, followed by a grand opening on May 10, 2004.
And though hampered by inclement weather, opening day was still a huge success.
The track was built for the modern age but came with a nod to the past in that it was centered around the traditional old half-mile sized track.
As most people know, this year a completely new 5/8-mile track has been constructed to better meet the needs of today’s racing style. To date, the results have been amazing as multiple speed records have tumbled as many predicted.
While this track was not an original host for OSS events, it might be considered to have “inherited” some of the earlier history recorded at the now-defunct Elmira Raceway, which was located only about 20 kilometres away from the Grand River site.
In 1974, when the OSS started its annual series, Elmira Raceway was one of the 14 “B” tracks chosen as a site for these new colt races. For many years they remained a regular stop on the circuit, but by about 1993 the track closed.
When the inaugural season began, the first group of OSS competitors to visit Elmira arrived in mid-July – the 15th to be exact. It was the three-year-old trotting colts and geldings to start things off. A field of eight faced the starter and the winner was Armbro Oscar, scoring in a rather leisurely 2:12.2. The winning driver was veteran Norm Bayne of Guelph, who also owned this son of Hoot Frost. With a purse of $9,082 on the line it was a good start.
In August, the two-year-old pacing colts were in town and Hotspurs Honor (Jiggs McFadden) and Pats Bye Bye (Clint Hodgins) were the day’s winners. Two more visits in September, first by the three-year-old pacing fillies and a bit later by the two-year-old trotting fillies, closed out a very successful first year of OSS activity.
On Sept. 6, a local 24-year-old Tom Strauss, a driver born and raised in Elmira, won with the very talented sophomore pacing filly Kawartha Ilene, owned by Denton Johnston of Peterborough. The young Strauss was a trainer in the powerful Keith Waples stable and often handled the driving duties behind the many stars that outfit contained. Back in 1970, he scored his first winning drive at this very track with a horse named Captain Star.
Scrapbook Memories – Stars Of The OSS
Ross Henry, second from left, pictured with his wife Joyce as well as Ontario Racing Commission chair Lynda Tanaka and Grand River Raceway’s Dr. Ted Clarke at a 2005 commemoration of his storied career.
In 1974, Henry won his first of many Ontario Sires Stakes races, doing so with March Marian at Woodstock Raceway. His two-year-old filly by Keith Abbe won her second race of the season in 2:09.2 with Howard Kennedy driving. The purse was $5,476. She banked a very respectable $14,857 that season, a true indication of the earnings potential in OSS competition. From there he continued his long-time involvement with the OSS.
Henry was a five-time winner of the Johnston Cup, emblematic of excellence in the training of OSS performers. Also of note, several of Henry’s children have been very active and successful in OSS competition for many years and continue to excel.
Elegant Image and Steve Condren are first to the wire in this photo.
In 1997, this three-year-old trotting filly by Balanced Image out of the Super Bowl mare Eclair Hanover displayed what Ontario bred horses could accomplish. Bred by Diane Ingram and Harry Rutherford of Mount Pleasant, Ont., she was owned by Hyatt Holdings, Doug Millard, Jerry Van Boekel and the Condren Stable.
She trotted in 1:55.4 at three and in her two- and three-year-old seasons earned well over $800,000. Late in the season, she recorded OSS wins in $100,000 events at both Mohawk and Flamboro. Her trainer was Brad Maxwell. Later as an aged performer, she reached lifetime earnings of $955,368.
This outstanding Ontario bred mare was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2017.
Lloyd Chisholm, one of the original promoters of the OSS, stands in front of his iconic red barn bearing the name “Arawana Farms,” located not far from Mohawk. He was originally involved in breeding and raising Guernsey cattle but later turned his attention to Standardbreds.
In the late 1960s, breeders like Chisholm, Wib White and Ed Boland became convinced that the future success of Standardbred breeding in Ontario hinged on the creation of a Sires Stakes program similar to the one in New York State. The trio worked tirelessly for half a decade with many others before the OSS came to fruition in 1973. The existence of the new program resulted in the average yearling price at that fall’s sales to more than double. Better days were just ahead.
A very prestigious award bearing Chisholm’s name is given in his honour annually by the Standardbred Breeders Association and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. Chisholm passed away in 1992 at the age of 80.
Pictured above is Sammy Silk and driver Steve Byron, a top performer in OSS competition in 1990 and 1991 at two and three.
This young horse was named an O’Brien winner in the two-year-old trotting colts and geldings category in 1990. He had an outstanding year and included in his victories was a track-record-tying effort at Windsor in 2:00. On this occasion, the victory was with Robert Walker in the sulky. This horse was so successful in 1990 that he was included in the USTA voting at year’s end in the Horse of the Year voting for two-year-old trotting colts. He garnered just five votes, but that was still quite an accomplishment for this Ontario bred youngster.
Remarkable Image, shown above, was an O’Brien winner in 1997 in the two-year-old trotting filly class. She also starred in OSS action and is shown here with driver Karen Fekete. There have not been too many female drivers in the OSS over the years, but the individuals who did compete have all done extremely well. This is a shining example.
Mr. G, a homebred product from the stable of Windsor-based trainer Bob McIntosh, led his division in 1994 OSS action. The three-year-old son of Armbro Getty won $246,820 for his rather well-known quartet of owners, with over $176,000 earned in OSS action alone. His mark of 1:54 over the Elmira half mile was a track record. Steve Condren was his regular driver.
This photo was autographed by Paul Ysebaert.
Mr. G is seen here, from left to right, with Bob Probert, Ysebaert and Bob and Al McIntosh. Both Probert and Ysebaert were former NHL stars.
Why Mr. G? Inspired by his sire’s name, this horse received his name because of a longtime caretaker involved with members of the McIntosh family whose last name was also Getty and was at times called “Mr. G.”
A picture of this horse taken at the Elmira track is still on display at Grand River in remembrance of his track record performance at that former OSS host track. His mark of 1:54 was set 30 years ago.
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