The Best of New Brunswick Breeding

I have to admit that I have always been somewhat of a statistical geek. I have an affinity for numbers and when you combine that with an interest in harness racing - a business that almost exclusively uses numbers to gauge itself - it provides an opportunity to evaluate it from different points of view.  After all, we offer race patrons a program full of numbers and statistical data.  Whether it is a horses time in their last race; the number of wins or dollars earned or maybe just the betting information, numbers and statistics can play a large role in this sport.

When Niatross time-trialed in a world record 1:49.1 in 1980, I remember the harness racing periodical The Harness Horse arrived in the mailbox with nothing on its cover but the numbers :27.3-:54.3-1:21.4-1:49.1.  I was a teenager just starting to follow harness racing and the significance of that cover was not lost on me.  I had already memorized the family tree of all of my relative’s horses and I understood the importance of Meadow Skipper, Bye Bye Byrd and Adios in a pedigree.  Now harness racing took on a new perspective for me.  Niatross was now the fastest horse of all time and I wanted to know whose record he eclipsed and how fast they had gone.

I took that interest to Fredericton Raceway and when I started to work there in 1982 I went about ensuring that all of the track records were current and that a list of the Walter Dale winners was easily accessible.  Scott Green has been very helpful in maintaining the integrity of the track records and assembling timed track records for trotters and pacers since the track opened in 1887.  I also put together a chronological history of the track. 

So with that all said, and seeing as it is the end of another calendar year, I decided to indulge the usual year-end inundation of ‘Best of’ lists and take a look at New Brunswick’s most prolific horses of all time.  I solicited harness racing guru Patrick Eastwood of Saint John and he provided me some interesting information on New Brunswick breeding.  I categorized some of the data and came up with the following “Best of” lists. 

Top 6 Maritime-bred pacing horses and geldings bred in New Brunswick - by lifetime record

1:50.2s                  Kickin’ Up Dirt                         Breeder:  Robert Hume, Hay Settlement

1:51s                     You’re Going Down                Breeder:  Milton Downey, Saint John

1:51.2f                   Clinton Debriefed                   Breeder:  Hugh Baird, Hampton

1:51.2s                  Chatham Hoochee                 Breeder:  Mike Melanson, Shediac

1:51.2m                 Jaguar Knight                         Breeder:  Thomas McMaster, Saint John

1:51.4f                   Sun Vals Thunder                  Breeder:  Johannes Wuhrmann, Mount Hebron

The top two, Kickin’ Up Dirt and You’re Going Down, are by Drop Off while Clinton Debriefed (Quick Comeback), Chatham Hoochee (Chatham Light), Jaguar Knight (Knightly Blue Chip) and Sun Vals Thunder (Largo) are 100% “New Brunswick-bred,” which for this purpose means that both stallion and broodmare were from New Brunswick at the time of breeding.

Top 6 Maritime-bred pacing fillies and mares bred in New Brunswick - by lifetime record

1:51.4s                  Honey Do Jigtime                   Breeder:  Blaine & Donna Hannay, Upper Rexton

1:52.1s                  Spudland Sierra                     Breeder:  Alfred Moeller, Mount Hebron

1:52.1s                  Charlottes Trick                      Breeder:  Alfred Moeller, Mount Hebron

1:53s                     Charlottes Abby                      Breeder:  Alfred Moeller, Mount Hebron

1:53m                    Cookies Lighting                     Breeder:  Melvin Land, Hopewell Cape

1:53.3s                  Some Nice Ketch                     Breeder:  David Kileel, Fredericton

Alfred Moeller dominates this list with all but Honey Do Jigtime and Some Nice Ketch by stallions that stood at Moeller’s Charlotte Ranch at the time of breeding.  Largo sired two performers, Charlottes Trick and Cookies Lighting.  Knightly Blue Chip was the sire of Spudland Sierra and Sherwood Abe sired Charlottes Abby.  Some Nice Ketch was sired by Willow Bird.

Top 6 New Brunswick-FOALED pacing horses and geldings by lifetime record

1:49.3s                  Pronger                                 Breeder:  Richard MacDonald, Saint John

1:50f                      Astronomical                         Breeder:  Seawinds AMG Stables, Moncton

1:51.1s                  Ultimate Luck                         Breeder:  Village Acres Ltd., Brampton, ON

1:51.1s                  Lyons Horace                         Breeder:  Seawinds AMG Stables, Moncton

1:51.1f                   Seawind Gambler                  Breeder:  Seawinds AMG Stables, Moncton

1:51.4f                   Thunderfirst                           Breeder:  Seawinds AMG Stables, Moncton

                                                                                            Andre Moeller, Mount Hebron

                                                                                            Dan Belliveau, Halifax, NB

Arnold Gerhard’s Seawinds AMG Stables is well represented here and it is interesting to note that the Astreos-Hey Girl mating produced three members on this list, Astronomical, Lyons Horace and Seawind Gambler.  Thunderfirst was also sired by Astreos.

Top 6 Maritime-bred trotting horses and geldings bred in New Brunswick - by lifetime record

1:55.2s                 Final Balance                       Breeder:  One Black Horse Stable, Moncton

1:56.2f                  Buddywhatshisname            Breeder:  George Irving, Irishtown

1:59.4m                Bulletin Board                      Breeder:  David Kileel, Fredericton

2:02.4h                 Duvar Road                         Breeder:  Robert & Grace Corlett, Miramichi

2:03.3f                  Elmwood Express                Breeder:  George Irving, Moncton

2:03.4f                  Policy Maker                        Breeder:  Donald Canning, Moncton

The top two, Final Balance and Buddywhatshisname, are full brother and sister (Balance Of Trade-Summer House).  Both Elmwood Express and Policy Maker are by the double-gaited producing Horton Hanover.

Top 6 Maritime-bred trotting fillies and mares bred in New Brunswick - by lifetime record

2:01.3f                  Ithadtobeme                         Breeder:  Louise Turner, Bellisle Creek

2:02.3f                  Elmwood Galaxy                   Breeder:  Elmwood Stable & Farm, Moncton

Q2:03.1h              Kims Balance                        Breeder:  Joseph & Geraldine Leger

2:03.2h                 Sno Trump                           Breeder:  Robert & Grace Corlett, Miramichi

2:04.3h                 Magic North                          Breeder:  Robert & Grace Corlett, Miramichi

2:05h                    Power Anne                          Breeder:  Dolores Doyle, Bloomfield

The trot-bred Sno Trump was double gaited but never took a record on the pace.  She is also the dam of Duvar Road (who took his record in Summerside this past summer) on the previous list.  Power Anne is 100% pacing bred (Power Baron-Bye Bye Sheralee-Bye Bye Andy).

Top 2 NEW BRUNSWICK-FOALED trotters by lifetime record

2:00.1f                  Safe House                          Breeder:  George Irving, Irishtown

2:02.2h                 Darowen                              Breeder:  Donna Davies, Wakefield

The presence of Safe House at the top of this record gives the prolific trot broodmare, Summer House, four spots on these trot lists – the others being Final Balance, Buddywhatshisname and Elmwood Galaxy.  Summer House had produced foals with earnings of $648,217.

Top 12 New Brunswick-BRED horses, mares and geldings by money earnings

$468,696              You’re Going Down            Breeder:  Milton Downey, Saint John

$432,608              Clinton Debriefed               Breeder:  Hugh Baird, Hampton

$431,787              Kickin’ Up Dirt                     Breeder:  Robert Hume, Hay Settlement

$360,367              Christopher C Down           Breeder:  Milton Downey, Saint John

$342,630              Flaming Moe                       Breeder:  Hugh Baird, Hampton

$298,985              Sun Vals Thunder               Breeder:  Johannes Wuhrmann

$273,197              Chatham Hoochee              Breeder:  Mike Melanson, Shediac

$254,931              Harry Sherwood                  Breeder:  Clarence Glynn, Miramichi City

$245,060              Final Balance (T)                Breeder:  One Black Horse Stable, Moncton

$241,720              Cocagne Battle                   Breeder:  Leo & Gerard Gallant, Cocagne

$233,036              Cookies Lighting                 Breeder:  Melvin Land, Hopewell Cape

$233,021              Some Nice Ketch                 Breeder:  David Kileel, Fredericton

Top 12 New Brunswick-SIRED horses, mares and geldings by money earnings

$432,608              Clinton Debriefed                 Sire:  Quick Comeback

$360,367              Christopher C Down             Sire:  Timely Robin

$342,630              Flaming Moe                        Sire:  Quick Comeback

$298,985              Sun Vals Thunder                Sire:  Largo

$273,197              Chatham Hoochee               Sire:  Chatham Light

$261,877              Guyonthego                         Sire:  Willow Bird

$260,203              Kissmelass                           Sire:  Lisryan

$254,931              Harry Sherwood                   Sire:  Sherwood Abe

$241,720              Cocagne Battle                    Sire:  Shuttle Mission

$233,036              Cookies Lighting                  Sire:  Largo

$233,021              Some Nice Ketch                  Sire:  Willow Bird

$231,722              Diplomat Katie                      Sire:  Willow Bird

All but You’re Going Down, Kickin’ Up Dirt, Guyonthego, Kissmelass and the only trotter, Final Balance, are 100% New Brunswick-bred.

Clinton Debriefed (Quick Comeback-Mayflower Madam) is 100% New Brunswick-bred and is the richest of all time as well as having the fastest lifetime record.  He was the Atlantic Sires Stakes champion as a two and three-year-old and was Horse-of-the-Year in 2003.

Clinton Debriefed taking his record of 1:51.2 at Dover Downs - November 22, 2004

 Is Clinton Debriefed the greatest horse ever produced in this province?

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Here is one more notable fact for New Brunswick.  Bayside Katfish (Knight Champ-Bayside Empress), who was raised at Johnny Rae’s farm in Dumfries, is the winningest New Brunswick horse in the modern era with 86 lifetime wins.  Next on the list is Auguste Gallant's Ocean Street (St. James Streetr-Starters Choice) with 85 wins.  Third is Galen Dempsey’s homebred Laurels Curly (Crafty Shadow-Star News) with 81.

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New Brunswick breeding has produced five Maritime Horse-of-the-Year winners over the past 30 years - Gemini Risk (1983), Angels Shadow (1986), Seltzer Blue (1989), Clinton Debriefed (2003) and Flaming Moe (2005).

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Next blog we will examine the best horses Fredericton Raceway ever produced and I will leave you with the following trivia questions for horses that were broke and trained in Fredericton?

Who is the horse with the fastest lifetime record?

Who is the horse with the highest lifetime money earnings?

Who is the horse with the most lifetime wins in the modern era?

Which trainer had developed three horses with at least 50 wins each?

Who is the most successful trotter?

What horse once held a world record?

How many horses have both earned over $100,000 and taken a lifetime record better than 1:55?

Do you know the answers?  Some may surprise you.

Find out in the next blog after Christmas.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for continuing to support this blog and the Fredericton Raceway 125 Facebook page.  It is my hope that you and your family have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

PLEASE STAY SAFE.                         

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For more blogs on New Brunswick harness racing go to thefrederictonscene.blogspot.ca

For more historical data, pictures and stories please LIKE Fredericton Raceway 125 on Facebook. 

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The History of Fredericton Raceway - Daily Special - Part 4

For 42 years many horses had chased “The Ghost of Walter Dale.”

But it was another ghost, “The Grey Ghost,” who finally put Walter Dale to rest. 

On June 14, 1979 a pretty roan horse named Daily Special paced the oval in 2:02.1 for owner David Kileel and trainer-driver Mike Downey.

Only one week earlier this same combination had just fallen short in their effort when they missed Walter Dale’s 2:02 ½ record by only 1/10 of second.

Daily Special 2:02.3 and Skippers Point - June 7. 1979

Daily Special was a graduate of the Atlantic Sires Stakes program, one in which he had accumulated almost $20,000 in earnings.  It was a natural progression for the talented four-year-old horse to step against the best horses in Fredericton at the time and Skipper’s Point (Mike Campbell), Border Lord N (Sheldon Watts) and Medastar (Boyd Tremere) provided his competition on a clear but cool June night.

Tremere had hinted to Downey prior to the race to expect early speed and a fast half in the race and he was true to his word.   With Medastar setting the tempo with fractions of :29.3-1:00.3-1:31.2 the fans started to buzz when the pocket-sitting Daily Special mounted a challenge on the leader at the three-quarter pole.

After coming so close the week before was it possible that Walter Dale’s record would finally fall?

This time they were not to be denied.  Walter Dale’s ghost, which had hung over the Fredericton oval for all those years, was finally vanquished, perhaps fittingly by a Fredericton owned Maritime-bred.

Downey told the Daily Gleaner, “It was a great feeling to set a new record although I had never really expected to break the old one, which has been around longer than I have.”  He added, “I thought by the three-quarter pole that I had a good chance because he still seemed to have a lot of horse left in him.”

Daily Special 2:02.1, Medastar and Border Lord N - June 14, 1979

Daily Special, Mike Downey, David and Peggy Kileel

The story of how Downey, Kileel and Daily Special - a horse originally known as Glengyle Kestrel - came together to rewrite the Fredericton Raceway history book is an interesting one.

David Kileel was a local entrepreneur whose Diplomat Motel and Restaurant were one of Fredericton’s hot spots in the 1970’s.  He was introduced to the horse business by fellow businessman Albert Goodine, who had encouraged some of his friends like Kileel and Doug Baker - who incidentally purchased Border Lord N as an eight-year-old in 1978 - to venture into the harness racing game.

With the help of Goodine, Kileel selected two yearlings from the Fredericton Horse Sale in 1976.  The first was a Quebec Hanover colt he later named I’m Yours and the other was Glengyle Kestrel - a son of Dominion Byrd-Wendy Chief that he purchased for $2,700. He later named the colt Daily Special.

 

Kileel had a penchant for naming some of his horses after some of the dishes on his Chinese menu at the Diplomat and in ensuing years names like Sweet and Sour Annie, Chop Suey and Chow Mein Molly became associated with horses he owned.

What he needed now was a trainer and it was Goodine who recommended a young up and comer in Downey, who was also at the sale.  Kileel had never met Downey prior to that day but it was the beginning of a long-standing and thriving enterprise that produced many outstanding Maritime-bred performers like Some Nice, Ketchup, Special Reward and Daily Special among many others.

The partnership enjoyed immediate success and both I’m Yours and Daily Special made it to the races as two-year-olds with I’m Yours winning two races and taking a record of 2:13.3. 

But it was Daily Special who became the star of the stable.

The colt made twelve starts, winning eight races and finished second the other four times while earning $6,682, a considerable sum of money in those days.  He was a multiple Atlantic Sires Stakes winner and was the champion two-year-old colt in 1977 over his chief rival, Elmn Tree, a son of Newport Robbi. 

That success carried over into his sophomore season and by the end of that year he had added another $13,300 in earnings and sported a new speed badge of 2:02.3.

Downey says that Daily Special really grew into himself as he matured through the winter and it was early in his four-year-old campaign when he was already chasing the track record in Fredericton.  He went on to make a few starts on the free-for-all circuit and almost captured the Walter Dale Memorial later that year but lost in a photo to the legendary Scotch Gauman and Bill Nicholson Sr.

Kileel ended up selling Daily Special to Ontario interests but Downey never forgetting the one “which can do everything but talk”, a horse that helped launch his stellar racing career in the Maritimes, reacquired the horse a few years later and brought him home to close out his career for the Grey Ghost Stable.  Even as ten-year-old he was a regular in the winner’s circle in Moncton and Fredericton.

Daily Special retired with a record of 2:00.4f taken at Mohawk, 50 lifetime wins and over $93,000 in career earnings.  He was an inaugural inductee into the Fredericton Raceway Wall of Fame in 2004.

Daily Special only held the track record at Fredericton for a little over a year before it was lowered by Bright N Breezy N.  After 42 years of the track record eluding some of Maritimes harness racing’s top performers, it has been lowered eight times since then including six times during the 1980’s.

FREDERICTON RACEWAY TRACKS RECORDS

2:02 ½   Walter Dale                         September 15, 1937        Henry Clukey

2:02.1    Daily Special                       June 14, 1979                  Mike Downey

2:01.1    Bright and Breezy N            August 4, 1980                Steve Mason

2:00.4    Pennant Play                       August 21, 1981              Wally Hennessey

1:58.2*  Waveore                              June 27, 1985                   David Pinkney

1:58.2    Burners Delight                  July 17, 1986                    Jody Hennessey

1:58.1    Suthen Guvna                     June 25, 1987                   Paul MacDonald

1:58       Bub                                     September 9, 1989            Graham Chappell

1:57       King Tyler                           September 7, 1991            Steve Mahar

1:55       Shannon Commander         June 26, 1993                   Garry MacDonald

1:54.2    Mcapulco                            July 2, 2012                        Brodie MacPhee                             

* Exhibition mile

As Fredericton Raceway celebrates 125 years, this is the final of a four-part series reflecting on the track and its rich history.  I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Patrick Eastwood, Scott Green and Fredericton Raceway hobby historian Doug McCarty.

Brent Briggs was the General Manager of Fredericton Raceway from 2003 to 2008 and also a long-time Race-Secretary in New Brunswick.  He has also been a long-time race horse owner and trained Spudland Sierra p.6,1:52.1s, one of the fastest New Brunswick-bred mares.

For more blogs on New Brunswick harness racing go to thefrederictonscene.blogspot.ca

For more historical data, pictures and stories please LIKE Fredericton Raceway 125 on Facebook. 

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