Page 8 - June 2007 The Game

8 The Game, June 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
The Fisher Queen: Her Life with Horses and Dogs
By Peter Gross
Barb Fisher admits to being 54, but her tom-boyish face and infectious laugh conspire against the chronology. For 30 years she has worked at Kingview Farm in King City and has borne witness to a veritable chunk of Canadian horse racing history.
“I’m actually a country person.” says Fisher, “I was born in Windsor and grew up just outside London, Ontario. My grandfather initially had a dairy farm then switched to pigs. I guess I got my first horse when I was about 13.”
As she continues, Fisher gives the impression of a child spending her time doing the only thing she really loved.
“I’d ride all over the countryside like an absolute little banshee.” she says, laughing at the memory. “I did some horse shows and when it was time to go to college, I sold the one horse I had and the sale of that horse paid for part of my college education.”
Fisher took an animal health technician program at the St. Clair College in Windsor and after graduating, worked in London for a couple of years at a vet clinic that did both large and small practice. Through that experience she met the Canadian equestrian Cindy Ishoy. This was at a time in her life when Fisher’s interests were clearly tilting more towards the horse aspect of things.
This was in the mid 70s and Ishoy had her equestrian practice operating at Kingview Farm, which was originally
Barb Fisher at Kingview Farm with Escape Reality in background
Peter Gross Photos
owned by Charles F.W. Burns, one of the original members of the Jockey Club of Ontario. At that time, Burns’ daughter, Janet (known as ‘Dinny’ in racing circles) was running the farm. All it took was one visit to the Kingview operation and Barb Fisher knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
“I came out here to visit Cindy and saw the farm and met Din and was like, ‘wow -this would be a real cool place to work.’” Recalls Fisher. “It just so happened there was a situation for a job, and I packed my little pickup truck and came to Toronto. I groomed the horses, mucked the stalls, exercised them, took them to shows, braided, anything and everything.”
Richard Day, Dinny’s son is now 36 and has known Fisher since 1977, when he was six years old.
“She’s been a great friend.” says Day.
Barb Recently helped broodmare Northern Sorceress deliver this beautiful foal, affectionately known as 'Norman'
“She’s extremely reliable. She’s here seven days a week She’s been here so long, she’s like a family member; very valuable, very trustworthy.”
Fisher’s position as farm manager for Kingview has evolved over the past three decades. Her original employer Janet Day, sadly, passed away in 1983. Leaving behind daughter Catherine at age 15 and Richard at age 12. For a period of time after that , the children lived with Michael and Sue Burns, whose farm was right across from Kingview. Michael is Din’s brother.
As a young adult, Richard Day went through a necessary period of trying to ‘find’ himself and that journey brought him back to the horses.
“I moved out west and did all sorts of things.” recounts Day. “Then I came back here when I was in my mid-twenties. I
was playing with some new-born foals and knew that raising horses was what I wanted to do.”
In the meantime, his sister Catherine was making a notable mark as a thor- oughbred horse trainer and, as a result,
the property was split between brother and sister. Richard got one huge benefit out of the deal – he inherited Barb Fisher.
For the most part, Fisher and Richard run the farm themselves but are grateful for the individuals who help them.
“Leanne Amos is our new right-hand helper.” says Fisher. “Leanne was the groom for Catherine’s A Bit of Gold who won the Prince of Wales and Breeders’ Stakes in 2004.”
Fisher is asked what her daily schedule is like.
“A typical day?” muses Fisher, “It just depends on the season. Right now, we’re just finishing up foaling season. Richard’s up all night watching whatever mare is about to foal and I’m up 4:30 – 5am.We each have video cameras in our residence. I’ll get up and have my coffee while keeping an eye on the monitor as to what the mares are doing and around 7, I’ll come down, feed the horses, turn out and muck out. Afternoons are spent doing all sorts of tidy up jobs around the farm to keep it looking half respectable. In a couple of weeks, we will start prepping the yearlings for September sales.”
Fisher shows me two newly born thoroughbreds in the Kingview fields. I meet a small foal out of Escape Reality, the dam of Sweetest Thing, who, in 2001, won the Breeders’ Stakes at a mile and a half on the turf at Woodbine. The other lit- tle colt is known as Norman, and he poses nicely with his mother, the chestnut mare Northern Sorceress.
“Right now there’s seven that are either pregnant or have just foaled.” says Fisher, doing some math in her head, “We also have one retiree and some yearlings and there’s still some mares in Kentucky that have not come back up. Richard has
a pretty good idea of what his horses are valued at. When they go through the sales ring, if they don’t reach what he feels he wants for them, they will go into his racing stable.”
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