Page 26 - The Game September 2006

26 The Game, September 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
Peacekeepers Day at The Fort
Results from the races honouring the Peacekeepers:
The Captain George C. Foster Memorial: Winner - Stormy Engagement
Jockey - Robert King Jr.
Owner - Majestic Thoroughbred Investment Inc. Trainer - Chantal Paquette
The Captain Keith Mirau Memorial: Winner - Manningshill Road
Jockey - Francine Villeneuve Owner - M. Mesic
Trainer - Paul Mandalfino
The Captain Robert Wicks Memorial: Winner - Wild Storm Brewing Jockey - Francine Villeneuve
Owner - Daphne Haagmans
and Michael Birenbaum Trainer - Mike Newell
The Master Corporal Ronald Spencer Memorial: Winner - Imperial Ruler
Jockey - Robert King Jr.
Owner/Trainer - Morris W. Plaunt
The Corporal Bruce Stringer Memorial: Winner - Birdie Bobby B
Jockey - Raymond Raghunath
Owner - P. Paione and Partner
Trainer - Dominic Polsinelli
The Master Warrant Officers Gaston Landry and Cyril Karejwo Memorial:
Winner - Marden Hill
Jockey - David Piques
Owner - The Bell Farm Trainer - Brian J. Ross
The Corporals Michael Simpson and Morris Kennington Memorial: Winner - Kiristena
Jockey - Cory Clark
Owner - Jette Anesen Trainer - Henry Whalen
Fort Erie Cup Races - August
By Peter Gross
On August 13 at Fort Erie Racetrack, it was highly unlikely that any disagreements would break out in the stands or around the betting windows. It was Peacekeepers Day at the track and sprinkled through the crowd were dozens of uniformed men and women proudly representing the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping (CAVUNP).
Though they get very little exposure, our Canadian volunteers commit themselves with courage and selflessness to make this planet less hostile. Don Bowman, the Niagara representative for CAVUNP told me about ICROSS, the International Community for the relief of starvation and suffering.
“We collect anything from a band-aid to an MRI machine,” he said, “And we send that to Health Partners International in Mississauga. They have the resources to ship them to far-off countries. They make up little boxes with medical supplies and equipment in them for Doctors Without Borders or any other doctor who is going over to those countries.”
Seven of the races that day were named to honour nine Canadian Peacekeepers who were killed on August 9, 1974.
“An unarmed Canadian forces Buffalo aircraft transport was en route to Syria and was shot down by three air ground missiles with the loss of all nine lives,” Bowman informed me, “The races today are named after these particular people.”
The ninth race bore the name of Corporal Michael Simpson who perished at the age of 26. His brother Jack was attending the races with friends David W. Young and Leo Sansone. Even though it has been 32 years, the day he learned of his brother’s fate is still clear in Simpson’s mind.
“I was posted in Inuvik in the North West Territories and we had heard there was a plane down and I had some kind of feeling,” he recalls, “A little later in the day I got a call from my brother-in-law and was told the plane had gone down and Michael was on it. I managed to get down to Toronto by six o’clock the next morning and as I walked through the door, my mother who had not slept all night just threw herself into my arms. It was a bad weekend.”
Simpson knows his brother would enjoy the idea of a Peacekeeper’s Day at the racetrack.
“He was a fan of a good time,” he says, then laughs as he reads the description of the race dedicated to his brother, “I notice it’s a filly race too.”
Bowman was hoping that everyone who saw the smartly uniformed veterans would pause and think of the peril facing these men and women on a daily basis.
“Today’s modern day veteran is not what he was in the first World War or the Second World War or the Korean War,” says Bowman seriously, “Because the modern day veteran is faced with the terrorist who is wearing exactly the same clothes as you or I and we don’t know when we go into those countries if the man who is meeting you or the woman or the child is going to say hello or shake your hand or kill you. When the modern day veteran comes back they all suffer, with- out exception, some degree of stress because of that.”
The feature on the Fort Erie card for Peacekeeper’s Day was the Peace Bridge Cup, offering a generous purse for Fort Erie regulars who had raced for a claim- ing price of $5000 or less within the last two years. In the race before, rider Regina Sealock was tossed from her horse and was taken to hospital with a badly bro- ken heel. Monique Dionne was asked to ride Cold War in her place and certainly found herself in the right place at the right time. Cold War (nice name for a horse on Peacekeeper Day) went right to the front and galloped home several lengths the best at odds of 5-1.
I had the pleasure of presenting a beautiful plaque to trainer-owner Vern Fernandez, who was doing little
to suppress his happiness at the win.
“We just had our fingers crossed and just hoped for
the best,” he said, “The objective was to win and it worked out very well.”
On a perfectly sunny day at the track, it’s easy to forget that the kind of freedom and leisure we enjoy in Canada is impossible in many war-torn or impover- ished countries. There are, fortunately, individuals among us who dedicate their time and skills to make this a safer world and much of this is done for little in return.
“This is the 50th year that Canada has been involved in United Nations sanctioned peacekeeping operations,” Bowman pointed out, “No other country in the world can say what we can in Canada -that we have been involved in more than 55 United Nations sanctioned peacekeeping missions.”
Fort Erie Racetrack was delighted to host Peacekeepers Day and everyone hopes that next year’s version will involve even more Veterans.
Fleet Storm with jockey Francine Villeneuve aboard and his winning connections in the winners circle after his win in the
Mike Anderson Memorial Cup on August 20, 2006.
The four-year-old gelding is owned by Dennis, Dean and Michael Payer and is trained by John Simms.
Veterans Jack Simpson, David W. Young and Leo Sansone had a great day at Fort Erie.
Angela Anderson (yellow holding plaque), the wife of the late Mike Anderson, surrounded by friends and family made the trophy presentation to the winning connections of Fleet Storm after winning the Mike Anderson Memorial Cup. Mike Anderson was an avid race fan who was a town councillor and was involved in many major charities. Mike, who tragically died in a small plane crash three years ago, was also a mutuel clerk at Fort Erie for many years and it is quite fitting that a man who loved the races at Fort Erie have a Cup race named in his memory.
Four-year-old filly Cielavia with jockey Dale Hemsley aboard winning the Fort Erie Slots Cup on August 5 for owner Lorna Possler and John Wilson, who also trained the horse.
Chemistry Class winner of the Niagara Falls Cup with jockey Neil Poznansky for owners J. Ryan and William Hicks for trainer Danny Wills on August 27
Peter Gross presenting winning jockey Monique Dionne and owner/trainer Vern Fernandez with the Peace Bridge Cup trophy after Cold War’s win on August 13.