Page 15 - December 2018 Thoroughbred Highlight

Glenn Morgan and Amanda Burden were married on Saturday, September 8 in a
ceremony that began at 11am. A little over an hour afterward horses were walking where their nuptials took place, in preparation for the rst race of the day at Woodbine Racetrack.
“We had to be out of there by 11:30,” explained Amanda Morgan (née Burden) the
newlywed bride, “we had a tight
timeline for the ceremony,” which
took place in the Woodbine walking ring before the day’s card of racing.
For the groom, longtime racehorse owner, Glenn Morgan, the racetrack was the perfect place to get married simply because it provided him with the opportunity to share his love of the sport with their guests and because he knew that the Woodbine hospitality would be
in top notch.
sley The bride, accompanied by her lvis son Kyle and her brother Simon,
descended the stairs from atop rd where the statue of Northern
ership Dancer overlooks the walking ring. Five bridesmaids attended the
owning horses under the stable name S.M. Stable with trainers John Cardella and Franz Crean. It was an exciting time as the stable’s horses were sharing the barn with 1983 Queen’s Plate winner Bompago.
Glenn and Bob built their company, Disticor into an international distributor of magazines from
the partners sold their company and Bob retired. Glenn ventured out to own with a new company, Coast to Coast Newsstand Services, as well as with new horses racing mainly in partnerships with trainers Franz Crean, Sue Leslie and Martha and Nick Gonzalez.
The past two years Glenn has also been involved in the Churchill Racing
Thoroughbred Highlight, December 2018, Page 15
Married at the Racetrack
Amanda & Glenn Morgan in the barn of trainer Franz Crean with Miss Mandate.
The pair were married in September in a ceremony in the walking ring at Woodbine Racetrack
Club where there are 200 members who pay $500 each to experience the life of an owner through the Club’s horses. His rst experience with the Club involved Warrior’s Club, a multiple graded stakes winner of more than $700,000 US. “After almost 40 years of owning horses myself,” stated Glenn,
“this was the rst time that I have ever been involved with a stakes winner.”
It was 2010 when Glenn and Amanda met.
Amanda was born in Toronto however her family moved to Forest Hill in London England when she was 3 months old eventually returning to Toronto when she was 17. Amanda attended the Ontario College of Art honing her talent
of creating whimsical illustrations using pastels and watercolour.
Working as a veterinary of ce receptionist for many years Amanda was also a horse riding instructor. She had taken on Glenn as a riding student at her stable
in Stouffville Ontario and the pair became quick friends. After years spent at the races, Glenn, at age 58 was learning to ride for the rst time and while aboard a 17 hand Clydesdale cross named Nemo he gained a new admiration for riders and his instructor.
Their friendship eventually blossomed and the pair began living together in 2011 leading up to their marriage which was the
rst for Amanda, who has an adult son from a previous relationship and the second for Glenn, who has four grown children from a previous marriage.
The newlyweds honeymooned in Somerset England where they walked among the Wootton Courtenay Exmoor wild ponies, visited the caves at Cheddar Gorge and of course they attended the races at Salisbury Racecourse.
Today they live in their home in Ajax Ontario and have scaled down their horse ownership
to the one horse, Miss Mandate, who they own a piece of in partnership with Foxcroft Racing Stable, now trained by Jamie Attard since Franz Crean’s retirement last month.
bride as she made her way to the walking ring where the guests were waiting facing the alter adorned with Glenn’s racing silks and owers.
Racetrack Chaplain Shawn Kennedy of ciated the wedding before the now married couple made their way to the track apron for photos by racetrack photographer Michael Burns.
Glenn and Amanda had posed in the winner circle on their wedding day and had also done so the day before as their horse Miss Mandate outran her longshot status to
give the couple an early wedding
present in the form of a win (in
partnership with Foxcroft Racing Stable and Trainer Frans Crean).
The wedding reception was beautifully pulled together on the fth oor of the grandstand in the Northern Dancer room with a guitar and vocalist contributing to an intimate atmosphere in between the call of each of that day’s races.
“We had 96 people attend our wedding and 75 of our guests had never been to the races,” noted Glenn, “they all thought it was incredible.”
Glenn Morgan was introduced to the sport of thoroughbred horse racing in 1974 when he lived in Vancouver, British Columbia getting “hooked for life” attending the races at Exhibition Park Race Track (now Hastings Racecourse).
In the early 1980’s, upon moving to Ontario, Glenn and business partner Bob Scott began
Amanda is a commissioned artist of unique whimsical designs
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Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Australia. Where ever their business travels took them they sought out a racetrack and attended the races.
One of the most memorable racing moments for the partners was when the publishers of Majesty Magazine arranged morning suits to be delivered to their hotel. A driver met them in the lobby and they drove by Rolls Royce to the Royal Ascot meet where they sat within the Royal Enclosure with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip as well as Princess Diana and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
In early 1990 John Cardella claimed the Brave Shot lly Braverelle for $16,000 for their S.M. Stable and partner and she went on to win four straight for the new connections. Then in 1991
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