Page 12 - December 2006 The Game

12 The Game, December 2006 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
The Stuff Movies are Made Of
A Look at Racing in British Columbia
By Jim Reynolds
Neck and neck, in a tight race down to the last day of the meet, two women, Terry Clyde and Barb Heads, battled for the 2006 training title and a chance to make history in BC’s horseracing community. With almost identical records, each was vying to become the first woman to win the title in 117 years of racing at Hastings.
It’s a storybook tale. Born into horseracing, Barb and Terry grew up together on the backstretch of Exhibition Park (now Hastings). Their parents were horsepeople; Barb’s father Cy Anderson had been leading trainer three times and Terry’s mother Heather Clyde enjoyed tremendous success as a horsewoman in her own right. Today their children are highly respected trainers at Hastings and making their mark in modern racing his- tory.
That history began before the turn of the last century when the area around Hastings Park was a sort of summer cot- tage refuge for the well-heeled of Vancouver. In fact, the first recorded horserace run at the old Hastings fair- grounds was somewhere around 1889.
Horseracing has long been a male domain. In the infancy of the sport, there was virtually no mention of the fairer sex. Women weren’t allowed to do a man’s work (hell, they weren’t even allowed to vote until 20 years after that first horser- ace). Oh, there have been women trainers, and good ones too, but most of them worked in the shadow of the men.
The earliest recorded distaff trainer was a lady named Jessie Mackenzie who raced horses at old Hastings Park in the 1920s and ‘30s and was inducted into the BC Hall of Fame. She was followed by a small group of women, including Irene Hunter in the 1950s, who were ground- breakers of the sport. But, it wasn’t until the ‘70s that horsewomen began to take their place on the backstretches of BC’s racetracks. This
year is a sort of
culmination of
their efforts and
thanks to the
professionalism
and success of
Barb and Terry,
things will never
be the same.
To paraphrase
Rodgers/Hart
these ladies “don’t
go to Hastings in ermine and pearls”. Whether it’s mucking a stall or down in the straw putting on bandages, both are hands-on trainers with strong work ethics -a commitment recognized by their male counterparts.
"They both deserve it. They’ve both paid their dues," says Hall of Fame trainer Sid Martin.
That’s a sentiment echoed by last year’s leading trainer Gary Demorest.
"What’s wrong with a woman trainer? They earned it. They deserve it. Both work hard and whoever prevails deserves
to win. You’ve got to be there. You’ve got to do the work, get up in the morning. I don’t know of a leading trainer who accomplishes it without doing that."
Both women are down to earth about their success and its implications.
"It’s been great for women," says Barb. "It’s been a long slow road to where we are now. It’s a change in the times, that’s for sure. This will be a tough year to fol- low. I’ve won the Derby and a lot of stake races and just that in itself makes it a great year. When horserac- ing’s in your blood it’s nice to watch your horses develop into good horses. It’s what you put into them and what you get
back; it’s accomplishing something."
As for the training title, she adds,
"It’s like a great horserace," says Barb.
"Everybody’s doing the best they can and you hope you end up on top but I’d be happy if she got it. She’s like family anyway. If it’s going to be someone else, then there’s no better person than Terry. We’ll probably celebrate together whoever wins."
Her sister-in-law and in-sport, Terry
echoes her thoughts,
"It was a man’s game before but it’s
like any job for women - they don’t stay home and cook and have babies anymore, they have careers," she says laughing.
"I’m proud of myself. I didn’t think I had a chance this year. We’ve been cutting back on horses and have a lot of young horses, but it’s kind of fun this little race thing that’s going on. No matter what happens we’ve both had a good year. Afterward we should go lay on a beach somewhere and laugh about it."
At meet’s end Barb and Terry were tied for the lead among trainers at Hastings with astonishingly similar records after 77 days of racing. A snow storm on the last day of racing, November 26, forced the cancellation of racing after the first race which, in a twist of fate, saw the two trainers finish- ing off the year in a deadheat:
Trainers
Terry Clyde (left) and
Barb Heads
Name Starts Terry Clyde 267 Barbara Heads 267
1st Win % 48 18.0 48 18.0
Caledon Country Estate Rare Offering
Nestled on 33 picturesque rolling acres of open land and forest,
This very special property has it all!
2 dwellings, large pond, inground pool, 10 stall barn, 3 large paddocks with run-in sheds, walking and training trails meandering through the forest, the list goes on....conveniently located South of Hwy. 9,
5 minutes to Palgrave, 30 minutes to Woodbine.
A PERFECT HORSE OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL! $995,000
Daena Allen - Noxon Broker
Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. JOHNSTON & DANIEL DIVISION, Brokerage 416-489-2121 • dallennoxon@trebnet.com
AtthistimeoftheYearitisaJoy to reflect on another successful season
Robert & Gail Tiller
Wishing all of our friends in the horseracing industry a
Merry Christmas and a
Happy & Healthy New Year