Page 38 - December 2006 The Game

38 The Game, December 2006 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
The Ticket
By Brigitte MacKenzie
BC Cup Day was my first day as a freelance writer for “The Game”.
The day began by connecting with racehorse breeder and owner, Robbie McDonald. Robbie, is a racehorse colleague, whom I truly respect and intellectually admire (I don’t know anyone else who can recite “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” from memory). During our drive, Robbie inquired about my topic, as we had discussed several prior to this race day. I quipped, “I would let the story come to me, rather than looking for the story”.
The dollowing story surfaced with the purchase of a winning ticket from a pleasant mutuel clerk/horsewoman named Sharon Terry. I was just ready to go home, without my story, and luckily I met Sharon.
BC Day was one of those gorgeous, summer days, all “Vancouverites” experience. Loaded with a camera full of film and a tape recorder, I bravely quested in search of a story. Robbie kindly escorted and oriented me through Hastings Park. We spent the afternoon chatting, analyzing and watching the races. I went to the auto tote and accidentally selected a ticket for the wrong race. When I went to return my ticket a mutual clerk assisted me in my error and educated me on the betting process. I cashed in my prospective ticket, then, thinking “it might have been a lucky ticket” started having regrets. The mutual clerk suggested I could keep the ticket, even though I was leaving and cash it in at another location, anytime I wished. I re-purchased the same long-shot ticket and headed back to our table. Recounted my ticket experience to Robbie, his reaction was “that must have been Sharon Terry”. When we went back to the wicket area, Robbie did verify it was indeed Sharon Terry! I declared to Robbie that if this is a winning long-shot ticket “I am taking that lady to lunch”.
We decided to head home a bit early due to the heat and Robbie needed to feed his horses.
That night, I checked the Hastings results on the Internet and the long-shot ticket won. The next day I planned to phone Sharon Terry and invite her to dinner.
The story I was looking for, found me while betting on the long shots in Race nine.
When I called to speak with Sharon, I spoke at length with her husband, Dennis, to discover what I had already suspected, this truly was a special lady.
Sharon and I spoke on the phone and set up our dinner meeting.
Sharon’s pedigree begins with her grandmother, Isobel Kerr who was married to Hue Rea who raced at Brickhouse Park and Landsdowne in Richmond, BC. Isobel (Kerr) attended the races well into her eighties. Isobel’s daughter, Josephine (Joey) Turner was at the racetrack on the same day, prior to giving birth to Sharon. With a smile, Sharon talks about her mother, “She loved the races – oh she did”. Josephine attended the races into her eighties as well.
When Sharon was a child her father, Arthur Turner, told his wife, ‘Sharon was “such a pest” because she only wanted to be around horses’. Arthur and Sharon were members of the Richmond Riding and Driving Club where she showed horses. Sharon believes that she has always had horses in her life and remembers getting her first horse at a very young age. “The horses have brought a lot of tears and a lot of happiness.” she points out.
Sharon Turner attended Cambie Junior High with Dennis Terry. Even though they went to school together, it wasn’t until her father, Arthur took her to a boxing match, where Dennis was boxing, did they meet again. Dennis and Sharon began dating and eventually got married when they were both barely eighteen years-old. (Sharon turned 18 five days after they got married). When asked why they married, Sharon replied, “I was a young kid and I was nuts”.
Sharon’s life with Dennis involved a full range of racing experiences. According to her being married to Dennis when he was a jockey had some challenges because he had to reduce pretty hard to keep his weight.
“In those days you had to be really light” and Dennis used to sit in Epsom salts, steam baths and was always running to keep his weight down.”
Sharon also shared the challenges she faced when she was a breeder and an owner as well being the wife of a jockey, the wife of a trainer, the mother and grandmother of trainers.The Terry family involvement in the horse industry is quite diverse and has spanned five generations.
“We have bred, raced, loved and lost horses, but overall we have been really fortunate”. said Sharon honestly.
Sharon has been working at Hastings for 42 years now and the characters she meets day to day are unique, “I could write a pretty big book about the characters at the race track”. she claims, “What I like is on the weekends. We get a lot of new young people and they are all so nice and we try to explain to them how to experience the race track. As a mutuel clerk we experience some very nice people, sometimes very nasty people, and we always treat everyone well”.
It was clear from our interesting conversation that when it comes to the Terry family, the love of horse racing is in the pedigree.
I was fortunate on BC Cup Day to have re-purchased that long-shot ticket, and the blessing in this privilege was meeting a kind, third generation horsewoman who had the heart to share herself with me.
I’m guessing we’ll be seeing Sharon at the racetrack when she’s in her eighties afterall, horse racing is in her pedigree.
Dennis & Sharon Terry
Hawthorne Race Track Winter Home for Ralph & Debbie Quaranta
Jockey Shane Laviolette walks to the gate aboard the Ralph Quaranta trained, Cavans Lane, owned by Ralph’s wife Debbie and Paul Cooper. The 5-year-old Tale of the Cat gelding finished a close fifth in the 11 horse race on November 11 at Hawthorne Race Course.
Photo Above:
Debbie Quaranta with He’s a Believer, winner of two races at Hawthorne
Photo Left:Fort Erie based trainer Ralph Quaranta with his “go to” jockey Shane Laviolette at Hawthorne Race Course. Ralph and his wife Debbie have more than 20 horses at the Chicago suburb track for the remainder of 2006.
All In Stable All Set To Race
By Barbara Sheridan
All In Stable is proud to announce their latest acquisition, Sally’s Wild Ride. The newly formed New Owner Syndicate group, spearheaded by the CTHS, claimed the three-year-old chestnut filly last month at Woodbine Racetrack through their trainer Beverley Chubb and mentor Glenn Sikura, CTHS President.
“Sally caught our eye because she fit all our criteria,” says Ms. Chubb of the three-year-old, who is by Wild Event out of Stringtown Sally. “We liked the fact that she’s only been lightly raced and that she came from a good barn where she was well looked after.”
“We’ve got a very enthusiast group here and they’re looking forward to seeing their new horse run,” says CTHS Director Tim Orlando. “The filly has a win and a second out of her four starts this year and, while we’re hoping for more, her new owners will get their first introduction to the thrilling world of horseracing from a greater perspective than if they were just spectators.”
Sally’s Wild Ride is the second Thoroughbred purchase for the syndicate group, who had earlier purchased Bay Prince, a $20,000 yearling from the CTHS Selected Yearling Sale, which took place in September.
More information on the syndicate program can be obtained by contacting the CTHS office at (416) 675-3602 or vis- iting their website at www.cthsont.com.
Trainer Beverley Chubb and 3-year-old filly Sally’s Wild Ride
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