The Canadian Sportsman
February 25, 2010
Rutherford and Ingham set the gold standard for boutique breeders
The latest installment from my weekly Guelph Mercury column…
The gold medal for breeding harness horses in Canada has been presented to a hands-on retired couple with a small band of broodmares.
Harry Rutherford and Diane Ingham — subjects of The Canadian Sportsman’s Feb. 25 cover story — operate Cool Creek Farms in Mount Pleasant, near Brantford. Recently, the couple won an O’Brien Award as the nation’s breeders of the year.
Though Rutherford and Ingham have a share of seven previous O’Brien Awards for horses they have bred at Cool Creek, clearly the breeder of the year award was special.
“It’s a nice thing to have,” Rutherford said with typical modesty, though his eyes suggested it was a pinnacle moment in a breeding career that began in 1977 when he was still a member of the Brantford Police Department.
Click on the words “Guelph Mercury” to read the article in its entirety.
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February 18, 2010
The latest installment from my weekly Guelph Mercury column…
Nearly lost in the lead-up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics was the death of one of the most prominent harness horse owners and breeders in Canada. Bob Murphy, who lived in the Vancouver area, was the dominant harness owner in BC and, at one time, owned more standardbreds than anyone in the nation. He died on Feb. 8 — four days before the Olympics opened — at the age of 77 after a battle with cancer.
While Murphy’s death made news in harness racing circles, the recent passing of another man with strong ties to the sport, did not.
Former harness driver Don MacDonald, Jr., died Jan. 24 at University Hospital in London at the age of 50. While MacDonald’s accomplishments on the track in his abbreviated career paled in comparison to Murphy’s, MacDonald is believed to be the longest-living heart transplant patient to ever come out of London’s renowned Multi-Organ Transplant Program. Doctors gave MacDonald an extra 25 years of life.
Click on the words “Guelph Mercury” to read the article in its entirety.
February 11, 2010
The latest installment from my weekly Guelph Mercury column…
Seven of Ontario’s medium and smaller-sized harness racetracks, including Grand River Raceway in Elora, have joined forces with a unique approach to tackle the sport’s biggest problem — declining wagering.
Tonight, the sixth of eight rounds of the Racetracks of Ontario Marketing and Promotions group’s Handicapping League will feature 68 betting teams from across the province vying for a $100 weekly top prize with an eye toward a grand prize expected to be $13,000…
Click on the words “Guelph Mercury” to read the article in its entirety.
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