The Paulick Report has learned of the passing of the following notable horse racing personalities.
“Glen played a giant role in British Columbia's Thoroughbred racing industry, whether as an owner of hundreds of racehorses in recent years, or as a business leader in providing direction, insight and vital influence over the ongoing sustainability of the industry,” wrote Hastings Racecourse on social media. “Glen's passion and commitment to the industry — and the people within it — was unparalleled and will be sorely missed.”
Last year, Todd gave Hastings an interest-free $1 million loan to fund purse money over the summer. He was involved in racing for nearly 60 years, owning and training hundreds of racehorses in B.C. and Kentucky through his North American Thoroughbred Race Horse Company.
Todd is also a member of the British Colombia Sports Hall of Fame for his founding of the Canada Cup softball tournament.
Thoroughbred owner and breeder James P. Ryan, who bred and raced 1983 Belmont Stakes winner Caveat, died on March 11 at the age of 89. The native of Pittsburgh, Pa., who lived in Glenwood, Md., at the time of his passing, made his fortune in the homebuilding business, working closely with a brother to develop Ryland Homes into one of the largest companies of its type in the nation.
Ryan had immediate success in horse racing with his Ryehill Farm breeding operation in Mt. Airy, Md., which he purchased and developed around 1970. Among his top runners was Smarten, a multiple graded stakes winner who went on to become a leading sire in Maryland. Other homebreds to carry the Ryehill silks were back-to-back Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old fillies, Smart Angle and Heavenly Cause, in 1979-'8o. All were trained by Woody Stephens.
Another top Ryehill homebred, Awad (by Caveat), who won the 1995 Arlington Million and earned more than $3.2 million, was trained by David Donk, a former Stephens assistant.
During his backstretch visits to see his horses, Ryan grew increasingly concerned about the conditions stable workers endured and the substance abuse problems many of them developed. In 1988, Ryan dispersed most of his horses and used proceeds from sales to start the Ryan Family Foundation, pledging $1 million in $20,000 grants to racetracks – provided they would match the funds – to start treatment programs and improve conditions. At least 50 tracks did match the funds and Ryan added to his pledge. The programs that came out of Ryan's philanthropy serve many backstretch workers today.
Ryan was also a major supporter of Operation Smile, a Middle East program that provided funding and surgeons to treat children with deformities from malnutrition or war-related injuries. The last big horse he bred after getting back into racing and breeding was Ops Smile, named in honor of the Operation Smile program. Also by Caveat, Ops Smile won the G1 Manhattan Handicap in 1997.
Ryan is survived by Mariam, his wife of 27 years, five children, two step-children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, along with his former wife, Linda Ryan.
Award-winning turf writer Philip Von Borries passed away on Thursday, March 24, at the age of 74 due to respiratory issues. Von Borries earned the 1990 Eclipse Award for Local Television Achievement of Louisville's WKPC-TV, as well as the John Hervey Award presented by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.
Twice published on horse racing topics, Von Borries' books are entitled RaceLens: Vintage Thoroughbred and Racelines: Observations on Horse Racing's Glorious History.
Von Borries wrote for numerous American, Canadian and European publications, among them The Thoroughbred Record, The Kentucky Derby Magazine, The European Racehorse, The Thoroughbred Times, The Blood-Horse, The Daily Racing Form, Turf & Sport Digest, Hoofbeats and The Standardbred.
Von Borries also did publicity for the Arlington Million and the Kentucky Derby; television production work on the latter for ABC-TV; and appeared as an extra in three horse racing movies–Sylvester, Seabiscuit and Dreamer.
His television work includes two national award-winning documentaries on the Kentucky Derby's fabled black history: “The Roses of May” (1984 Iris Award) and “Black Gold” (1990 Eclipse Award; best local television production).
Von Borries is also the author of five baseball books: The Louisville Baseball Almanac; Ameridi (American Diamonds): An American Baseball Reader; American Gladiator: The Life and Times of Pete Browning; Louisville Diamonds; and Legends Of Louisville. His baseball bylines have appeared in The Boston Red Sox Magazine, The Oakland Athletics Magazine, The Chicago Cubs Program Magazine, The Washington Times, Sports Collectors Digest and Oldtyme Baseball News.
He has also written on science fiction, film and true crime.
Retired jockey John Cantarini, who rode world record-setting sprinter Crazy Kid in the early 1960s, died on March 20 in Penticton, British Columbia, according to his wife of 57 years, Martha Crawford Cantarini, who was at his side at the time of his passing.
A leading rider at Agua Caliente and the California fair circuit, Cantarini became regular rider of Crazy Kid, a son of Krakatao bred by Rex Ellsworth who Ellsworth lost in a claiming race for $2,750 at Caliente. By the summer of 1962, Crazy Kid had become a stakes winner and world record holder, winning the Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar in 1:07 4/5 for six furlongs.
A couple of years later, Cantarini rode a nondescript horse to a fifth-place finish but ended up a winner when he asked the owner, a horsewoman and Hollywood stunt double named Martha Crawford, out to dinner. Six months later, in 1964, the two were married.
Cantarini's brushes with Hollywood extended beyond his new wife, who was a stuntwoman in numerous films, doubling for actresses Anne Baxter, Eleanor Parker, Shirley MacLaine, Rhonda Fleming, Jean Simmons and Claudette Colbert, among others.
Among the owners Cantarini rode for were bandleader Harry James and actress Betty Grable, who were regulars at Southern California tracks.
One of the best horses Cantarini rode was stakes winner Irish Minstrel, who finished second in the 1968 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park.
The post In Memoriam: Canadian Racing ‘Icon’ Glen Todd, Philanthropist Jim Ryan, Award-Winning Turf Writer Philip Von Borries, Jockey John Cantarini appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
