Charity Begins At The Racetrack

Coverage of horse racing focuses all too often on the wagering side of the game. Fortunately, if you spend as much time at Woodbine as I do, you soon discover that there are plenty of people working very hard to make a difference to something other than the balance of their HPI Account.

On September 30th, Woodbine hosted their annual United Way Day at the Races. Events include a 1 1/2 mile distance race, team relays, 100 metre dash for the ladies, a 100 metre dash for men 35+ and a 200 metre race for men 34 years old and younger. All races were tried over Woodbine's world famous E.P.Taylor Turf course.

I took part in this fun event for the second year in a row as part of the Down The Stretch squad in a 4X100M Relay. As in previous years, we were skedded to take on a large field of corporate teams, two divisions of speedy police officers and a team of jockeys which included Emma-Jayne Wilson, Eurico Rosa da Silva, Corer Fraser and Anthony Stephen.

(The fit Fraser also contested the 1 1/2 mile marathon loop of the turf course won once again by Woodbine executive Nick Eaves.)

And they're off and running in the marathon!


Our relay team included editor Peter Gross, AM680 broadcaster Eva Fragiskatos and a ringer from my soccer team by the name of Shane Boyd.

In 2008, Down The Stretch lost a disputed photo finish for show money. Team DTS returned looking to improve on that result but our attempt at revenge quite literally stumbled out of the gate when Gross's flying dismount start failed to find wings. There would be no photo finish required in 2009 as we stumbled and rumbled and bumbled our way to a seventh place finish. Even the stewards at Belmont couldn't have put us in the superfecta.

McCalmont (Team 3) hands off to Boyd - note the barefooted runners!


The race was won by the team of police officers for the second year in a row with the jockeys team finishing second. It was an easy exactor.

Team Down The Stretch is interviewed by Jeff Bratt


Regardless of our poor result, we had a ton of fun and enjoyed a chance to help raise money for a worthwhile cause. Highlight of the race would have to be Jeff Bratt's interview of Shane Boyd where our Irish ringer coolly advised that Donavan Bailey is his uncle. (You can watch the full race on the video below.)

TEAM DTS gives good interview despite a 7th place finish


Money for the United Way was raised by each participant through the collection of Win, Place or Show wagers which were then tallied and put into a final pool before race day with a minimum of half of all funds collected going directly to the United Way while the rest cover winning bets (any uncollected wins are also then added to the charity). To learn more about the great work of the United Way, please check out the United Way Toronto website.

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Another bit of 'doing well on behalf of others' happened when Race Night on The Score aired a feature on Alex Brown, exercise rider for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Brown needs little introduction here as his work to end horse slaughter has been well documented on this site.

Sporting a Mine That Bird cap, Brown offers his thoughts on the importance of horses in his life and how he came to launch the Alex Brown Racing website to fight the practice of horse slaughter in North America.

Alex Brown featured on The Score (Part 1 of 2)


Those readers who know Woodbine will enjoy seeing a rare glimpse into life on the backstretch as there are several clips of horses grazing, galloping and cooling out. The producers even took time to shoot Brown typing away in his favourite backstretch hidey hole - The Jake - where Brown also teaches an "Introduction to the Internet" course for backstretch workers.

Alex Brown featured on The Score (Part 2 of 2)


Narrator Jeff Bratt does a good job laying out the history of horse slaughter and highlights some of the prominent tragedies (Ferdinand, Exceller) of horses that have fallen in its wake.

The film is an entertaining ten minutes of footage that is political in its effort to make a point, but features enough of Brown's love for horses to let viewers understand why the Cheshire native works so passionately. The latter point best demonstrated through a shot of Brown with his favourite horse, the hard-knocking Woodbine winner Salty Langfuhn.

I encourage those not already familiar with Brown's work to visit his website, Alex Brown Racing, and get involved.

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In addition to the events above, let's not forget about the hard work being done day in and day out by the horsemen/women of Woodbine.

The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario has worked tirelessly for Owners and Trainers of Thoroughbred racehorses since 1950.

As well, organizations such as the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society and the LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society are diligently working to find homes for retired racehorses daily.

If you've spent a few dollars wagering on horses in 2009, why not take some of those winnings and donate it to a horse-related charity.

Triple Dead Heat Joins The TBA

Last night millions of Americans rushed to the polls, and in a no way related story Triple Dead Heat was welcomed as a member of the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance. The TBA, formed in 2005, is a collective of bloggers whose passion is horse racing. Advertising funds raised by the TBA are donated to racing related charities. I'm proud to become a member of the TBA.

By way of introduction to any new readers, I currently write for Down The Stretch newspaper, which is published out of Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. I started this blog, Triple Dead Heat, as a way to continue writing about horse racing and connect with other fans of this sport we love.



My introduction to horse racing was through my dad, Bob - or Irish Bob as he was known to Woodbine regulars. My Dad was passionate about horses and loved nothing more than betting on a "come-from-behind" horse. He had no stomach for front runners, courtesy of knowledge gleaned from betting on horses in his youth in N. Ireland. The European style was a slow gallop climaxed with a calamitous finish. To my Dad, a front running horse was nothing more than spent energy sure to be overtaken where the money is won.

Thanks to my Dad, I met the first of many horse racing favourites:

Horse - Key To The Moon, 1983 Queen's Plate winner

Jockey - Robin Platts, Four time Queen's Plate Winner

Legend - All Along, 1983 Rothmans International Winner

The 1983 meet spawned the memories for my first published story on horse racing, and was the beginning of over a decade of brilliant father/son memories before my family moved back to Belfast in 1995.

Though my family moved, I stayed behind in our hometown of Brampton,just minutes from Woodbine Racetrack, and pursued my college education. Over the years I have maintained my relationship with Woodbine and still attend regularly with Dad's best friend Ted. I first met Ted when I was ten years old and some 25 years later he's become a great friend. Racetrack friendships have the ability to transcend age and other barriers. I've made many more friends over the years at Woodbine and I hope that I'll make many more through the TBA.

Thank you for the invitation.


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In September of this year, I participated in a United Way fundraising event at Woodbine on behalf of Down The Stretch and AM680.
Our four person relay team included DTS editor Peter Gross, AM680 traffic reporter Eva Fragiskatos, sports media student Leigh Ellis and a rather pale Triple Dead Heat. The 200M relay race was won by police officers from 23 Division who hit the wire just in front of the Woodbine jockeys team of Emma-Jayne Wilson, Corey Fraser, Anthony Stephen and Eurico Rosa da Silva.

Video of that race, and other races from that afternoon, has surfaced on Youtube. Please note that the inside lane at Woodbine was playing slowly that afternoon and that the camera adds 15 (maybe 20) lbs.



You can still donate to the United Way of Toronto by clicking here.

United Way Turf Races Day At Woodbine

On Wednesday evening, I was part of the AM680/Down The Stretch relay team participating in the United Way Turf Races Day at Woodbine Racetrack.

The day featured seven races held on Woodbine's famous turf course, including a fantastic 1 1/2 mile run won by Woodbine's President and COO, Nick Eaves. Other races included 100M and 200M sprints, with the feature race being a 200M relay pitting ten teams against Woodbine jockeys Emma-Jayne Wilson, Corey Fraser, Eurico Rosa Da Silva and Anthony Stephen.



The high-octane AM680/Down The Stretch team was comprised of Peter Gross, Eva Fragiskatos and College of Sport Media student Leigh Ellis.



The starting gate was positioned 200 metres from the finish line and from Lane 2, our team would run 50 metres and then pass the baton at designated exchange points. Eva took the first leg, bursting out of the starting gate, showing the solid speed and stamina of a soccer player as she chased leaders Corey Fraser and a very fast officer from Metro's 23 Division.

With a careful handoff to Gross, the gap to the front-runners shortened, as the sports media mogul churned his legs in pursuit of Emma-Jayne Wilson. As Gross prepared to hand off the baton to me, I took a quick peak and could see that Eurico Rosa Da Silva was already sprinting in vain trying to catch up to Metro's finest in a bizarre reverse police chase.



Four other teams had already passed the baton and there was much ground to make up if we were to hit the board. As I attempted to channel the speed of Secretariat's last career race, I found a new appreciation for the power of the horses that normally run this course, while simultaneously leaving our closer, Leigh, with much ground to make up as I passed the baton and watched the Aussie start his run.



With less than 25 metres to the finish, Leigh had closed into fourth place and was chasing the third place team from Direct Energy in the dash to the wire. The scorching hot sun was not bothering Lee one bit as he sped along the rail in hot pursuit. With the crowd roaring in appreciation, the anchor leg runners thundered under the wire, with the officers from 23 Division in first just edging out a brilliant sprint from Anthony Stephen. In a photo finish, Team AM680/Down The Stretch were controversially denied the show position.

Despite not hitting the board, all four team members carried themselves well and can be proud of their effort. I would like to thank all my friends who supported me for this brilliant fundraiser and encourage everyone to visit the United Way website and donate to this organization that does so much for the city of Toronto.