By Heather MacKay Roberts

Transcription

1 Best Year In A Week

2 The father and son team of WAYNE and ROB GILES, co-owners of this year s Yonkers Trot winner, have been involved in all facets of harness racing and love every minute through the great and the not so great times. By Heather MacKay Roberts Earlier this summer Wayne and Rob Giles enjoyed the best week they had ever had in their long involvement in harness racing. On July 9 their three-year-old trotting colt Leader Of The Gang captured the Yonkers Trot, the first leg of the Trotting Triple Crown at Yonkers Raceway in New York That same night their two-year-old trotting colt House Money won his first lifetime start in an Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots event at Hanover. Meanwhile at Pocono their sophomore pacing colt Prana finished second in the Reynolds Stake. A few days earlier their rookie colt by Shark Gesture called Best Ears captured his second lifetime start at Mohawk and then a few days later won his first Ontario Sires Stakes Gold elimination at Rideau Carleton. I told Jimmy Takter (trainer of Leader Of The Gang, Prana and Best Ears) we had the best year we d ever had in a week, laughed Rob recently.

3 BEST YEAR IN A WEEK Photo by New Image Media The euphoria didn t last long unfortunately as Leader Of The Gang became sick and couldn t race in the $1.5 million Hambletonian thus ending their hopes of taking the Triple Crown as the Hambo is the second leg, and Best Ears broke stride in the $130,000 OSS Gold final. We ve been in this business long enough to know that you enjoy the highs when you get them because there are a lot of lows, said Rob. The pair race under the moniker of RAW Equine which stands, quite simply, for Rob And Wayne, however the name almost cost them the victory in the Yonkers Trot when the New York judges questioned it. They said they could find R Giles in their system and W Giles but no A Giles. We couldn t seem to get them to understand there was no A Giles, the a stood for and. The judges told us if we didn t get it resolved that they d scratch our horse from the Yonkers Trot. The day before the race I stayed in their offices from nine in the morning until noon when I was sure our horse could race. That was a Friday so I knew if Leader Of The Gang, shown above winning an elimination of the William Wellwood Memorial last year at Mohawk, has earned just over $600,000 in his career to date. In July he captured the first leg of trotting's Triple Crown, the Yonkers Trot which may be viewed by clicking here. we had to get any paperwork from the USTA or Standardbred Canada we had to get it that day, said Wayne. I had Bob Burgess fax over an affidavit, Christina Takter sent Marcus Johannson in with all the paper work she had. It took awhile but we finally got it resolved. Rob and Wayne became involved in the ownership of Leader Of The Gang the day Jimmy Takter purchased him in the fall of At one point that year at the Harrisburg sale I said to Jimmy that we only had pieces of three horses, and they were all pacers, we didn t even have a whole horse. When we were at dinner that night I got a text from him saying we had 25 per cent of Leader Of The Gang. I looked him up and saw he sold for $170,000 so I said, okay we have a whole horse now. I think that s one of the reasons Jimmy likes us, we don t say we want a piece of a certain horse, instead we trust his judgment with what he gives us and it s worked out, explained Rob. A son of Muscles Yankee, Leader Of The Gang s other owners are Takter s wife Christina, Brixton Medical Ab of Sweden and Joyce McClelland of Ohio. Most of the RAW horses are owned in partnership because that s one of the reasons they re involved in the sport. We like our trainers to own a piece of our horses and we also like to have partners on our racehorses. It s more fun when you talk about your horses with your partners because you all enjoy it. If you re the only owner and you go on about your horses other people don t want to hear it and it just sounds like bragging, noted Rob. We want to be involved with good people and have fun, said Wayne. July/August 2011 The Harness Edge

4 SAIL INTO THE CLASSICS with 2011 HAMBLETONIAN WINNER BROAD BAHN 2,1:55.1f; 3,1:53 ($1,154,428) Bred, raised & sold as a yearling by Fair Winds Farm AMONG THIS YEAR S LEADING BREEDERS, FAIR WINDS FARM RANKS #1 IN AVERAGE EARNINGS 2010 HAMBLETONIAN OAKS WINNER BAR SLIDE 2,1:55.1; 3,1:52.4 ($647,971) Bred, raised & sold as a yearling by Fair Winds Farm PER STARTER AND THAT WAS BEFORE THE HAMBLETONIAN! 2009 MEADOWLANDS PACE WINNER WELL SAID p,2,1:51; 3,1:47.3 ($2,569,342) Raised & sold as a yearling by Fair Winds Farm P.O. Box 31 Cream Ridge, NJ Phone: (609) Fax: (609) YEARLINGS: HARRISBURG, NOV. 7 10

5 BEST YEAR IN A WEEK The main barn at Beechwood Acres, the racehorse barn, holds 19 horses. The colt paid for himself and then some during his rookie season which saw him face the gate 10 times for a summary of and $360,468 in earnings. His stakes victories came in a pair of New York Sire Stakes, the Wellwood Memorial (third to Pastor Stephan and Broad Bahn in the final) and the Peter Haughton elimination (third in the final). His Haughton elimination victory may be viewed by clicking here. He finished second in his Breeders Crown elimination at Pocono and was fourth in the final which was his last race of the year. He was a little slower to round into form this year with the Yonkers Trot being his only win in six appearances thus far. The Giles credit Takter and his daughter Nancy, who cares for him, with his turn around to win the Yonkers Trot. Leader Of The Gang seems to have recovered from the sickness that prevented him from racing in the Hambletonian as he recently captured a qualifier at the Meadowlands in 1:55.3 by more than four lengths. With several horses racing on the same night as the Yonkers Trot, Rob and Wayne decided to go to Hanover Raceway to watch House Money make his racing debut in an Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots event, which he won. To watch that race click here. House Money is co-owned by RAW and trainer Joe Hudon. Purchased for $55,000 at Harrisburg, the colt was renamed by Rob for Steve Rapp who appears with Rob s friend Randy Steinberg (Randall The Handle) on the Toronto Sports Radio Station The Fan 590. That got the sport some publicity as they talk about the colt on the show quite a bit, said Rob. He was in the sixth race that night at Hanover and our plan was to go to the races and then drive to Grand River to watch the Yonkers Trot, explained Rob. We figured we had 50 minutes between the two races. The only problem was when we timed it driving there it took 55 minutes. We may have exceeded the speed limit a bit but we made it to Grand River with 25 minutes to spare. Leader Of The Gang was 9-1 when we got there and dropped to 3-1. During the race we were screaming and yelling and the rest of the people there couldn t figure out why we were so excited about the race when he was at such low odds. Sprinting from track to track is nothing new for the personable pair who are on the road almost constantly during the stakes season to watch their horses in action. We try and get to their races as much as possible. It s a long winter when nothing is racing so we really look forward to when we can see them race, noted Rob. Another colt they bought at the same sale as Leader Of The Gang with Takter was the Dragon Again son Prana who sold for $60,000 and now has just over $100,000 on his card. He also made the Yonkers Trot night special by finishing second in his Reynolds Stake. He s been quite inconsistent, you re never sure how he s going to race, laments Rob of the full brother to $2.3 million winner My Little Dragon. I tell people our horse beat Big Jim. Well, we were fifth and he was sixth, but we still beat him, laughed Wayne. That was on Hambletonian Day in the Oliver Wendell Holmes which saw Shadyshark Hanover equal the world record of 1:47.4 after a speed duel between Big Jim and Roll With Joe and Prana collected the final cheque in the race. Rob and Wayne enjoyed their biggest July/August 2011 The Harness Edge

6 Northwood Bloodstock Agency THE MOST SUCCESSFUL HARRISBURG MIXED SALE CONSIGNOR EVER! Northwood Bloodstock Agency has sold more horses at the Harrisburg Mixed Sale than any other agency in the last 15 years. Northwood Bloodstock Agency has sold 6 of the10 highest priced racehorses ever sold at public auction. No other agency has sold more than one. When you make your 2011 sales plans go with the best call today. Northwood Bloodstock Agency fax nwbloodstock@aol.com P.O. Box 2053, Secaucus, New Jersey 07096

7 BEST YEAR IN A WEEK Photo by New Image Media win prior to the Yonkers Trot almost 20 years ago with a colt trained by Hudon. We ve been with Joe almost from the time he moved east, noted Rob. I got to know Joe at Greenwood, he d come up into the grandstand and we d talk and became friends. Hudon, for many years the leading trainer/driver in BC, moved to Ontario in the early 90s and quickly made a name for himself thanks to owners like the Giles. The first horse Hudon bought and raced for them was the Laag mare Miss Laag, who was co-owned by Wayne and Rob, Herbert Boggs of BC and Hudon. The mare earned $110,000 for the group before being retired and bred and the first foal was the $413,000 winning daughter of Camluck, Estherdays News. The second horse Hudon selected for them was a son of Direct Scooter named Rover Hanover who on September 2 in 1994 gave his owners their biggest thrill in racing. In the $531,600 Metro Pace Final he got up in the final strides to win by a head in 1:54.3 paying more than $104 to win. I still remember that night as if it One of Beechwood Farms' most successful graduates to date is the Angus Hall daughter Ipromisenottotell a winner of $240,000 in her two and three-yearold seasons for Rob and Wayne Giles and trainer Joe Hudon. Her victory in an OSS Gold elimination at Georgian Downs last year may be viewed by clicking here. was yesterday, banging my program and cheering him on as they came down the stretch, said Rob. People laughed at me when I went to bet him, he was at such long odds, added Wayne. They weren t laughing so much after the race. The horse would earn a total of $375,776 and upon his retirement Wayne provided him with a home for life. He lived on a farm in London, Terry Kerr s old farm. When Rover was about 13 or so Dr. Bob Boyce advised us that his suspensories were making him suffer so he was put down, said Wayne. The date of Rover Hanover s Metro final victory was also Wayne s birthday and this year the race will again fall on the same date. If the stars align right we ll be there again, said Wayne. This year their potential starter is Best Ears who has three wins in six starts to date but has made some inopportune breaks in a few of his races. A $62,000 yearling, Best Ears is a son of Shark Gesture owned by RAW, Christina Takter and John Fielding. Best Ears was named by the Takters thanks to Fielding. John Fielding has a weird infatuation with Jimmy s ears and always likes to feel them. He says you ve got the best ears Jimmy, and that s where the name comes from. Rob and Wayne first met Fielding and Takter at a party following Rover Hanover s Metro victory and they have been involved in a number of horses with them since that time. Their involvement in the sport of harness racing goes back four decades and another generation with Wayne s father, Cecil. He retired at 65 and spent the next July/August 2011 The Harness Edge

8 A Marvelous Performance! Lisa Photo Bold And Fresh

9 BEST YEAR IN A WEEK Photo by New Image Media several years training horses. He had a farm between Melbourne and Delaware close to London, said Wayne. The first horse dad bought was from (Hall of Fame horseman) Dunc Campbell (John Campbell s grandfather). I think John was 13 at the time so that shows how long ago that was. Her name was Argyel Cathy. When my dad was 80 I sent he and my mother to Hawaii for a vacation. I was concerned because of all the horses he had; he fell in love with all of them and couldn t get rid of any. I sold seven when he was away and while he was driving from the airport back home I was on my way back to Toronto, I didn t want to be there when he saw the horses were gone. He gave me hell about it for several days and soon bought back or replaced five of them so I knew I was wasting my time. When he was 90 he was involved in a spill on the track and cut his head and See You At Peelers, a winner of 21 of 21 lifetime starts at press time, spent a week at Rob and Wayne's Beechwood Acres as she rested between the elimination and final of the Fan Hanover Stakes. She obviously enjoyed her stay given her convincing win in the final which can be watched by clicking here. his hand. When someone asked him if he was okay when they saw the blood he said I just lost a little skin, it s a long way from my heart. He was tough and the horses gave him a hell of a retirement. He loved all animals. That trait has obviously been passed on to his son and grandson, who spent most of the interview petting Wayne s house cat that curled up on the desk beside him. I can t remember the first time I went to the track, it seemed like we were going quite a bit when I was a kid, noted Rob who has obviously inherited the family s love for the sport. A fourth generation in the horse game is looming in the form of Rob s son Patrick, 13. He loves the horses and this summer he s spending some time at what we call the Joe Hudon boot camp, said Wayne. As a tribute to Cecil, whose farm was named Beechwood Acres, when Rob and Wayne bought their current farm in the late 1990s, when they decided to get a bit more serious about the breeding end of the business, they adopted the same name. The name of the farm was a tribute to my grandfather, said Rob. We ve named a few of our horses with the Beechwood name. My grandfather had a mare called Beechwood Duchess and we called one that as well. Cecil s was a daughter of Newport Duke from his first horse Argyel Cathy while more than 30 years later the next Beechwood Duchess was an Albert Albert July/August 2011 The Harness Edge

10 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale THE SALE of CHAMPIONS $1,000,000 Meadowlands Pace Winner ROLL WITH JOE $1,500,000 North America Cup Winner UP THE CREDIT Start your own fun this fall! Join us October 3-7 for the 2011 Selected Yearling Sale. CALL TODAY TO RESERVE YOUR CATALOG Randy Manges Geoffrey Stein (859) Fax (859) GSI, LLC 2011 / Photos: New Image Media, Michael Lisa/Lisa Photo

11 BEST YEAR IN A WEEK daughter. Unfortunately they both seemed to be jinxed, Wayne noted. Dad s mare met an unfortunate end. Our filly earned close to a quarter million for us. We thought we were being kind to her to retire her from racing and make her into a broodmare. But we lost her and her first foal when she gave birth. That mare was from the On The Road Again mare Armbro Mecca who was a half-sister to the Cam Fella horse Armbro Nautilus, another good horse for the Giles family. He was an $80,000 yearling but he got hurt so he didn t race much when he was young, explained Rob. During his five-year-old season he was racing in $10,000 claimers and a group including Rob bought him privately. There were four of us (Giles, trainer Pat Hudon son of Joe, Ken Glass and Don Beanland) who put in $2,500 each so it was no big loss if he didn t turn out, reasoned Rob. Pat really liked him. In his first start for us (in February 1997) he put him in a $15,000 claimer at Woodbine and the horse was sixth and looked terrible. Pat said, don t worry, he was hitting the bike, he ll be fine. The next week he won and Pat wanted to bump him up to the $20,000 claimer. He won that race and Pat wanted to put him up again, to the $30,000 claimer where he won again. After that the ownership group decided to take him out of the claiming ranks and instead raced him in overnights and some late closing series. By the end of that year he had graduated to the junior free for all ranks and the following year to the free for alls facing the best older pacers of that time in Canada including Western Dreamer, Native Born, Rambaran, Red Bow Tie, D M Dilinger and Dragon Again. That year he raced in the Canadian Pacing Derby, finishing fifth in his elimination and eighth in the final. Two weeks later he traveled to the now defunct Blue Bonnets Raceway in Montreal for the $250,000 Prix d Automne where he finished second to Red Bow Tie in the 1:51.3. However, he was disqualified for a pylon violation, a ruling which they fought and won, restoring his second July/August 2011 The Harness Edge

12 2011 Trotting Yearlings Trotting Fillies I'M THE EARLY BIRD, b.f. 1/27/10 NY Eligible Conway Hall-Yo Quierro-Donerail Three-quarter sister to CHE 3,1:57.1f- 11 ($21,162). First Conway Hall from a half-sister to the pair of multiple stakes winners SPICE QUEEN 3,1:53 ($402,864) and MARGARITA NIGHTS 3,1:54.2 ($248,614-dam of multiple stakes winner BEHINDCLOSEDOORS 3,1:53.2f-$589,226). TO HER CREDIT, br.f. 2/13/10 NY Eligible Credit Winner-Habit's Best-Muscles Yankee First foal from a full or half-sister to 5 in 1:55, including CIVIL ACTION 3,1:53 ($1,123,053), HABIT S LADY 3,1:54.2 ($104,796- dam of TAKE MY PICTURE 3,1:54.1-$440,747), MUSCLE BOUND 3,1:55 ($195,724) and OVER RULED 1:56f ($220,080). DEJA VU TOO, br.f. 4/27/10 KY Eligible Deweycheatumnhowe-Danae-Andover Hall Half-sister to stakes winner D ORSAY 2,2: ($14,200). Second foal from Hambletonian Oaks winner DANAE 3,1:54.2 ($529,099), half-sister to TASTY CHIP 3,1:55.1 ($153,080). From the family of DELMONICA HANOVER 1:59.2 ($832,925), dam of Hambletonian winner PARK AVENUE JOE 3,1:55.3 ($666,311). Selling in partnership with Bluestone Farms NEYTIRI, br.f. 3/12/10 ON Eligible Muscle Mass- Nimble Nan-Supergill From the first crop by Muscle Mass; half-sister to CELEBRITY VENUS 4,1:56.3f ($83,813), REVENATOR 4,1:58.3f ($65,248), NAVY SEAL 1:54.4 ($268,822-Int.) and stakes placed Access To Success 2,Q2: ($7,802). From a half-sister to multiple stakes winner NAN S CATCH 3,1:54.4 ($766,074), dam of the incomparable MONI MAKER 1:52.1 ($5,589,256). Trotting Colt CATCH A PLANE, b.c. 5/9/10 PA Eligible Broadway Hall-Catch A Train-Donerail From a 100% producer; half-brother to multiple stakes winner COPY CATCH 3,1:56f ($194,757), AMAZON CLIPPER 2,1:58 ($66,391), CLEVER CATCH 3,1:56f and SOMEKINDACATCH 3,1:58.1f ($99,031-Int.). Second dam is multiple stakes winner NAN S CATCH 3,1:54.4 ($766,074), dam of MONI MAKER 1:52.1 ($5,589,256). Selling at the Lexington Selected Sale October 3 7 Yearling videos will be available on our website in early September All inquiries to Rikki, Elizabeth or Danny Caldwell 1520 Lexington Rd., Georgetown, KY (502) Fax (502) JOSEPH KYLE PHOTO

13 BEST YEAR IN A WEEK place finish and the $62,500 that came with it. He was the coolest horse, he ate chocolate, almond donuts and would carry his own harness bag into the paddock. He had lots of personality. Pat and Rochelle did a great job with him, said Rob fondly. Armbro Nautilus spent the majority of his racing career on the WEG circuit which proved handy as the farm the Giles purchased during this time is just 11 kilometres from Mohawk. The 38 acre facility was formerly home to trainer Dave Keyes and then Jim Lippai of Whitesand Valley Stables. I looked for a place for quite a while, it was supposed to be a hobby farm with a couple of mares, Rob noted wryly. (Fellow horse owner and realtor) Joe Leonardis was looking for us and he was friends with Jim Lippai who wanted to sell. We came to see the place and within 30 minutes had a deal and shook hands on it. The main barn, the racehorse barn, has 19 stalls and a smaller barn, used for mares, has six large foaling stalls. Gary Adair works as farm manager supervising the property and training the horses there. A few weeks ago the farm had a special visitor when Takter sent the undefeated filly See You At Peelers to Beechwood to stay for the Fan Hanover stakes. Jimmy shipped her up late so she wouldn t have to travel in the heat of the day. That s one of the reasons he s so good at what he does, he thinks of that kind of thing. She arrived at three in the morning, said Wayne. Jimmy Takter doesn t tell me how to sell tomatoes, I don t tell him how to train horses. We have input on some decisions but for the most part, it s up to them." Rob Giles She spent some time in the paddock on the Friday before the race and then shipped to Mohawk for retention. She won the elimination in 1:50.3 by three lengths and a week later, after several restful days in the Beechwood paddocks, she captured the $601,000 final in 1:50. I was really happy to have her here but was a bit relieved when she left and nothing had happened to her on my watch, admitted Wayne. For the first few years Rob and his family, which includes Patrick and daughters Jennifer, 10 and Jessica, 5, lived at the farm. But when they outgrew the house they moved into Milton and Wayne moved from Mississauga to live at the farm. It was a turnkey operation when we bought it, Rob noted. The house, barns, fences and equipment were all here, we just had to add the horses. That didn t prove to be a problem. The Giles now have a total of 57 horses which includes broodmares, yearlings, weanlings and their racehorses. The racehorses are divided among a number of trainers. Joe Hudon and his wife Karen (formerly Fekete), Adair and Mark Horner have the majority in Ontario while Takter has most in the US. Other Ontario trainers which have one or two horses with the RAW Equine include Blair Burgess, Rene Laarman and Gary Kingshott. The Giles are happy to leave the majority of the decisions regarding their racehorses to their trainers. If I have to tell them how to train a horse I could do it myself, said Wayne. Jimmy Takter doesn t tell me how to sell tomatoes, I don t tell him how to train horses. We have input on some decisions but for the most part, it s up to them. That s another reason we like our trainers to have a share in our horses, they re more invested that way. Rob however does make all the decisions when it comes to their breeding stock. I really enjoy that side of the business, he explained. Last year they bred 16 mares, most of which reside in Ontario while four are boarded at farms south of the border. That includes their good trotting filly Ipromisenottotell, a home- July/August 2011 The Harness Edge

14 WHY BUY ONTARIO SIRED? The Ontario Sires Stakes ( OSS ) is an industryleading $20 million program which provides economic incentives for breeders, owners and trainers to breed, buy and race horses in Ontario. Financial rewards earned by owners and breeders of winning Ontario sired horses rival those anywhere in North America. With over 150 events and two levels of racing in the Ontario Sires Stakes Program (Grassroots and Gold), there are numerous opportunities for all OSS horse owners, breeders and trainers to increase their earnings. The Grassroots level racing culminates in the $800,000 Grassroots Finals, held in October and Gold Series racing ends with the $2.4 million Gold Super Finals held at Woodbine Racetrack in November. Remember Somebeachsomewhere? That record-breaking Ontario sired colt had over $3 million in career earnings! When you're looking to buy... Remember, it pays to BREED BUY RACE in ONTARIO! Interested? For more information on the Ontario Sires Stakes, visit us at or contact the OSS Program Administrator at For information on Ontario Bred Rewards, contact the Program Administrator at or ontariomare@standardbredcanada.ca THE BEST OF THE BEST ARE OSS! The Ontario Sires Stakes is part of the Ontario Standardbred Horse Improvement Program and is administered by the Ontario Racing Commission.

15 BEST YEAR IN A WEEK bred Angus Hall daughter who earned $240,000 in her racing career. The now four-year-old, who was trained by Hudon, was bred this year to Muscles Yankee. Another recent addition to their band is Kiss Me Kate who earned $284,000 in her career. She gave her owners a thrill on Jugette Day in 2009 when she finished second by a head in her elimination and third in the final. She had the misfortune of racing against all of those Tracy Brainard fillies that year, noted Wayne. Many of their broodmares are former race mares, some they still own with partners and some they now own outright. The Ontario program is so good we try and breed quite a few mares here. We buy well bred American-bred fillies and when they re done racing add them to our broodmare band, explained Rob. They sell some yearlings each fall and keep some as well. We try and sell what A Little Bit Of Something For Everyone Selling at The Canadian Yearling Sale, Sat. Sept. 10 and Sunday, Sept. 11 Standardbred Canada Sales Pavilion at Flamboro Downs, Dundas, ON. 36. Epiphanys Magic b.c. Kadabra-Armbro Epiphany 49. Northern Bella b.f. Angus Hall-Northern Bonnet 91. Neytray b.f. Muscle Mass-Northern Flirt 131. JJ Newton b.c. Jeremes Jet-Nicki Newton 170. Leo Getz b.c. Striking Sahbra-Charlottetheharlot 243. Whats Trump b.c. Mr Lavec-For Tricks 247. Badlands Princess b.f. Badlands Hanover-Tea For Two 270. Dewer Kash b.f. Muscle Mass-Soignee Kash 312. Fastimes b.f. Kadabra-Supertimes This is a very strong offering of yearlings that we are selling as agent. We encourage you to contact us to inspect these horses and for further information. ATT: Dan Boers Mount Pleasant, ON (519) we consider to be the most commercially appealing yearlings, but we aren t always right and have sold some cheaply and others for decent money. The number we sell each year is determined by how many we have, said Rob. This year they have eight yearlings, four of which will be sold in the US (one at the Lexington Select Sale and three at Harrisburg with Hunterton Farm acting as agent) while four will be retained. Always There, a colt by Western Ideal and the first foal from the Art Major mare Thong Song sells at the Lexington Select Sale The Harrisburg yearlings include Douknowwhereurgoin, a filly by Somebeachsomewhere. She is the first foal of the Artsplace mare Adela Hanover. Teen Shark, a colt by Four Starzzz Shark from Sweet Sixteen, a daughter of Artiscape and three-quarter sister to Artaffection ($829,000) from the family of $1.6 million winner Whosurboy, will also sell at the Harrisburg Sale. Woody, a son of Glidemaster and first foal from Annie Hall a $104,000 winning Like A Prayer daughter whose second dam is the great producer Amour Angus (dam of Conway, Angus and Andover Hall and former Canadian horse of the year Emilie Cas El) rounds out the Harrisburg trio. While they haven t been selling yearlings for long they ve had some successful graduates including the Camluck daughter Warm Waffles who was purchased by Bob Hamather at the 2008 Harrisburg sale for $70,000. She went on to earn $130,000 and is now four. While Rob and Wayne treat their horse operation as a business and rely on purse earnings and yearling sales to help support it, the other business that contributes is Gambles Ontario Produce where Wayne worked for many years and Rob now makes his living. The company was founded in 1918 as Gamble Robinson. Wayne acted as General Manager from 1980 to 1989 and when he bought the company he had one truck, 10 employees and did $20 million in business a year. That s grown now to today where they have 50 trucks, 250 employees and close to $200 million each year in sales. July/August 2011 The Harness Edge

16 A good friend of mine put up the money when I bought it on the condition that I teach his sons the produce business. His son Jeff Hughes is now partners with Rob, explained Wayne. Jeff is President and General Manager while Rob is Vice President of Retail accounts. The company operates from nine units in Toronto s historic Ontario Food Terminal where they lease the units at a cost of more than $1 million each. In the same space they have 22 other competitors vying for the same business. Gambles also has a 70,000 square foot distribution centre and warehouse. In this business you have to be faster, cheaper and better. It changes daily and so much of what you do is dictated by supply and demand, said Rob. It s a 24/7 business and certainly not for the faint of heart. If you get the best strawberries at 3:30 in the morning, you had better be prepared to sell them then. Whatever can t be sold is donated to the local nearby food bank He was the coolest horse, he ate chocolate, almond donuts and would carry his own harness bag into the paddock. He had lots of personality. Rob Giles on Armbro Nautilus It s interesting the number of people who are in the wholesale food business that are also involved with horses. Mel Hartman, who we do business with and also have owned horses with, has Orleans Fresh Fruit. There s also Gaetan Bono and Jacques Brazeau and Daniel Plouffe, who has grocery stores, they re all from Quebec and Ralph Pitt and Dan Smith in Ontario, said Wayne. What might explain the attraction to the horse game by those who sell produce are the similarities in the businesses. Both require the ability to make quick decisions combined with patience not to mention the willingness to ride out highs and lows. If you spend any time with Wayne and Rob Giles it s quickly apparent they have a passion for both the produce business and the horse business. They clearly enjoy spending time with their partners, their trainers and of course, their horses. They re prepared to weather the lows of the racing and breeding game if every once in awhile they experience the highs of that magical week last July. The Harness Edge July/August 2011