On April 14, 2022, the Alberta horse racing community lost a stalwart supporter of more than 60 years. Constantine Stavropoulos (Con) passed away at the age of 84, in Edmonton, Alberta.
Con did it all in racing: he claimed, he bought at sales, he bred, he raced and he wagered. He had stakes horses, won plenty of races at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Stampede Park in Calgary, sent horses to trainers at Assiniboia Downs and Woodbine and purchased a stallion from California, Smile Again (Wild Again – Storm And Sunshine), that stood in Alberta for several years.
Through periods of success and disappointment, he did what any committed horseperson does – he stayed in the game. He was the type of owner who never missed watching his horses run, preferably in person; the three-hour drive from Edmonton to Calgary was made hundreds of times. For Con, horse racing was a lifestyle that created excitement and memorable experiences with friends and family.
Con operated the Fireside Restaurant for 43 years, which was located a stone’s throw from the clubhouse turn at Northlands Park. It served horsepeople for decades, the walls adorned with framed win photos spanning from 1965 to the present.
He was a fixture in Alberta racing, an omnipresent character on the backstretch for morning training and in the grandstand on race days. Everyone knew him, from owners, trainers, grooms, jockeys, exercise riders, to gamblers and pari-mutuel tellers. He was a consummate horse owner with a lifelong passion for horse racing that always had him looking for more.
Read Con’s full obituary here.
~ with files from John Stavropoulos
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