“He lived with the strength of the Thoroughbreds he raced—steady, fierce, and full of heart. Though his boots are still now, the tracks he left behind will never fade.”
Paul Buttigieg was a teenager when he discovered the racetrack. But it didn’t take him long to know he wanted to be surrounded by horses for life.
Paul took that goal through half a century and built it into a one of the most successful Thoroughbred racing, breeding and training farms in Canadian history.
Buttigieg Training Centre in the town of Egbert, population 20,000, has been a fixture in Essa County, just south of Barrie, for decades. The racehorses born, raised and broken to saddle there have won hundreds of races, dozens of stakes and awards.
Paul’s purple-and-white silks with the distinctive PMB will continue to be seen in races at Woodbine, but the man behind it all passed away May 27 after a long illness. While most knew he battled COPD for years, his passing, with his partner Sandy Giffen by his side, still came as a shock to the racing community.
Paul, who was 78, is survived by Sandy and his sons Shawn Giffen and Jimmy Goodman.
This past Sunday, Paul’s homebred three-year-old Deputy Daddy won a $65,000 maiden race to become his 672nd winner as a trainer.
“My Dad took massive pride in breeding his own horses and seeing them win,” said Shawn Giffen.”He enjoyed all aspects of the business, the breeding, racing and breaking and training, but to see a horse that started as an embryo on the farm compete and then win was special to him.”
Read more on the career of owner, trainer and breeder Paul Buttigieg here.
Public visitation will be located at
Paul F Kent Funeral Home Ltd
16 King St N, Cookstown, ON L0L 1L0
Sunday June 1st
From 2pm-4pm & 7pm-9pm
A small private funeral will be held for the family members and immediate friends on Monday, June 2 starting at 1pm at Paul F Kent Funeral Home Ltd, 16 King St N, Cookstown, ON L0L 1L0.
Everyone is then welcome to come join us after the funeral, where we will be raising a toast at the Cookstown Pub,
52 Queen St W, Cookstown, ON L0L 1L0.
Any memorial donations may be made to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society.
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