updated..
WOODBINE CLASSY LANE MEMORIAL SLIDESHOW –
A fireman walks around the rubble of what is left of a barn at Classy Lane Training Centre near Puslinch, ON following a terrible fire on Monday night. Photo by Renee Kierans.
It is a phone call, the middle-of-the-night phone call, that no one wants to answer.
A call from the place where your horses live, these wonderful and generous athletes whom we love and cherish and play around with every single day, 365 times a year.
There are flames and there is dense smoke and a barn is burning. You know that your world and the world of so many others you know, will never be the same.
Late Monday evening, as flames began to reach up and around a barn of some 40 racehorses, mostly Standardbreds, at the popular Classy Lane Training Centre, a few furlongs from Mohawk Raceway,
Classy Lane houses some 200 horses, it has a pool, a training track and dozens of paddocks. It is only 13 years old and is essentially state-of-the-art. But something went terribly wrong Monday night and in minutes, as trainers raced to the barn where their beautiful horses lived, there was no way to get in and open stall doors.
Two horses who were racing at Woodbine on Monday night were spared, since they had not arrived back at the barn from the track. But essentially, the entire racing stables of owner/trainer Ben Wallace, a soon-to-be Hall of Famer as one of the top conditioners in Standardbred racing and Chantel Mitchell were wiped out.
Firefighters from five departments – including Hamilton, Guelph and Cambridge – were called to the blaze and that there is no word at this point as to what caused the deadly fire.
The fire destroyed Barn 1 which housed horses trained by Wallace, Roger Mayotte, Mitchell, Kris Di Cenzo, Dan Lagace and Floyd Amos.
The preliminary cost of the damage is estimated to be between $4 and $6 million, and that the fire is not considered suspicious at this time.
APPRENTICE HANOVER – Ben Wallace right behind him as they prepare for a race – NORM FILES PHOTO
Burnt and mangled bikes among the carnage at Classy Lane. Photo by Renee Kierans
Wallace has been on a fun, winning run recently with his hard-trying horses such as Whistle Jimmy K and the fast-improving trotter Hey Hey My My, a winner last weekend.
And his buddy, the wonderful 5-year-old APPRENTICE HANOVER whom he trains for Brad Grant, a top 3yo who had a long winning streak at the time and had 2 wins in recent weeks, was back on form.
They all died in the fire along with 14 stablemates.
On a personal note, this writer had a chance to meet Apprentice Handover (I called him ‘Rasta’) and give him some pats and scratches before a race. The horse was easy to cheer for, and so is his trainer Ben, whom I have been lucky enough to know through his partner Renee for more than 2 years.
Friends also lost a Thoroughbred in the fire as well. JMR CHANEL, a promising, unraced filly by English Channel owned by John Ryan and Melanie Michaels was using the hot walker to return from an injury.
How horrible to see the images and to imagine these hard working, horse-loving people listen to their horses trying to get out as the smoke filled the barn.
The Ontario Horse Racing industry has banded together quickly, sharing a GoFundMe page set up by COSA (Central Ontario Standardbred Association) and piling in donations and comments. Members of the Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and Standardbred communities will do anything to help these people who have lost everything. Starting over will be tough for those who have been left without a horse to race this weekend.
Think about SKY DESPERADO, who marched to a nice win at Flamboro on New Year’s Eve in the last race of the 2015 season. A horse with a personality, a love for his caretakers, a horse with the heart to please.
Every one of the horses who passed away had a loving groom, owner and trainer.
SKY DESPERADO wins on Dec. 31 at Flamboro – Norm Files photo
Chantal Mitchell (second from right) brought a young fan from the crowd in after a win by one of her special horses, BODY BALANCE
WHISTLE JIMMY K loved to win – Norm Files photo
The Meadowlands is holding a fundraiser: – fundraise..http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=67719&zoneid=63
STRIKING CHEETAH – Norm Files photo
Trot Insider confirmed the names of 28 of the Standardbred that perished in the blaze. The list of the names of horses that lost their lives in the blaze appears below.
Floyd Amos Stable
Hasty Heart (Owned by Floyd H. Amos [Bright, Ont.])
Big Bang Ballykeel (Owned by Floyd H. Amos [Bright, Ont.])
Kris Di Cenzo Stable
Beautiful Vista, owned by Kris & Anthony Di Cenzo, Hamilton; John Baldasty, Oakville, Ont.
Distant Cam, owned by Madith Peterson, Oakville, Ont.
Lost Glory, owned by Madith Peterson, Oakville, Ont.
No Serious Matter, owned by Kris Di Cenzo, Hamilton; John Baldasty, Oakville, Ont.
Dan Lagace Stable
Big Jim Dandy, owned by Brad Gray, Dundas, Ont.
Dial K, owned by Brad Gray, Dundas, Ont.
Freedom Summer, owned by Brad Gray, Dundas, Ont.
Micro Venture, owned by Brad Gray, Dundas, Ont.
Playtime Jack, owned by Brad Gray, Dundas, Ont.
Prowl Seelster, owned by Brad Gray, Dundas, Ont.
Southwind Billy, owned by Brad Gray, Dundas, Ont.
Roger Mayotte Stable
Dreamliner (Owned by Just In Time Stable [Mississauga, Ont.] and The Fine Whine Stable [Toronto, Ont.])
Georges Legacy (Ross Warriner, Doug Millard, Louis Liebenau, Ben Mudry and Roger Mayotte)
Vintage Rose (Owned by Gary G. Smith [Burlington, Ont.])
Weight Time (Owned by Just In Time Stable [Mississauga, Ont.])
Chantal Mitchell Stable
Body Balance, owned by Doug Millard, Woodstock, Ont.
Conata, owned by Michel Letendre, Saint-Jude; Fernand Jodoin, St-Pie-De-Bagot, Que.
Edgartown, owned by M T Pockets Stables, Pompano Beach, Fl.; Chantal Mitchell, Hamilton, Ont.
Railee Special, bred by Ron Mersky, Paris, Ky.
Sky Desperado, owned by Chantal Mitchell, Hamilton, Ont.
SOS Ticket Masterowned by The Fine Whine Stable, Toronto, Ont.
Striking Cheetah, owned by M T Pockets Stables of Pompano Beach, Fl.
Mitchell also lost three miniature horses: Daisy, Marguerita and Sammy (owned by Mel Tilley)
Ben Wallace Stable
Apprentice Hanover (Owned by Bradley J. Grant [Milton, Ont.])
Balletonthebeach, bred by W Springtime Racing Stable, Shannon Brott of New York
Blue Heaven, bred by W Springtime Racing Stable, Shannon Brott of New York
JMR Chanel (thoroughbred; English Channel – Luxuriously, by Danzig), owned by JMR Racing Inc and Melany Micheals
Jewels For Rose, owned by Wallacestandardbreds Inc & James Millier, Puslinch, Ont.
Makers Mach, owned by Wallacestandardbreds Inc, James Geis & Jeff Ruch
Mr King Koal, owned by Wallacestandardbreds Inc, Puslinch; Harness Horsepower Inc, Campbellville, Ont.
My My Hey Hey, owned by Wallacestandardbreds Inc, Puslinch, Ont; Birnam Wood Farms, Boca Raton, Fl.
Northern Horizon, owned by Wallacestandarbreds Inc & Northfields Farm
Penji Hanover, owned by W Springtime Racing Stable, Johnstown, N.Y.
Proven Effective (Owned by Bradley J. Grant [Milton, Ont.])
Sports Warning, owned by Wallacestandardbreds Inc, Puslinch, Ont.; Joie De Vie Farm LLC, Jobstown, N.J.
Stretch Run, owned by Wallacestandardbreds Inc & JMR Racing Inc, Puslinch, Ont.
Tommys Trooper, owned by Wallacestandardbreds Inc, Puslinch, Ont.
Whiskey N Pie (Owned by Bradley J. Grant [Milton, Ont.] and WallaceStandardbreds Inc. [Puslinch, Ont.])
Whistle Jimmy K (Owned by Bradley J. Grant [Milton, Ont.] and WallaceStandardbreds Inc. [Puslinch, Ont.])
Files photo
CONATA and Chantal Mitchell – Norm Files photo
