Michael Lay is very passionate about the sport of horse racing, having seen the great Secretariat win the Canadian International with his family at Woodbine in the rain in 1973. While it would be 40 years later that Lay would buy his first share in a racehorse – career and family came first – he joined his friend Michael Loughrey and trainer Don MacRae and acquired a gelding named Reeves Hill who promptly went out and won.
Lay and Loughrey had plenty of success with a small stable, winning a stakes race with Puntrooskie, among others. About six years ago, Lay began to acquire a couple of horses of his own. One was a yearling bought in 2019 at the CTHS Ontario sale for $45,000. The Big Screen colt, named Cruden Bay, is now a graded stakes winner of over $500,000 and he runs in the King Edward Stakes on Saturday, King’s Plate day.
That’s pretty exciting for Lay, who has been very successful in business as the managing partner and co-head of ONCAP, the middle market private equity platform of Onex which invests and manages capital on behalf of shareholders and investors around the world.
But the day will be even more memorable for Lay and family since his three-year-old colt WILLIAM T, named after his 2 1/2 year old grandson, runs in the 166th Plate for $1 million.
“It’s very exciting for us,” said Lay, who joined the Woodbine Entertainment board of directors in 2021 with a keen desire to help racing move forward in the competitive gaming world. “This is a passion of mine and I really enjoy it.”
William T, a grey colt by Kentucky stallion Frosted from the mare Upper Brass by Hard Spun, is the ‘now’ horse according to many racing sharpies. He is lightly raced, but he cycled up to a big six-length maiden-breaking victory in his third start of the year on July 13. Don MacRae, one of Woodbine’s best trainers seeking his first Plate win, has taken his time with the horse and it appears to be paying off.
Lay acquired William T through bloodstock agent Marette Farrell, who plucked the colt out 1,600 yearlings selling at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale for $45,000. The colt, bred by David Anderson’s Anderson Farms, was hip number 1,532.
“Marette is my eyes and ears at sales,” said Lay. “I look at the catalogue and pick out a few for her to look at, Ontario-breds. If she sees any others she likes, I will go by what she says.”
After just a single race as a two-year-old, William T won his maiden third time out in 2025 and has been working like the wind since then. David Moran will ride William T for the first time in the Plate.
Making the experience even more special for Lay and his wife Jane will be the presence of grandson William T, who has come in from London, England, with Lay’s daughter and husband and a six-month-old brother.
“He likes horses, too,” said Lay, “And that is special for me.”
William T, the horse, will start from post position 2 in the Plate and as he continues to improve with every start, he could be a strong factor in the late stage of Canada’s most famous race.
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