E.P. Taylor Award: R.J. and Lois Bennett

“… I bought this mare called Rodo for $150. She was supposed to be not in foal and I was going to make her a jumper. Then it turned out she was in foal. I got the papers for the foal and then you start getting into pedigrees and you know the trap. The dream starts.”

R.J. and Lois Bennett, one of British Columbia’s leading breeders for more than 30 years, were honored for their longtime involvement and commitment to thoroughbred racing in Canada, by being presented with the E. P. Taylor Award of Merit at the Sovereign Awards Ceremony at Woodbine Racetrack on April 8.

The E. P. Taylor Award of Merit is not an honour that’s handed out every year. The award, which is decided by The Jockey Club of Canada’s Board of Stewards, is given to those who have positively impacted the thoroughbred industry in Canada. Previous recipients include E. P. Taylor, George Gardiner, and Ernest Samuel.

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“That was a great honour,” Lois Bennett, 81, said. “It’s been unbelievable. It’s been a wonderful choice of life.”

The Bennetts’ love of horses from childhood brought them to the thoroughbred breeding industry in the 1950s. Lois Bennett took riding lessons as a child and purchased her first horse from a friend as a teenager, while R.J. Bennett, 86, also acquired his first horse when he was young after buying a Shetland pony from a girl he knew that had won the horse in a raffle.

Before the Bennetts met, R.J. Bennett acquired his first mare in 1952. Bennett, who worked for his father, former B.C. Premier W.A.C. Bennett, in the retail hardware business, would often stop in to visit horses on a friend’s farm while driving to and from work between Kelowna and Kamloops.

“I opened a store in Kamloops in 1952,” R.J. Bennett said. “I would drop in to see the Talbots because they had horses. Somebody had passed away and Mr. Talbot had some estate horses for sale. I bought this mare called Rodo for $150. She was supposed to be not in foal and I was going to make her a jumper. Then it turned out she was in foal. I got the papers for the foal and then you start getting into pedigrees and you know the trap. The dream starts.”

Lois and R.J. met in 1955 when R.J.’s brother, Bill Bennett, was set to marry one of Lois’ closest friends.

“I was asked to be a bridesmaid in my very best friend’s wedding,” Lois Bennett recalled. “She said I have a brother-in-law that likes horses. So that’s where it started, right there.”

Their relationship blossomed through their shared love of horses and the Bennetts married in 1961. Then, in 1966, they moved into a newly constructed home on their Flying Horse Farm in Westbank, B.C.

Initially, the Bennetts were heavily involved with jumpers and in different horse shows in the local area. The thoroughbred breeding took a back seat, but moved to the forefront after a number of trips to Exhibition Park with Lois Bennett’s uncle in the 1960s.

“Horse shows were more important than the thoroughbreds, but then we got more and more into the thoroughbreds,” Lois Bennett noted.

As the Bennetts moved their primary focus towards thoroughbred breeding, they began to expand their broodmare band through sales in Kentucky during the 1960s. They operate as a breed-to-race operation, so fillies and mares that run well on the track are often bred once their racing careers are over. The Bennetts also have relationships with some other prominent breeders around North America, including Charles Fipke and the Stronach family, and acquire mares from them from time to time.

The Bennetts didn’t have to wait long to get their first stakes winner, as homebred Flying Magic won the 1967 Premier’s B.C. Championship Handicap at Exhibition Park, just one year after they moved to Flying Horse Farm.

One of the Bennetts most famous horses was Travelling Victor. Travelling Victor was named champion older male and Canadian Horse of the Year in 1983 after recording five wins and nine in-the-money finishes that season. He became the first horse to race outside of Ontario to win Canadian Horse of the Year after capturing three consecutive stakes races at Exhibition Park that year, including the B.C. Premier’s Championship Handicap, and finishing second in the Grade 2 Longacres Mile. His success also led to R.J. Bennett earning the 1983 Sovereign Award as outstanding breeder.

Travelling Victor avenged his defeat in the Longacres Mile in 1984, part of a run that included eight wins in nine starts between 1983 and 1984, seven of which came in stakes events.

“He outshone anyone for those few years,” Lois Bennett said. “He set track records. Nobody ever wanted to run against him. He carried top weight, 129, and he set a track record. When he won the Longarces Mile, it was the fastest time that year for the mile. He was one of those spectacular horses that you hope you’re going to get more of.”

Other notable horses bred by the Bennetts include Brandy Magic, Always a Dixie, 2015 B.C.-bred Horse of the Year Touching Promise, and multiple graded stakes winner Lord Nelson, who is currently living at Flying Horse Farm.

The Bennetts estimate that in any one year, they would breed upwards of 20 mares, but they’ve recently decided to scale back. They bred 10 mares this year, but still have a substantial horse population on the farm, taking care of their homebreds that have retired from racing and mares that they are no longer breeding. Their children are also heavily involved in polo, and the horses used in the polo matches are also kept at Flying Horse Farm.

“They occupy a large portion of the farm,” R.J. Bennett said. “We have a lot of retired horses as well. This year, we have more down there at the track. It’s a tough thing to keep going.”

Their success in the B.C. thoroughbred breeding industry has led to multiple awards and accolades over the years. In addition to their E. P. Taylor Award of Merit, the Bennetts have been inducted into both the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

“It’s been a great ride as they say,” R.J. Bennett said. “We aren’t young anymore, so we’re very fortunate.”