UPDATE – VISITATION FOR BARBARA will be held at SCOTT’S FUNERAL HOME AND CHAPEL, Friday 5 p.m., 289 MAIN STREET, BRAMPTON – FUNERAL is on SATURDAY AT 3 P.M. Reception to follow
BARBARA A. PIRIE
A long, cold and tough winter became a little more harder to take after the passing of Woodbine trainer Barbara Pirie on Monday.
Barb had been fighting a sudden illness for a couple of weeks.
This picture, from our friend Barb Piries Facebook page is vintage Barb.
The big smile, the glistening jewelry and beautiful clothes. She had a bold and brazen personality and loved training racehorses.
An animal lover, Barb also helped anyone she could: friends who were on the comeback trail from bad luck, friends who were injured, friends who, well, needed a friend.
Barb’s racing statistics are below – we know she could train a horse and she tried her best for whomever she trained for.
It is during the winter months that Barb Pirie would be about as popular as any Thoroughbred trainer in Canada. Barb had a knack for bringing horses to Florida, or claiming ones, and winning races so that handicappers from all over would take note.
She won a race at the famed Gulfstream meeting virtually every year in the last 15 years, even the Daily Racing Form took note in 2003:
FROM the DAILY RACING FORM 2003, MARTY MCGEE – The first race of the meet was “deja vu all over again” for jockey John Velazquez and trainer Barbara Pirie, who teamed to win the opener with Mufasa’s Legacy ($7.80). Two years ago, Velazquez and Pirie also won the first race of the Gulfstream meet … with Honorable John. “I was really hoping that we could do this again,” said Pirie, a 42-year-old Canadian.
Barb sent out EARLY WISDOM for the Ham family to win the Grade 3 Col. R.S. McLaughlin Stakes in 2002.
In 2003 she married jockey Jerry Baird and as Barb Baird, won 27 races while being a part of Jerry’s return to successful race-riding.
Recently, Barb had been training through September for clients such as Fast N Furious Racing. She was living near Caledon this winter and spending time with sisters Jan and Linda and brother Glen, father Alex.
Thoroughblog will update with memorial information when available.
You will be missed Barb.
The photo below is from VALENTINE’S DAY last year – 2014 – Barb won with Ifimlyinimdyin at Gulfstream
Career Statistics as Barb Pirie:
Starts: 955
Firsts: 102
Seconds: 99
Thirds: 100
Earnings: $2,286,308
*as Barb Baird – 27 for 253
