Blair Burgess (born 27 September 1961) is a Canadian harness racing trainer. [1]
Burgess was born in Toronto to Robert Burgess, a Canadian Hall of Fame harness racer. [2] His horses have earned more than $27 million in winnings. [3] Burgess has won some of the world's most significant harness and pacing races, including the Hambeltonian (2x), the Little Brown Jug and the trotting Triple Crown. [4]
In 2006, his trainee Glidemaster was named 2006 Harness Horse of The Year.
In 2017, Burgess was elected into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The next year, he was inducted into the Harness Racing Museum's Living Hall of Fame. [3]
Matt's Scooter was a Standardbred pacer and sire who was named Harness Horse of the Year in 1989. Matt's Scooter competed as a pacer in harness racing, winning the Meadowlands Pace, Prix d'Été, Confederation Cup, Messenger Stakes, American National Stakes, Breeders Crown, Driscoll Series, Mohawk Gold Cup, he was named Pacer of the Year in 1988 and 1989, and Harness Horse of the Year in 1989 by the United States Harness Association.
John G. Hayes, Sr., was a harness racing driver, trainer, and owner who was inducted into the Canadian and American harness racing halls of fame.
Greentree Stable, in Red Bank, New Jersey, was a major American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm established in 1914 by Payne Whitney of the Whitney family of New York City. Payne Whitney operated a horse farm and stable at Saratoga Springs, New York with his brother Harry Payne Whitney, who also had a large stable of horses. Greentree Stable had a training base at Aiken, South Carolina, while Greentree Farm in Lexington, Kentucky was established in 1925 as its breeding arm.
Russell Avery Baze is a retired Canadian-American horse racing jockey. He holds the record for the most race wins in North American horse racing history, and is a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame and the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame.
Hervé Arthur Filion, was a Canadian harness racing driver. He was the brother of Yves Filion who drove and trained the 1988 North America Cup winner; and the brother of Henri Filion (1941–1997) who died from his injuries following a racing accident at Hippodrome Aylmer, Quebec; and the uncle of Sylvain Filion who won the 1999 Harness Racing World Driving Championship.
Artsplace (1988–2006) was a champion Standardbred horse who was the 1992 American Harness Horse of the Year.
Rainbow Blue was the 2004 American Harness Horse of the Year as well as the Canadian Harness Horse of the Year.
The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame is a museum in Goshen, New York. The museum collects and preserves the history of harness racing and serves as a hall of fame for the American Standardbred horse.
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
Glidemaster is a Standardbred trotter who was named the 2006 United States Harness Horse of the Year by the U.S. Trotting Association. He is a 2003 brown stallion by Yankee Glide out of Cressida Hanover by Mr Lavec.
John Duncan Campbell is a retired Canadian harness racing driver. He has been inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
Lloyd Duffy is a Canadian retired Champion jockey in Thoroughbred flat horse racing who uniquely is also a licensed driver of harness racing horses.
Jean (John) B. LeBlanc is a Canadian retired jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He competed at many of the top racetracks in the United States but for most of his career was based in Ontario where he was commonly known as John, the English language translation for his name.
Walter J. "Wally" Hennessey is a Hall of Fame harness racing driver. He was inducted into the Prince Edward Island Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, the United States Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on August 6, 2014.
Jimmy Takter is a harness racing horse trainer based in East Windsor, New Jersey, who came to the U.S. in 1982. He was inducted into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.
Ronald W. Waples is a Canadian harness racer. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1986, the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1993, and the Little Brown Jug Wall of Fame in 2006. Among his successes in an outstanding and ongoing career he was voted Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year for 1979 and 1980, plus he drove, trained, and co-owned the colt Ralph Hanover with which he won the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers in 1983.
Michel "Mike" Lachance is a retired harness racing driver. Widely recognized as among the best drivers of all time, his outstanding career began in 1967 in Quebec City. At retirement, he had won 10,253 races and purses totalling $187,710,149. He has been inducted into both the United States and Canadian Harness Racing Halls of Fame.
Yannick Gingras is a Canadian harness racing driver. He is statistically one of the top drivers of all time with more than 8,000 wins and $230 million in earnings. He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2022.
Joseph Cyril O'Brien was a Harness racing driver, trainer and owner who won the U.S. Trotting Triple Crown in 1955 and would be inducted into both the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, as well as Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. Noted for his quiet dignity and diplomacy, he is considered one of the greatest harness horsemen in history.
Bettor's Delight is a former champion American Standardbred race-horse and one of the World's greatest stud stallions.