Gil H. Rowntree (born January 17, 1934, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and owner.
One of the most successful trainers in Canadian Thoroughbred racing history, Rowntree embarked on his racing career as a jockey in his native Toronto, riding from 1949 through 1951. As a trainer, he learned his conditioning skills as an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer and Kentucky Derby winner, Lou Cavalaris, Jr. Rowntree obtained his trainer's licence in 1959 and was hired by Stafford Farms in 1967 where he remained until the death of owner Jack Stafford in 1981.
During his training career, Gil Rowntree won eight Canadian Classic Races and following the creation of the Sovereign Awards program in 1975 he was voted the first-ever winner as Canada's Outstanding Trainer.
In 1973, Gil Rowntree set a record when horses he trained ran 1-2-3 in the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown series. Although Rowntree has won four editions of Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate, he is best known as the trainer of the 1978 Queen's Plate runner-up, Overskate. The Hall of Fame colt was twice voted Canadian Horse of the Year as part of his record setting nine Sovereign Awards while competing in Canada and at various tracks in the United States. As well, Rowntree conditioned Canadian champions Deceit Dancer, Proud Tobin, Northern Blossom, Ten Gold Pots, Allan Blue, Key to the Moon, Sound Reason and Tudor Queen, the 1969 American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, and in the pre Sovereign Award era, the de facto Canadian Two Year-Old Champion.
Gil Rowntree makes his home near Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario and continues to train Thoroughbreds for various owners plus breed, race and train horses for his own Gil Rowntree Racing Stable.
Sam-Son Farm is a Thoroughbred horse racing stable with farms located in Milton, Ontario (Canada) and Ocala, Florida (U.S.). Established in the 1960s by Ernest L. "Ernie" Samuel, it began as a home for competition hunter/jumper horses. One Sam-Son horse won the 1967 Pan-American Games Individual Jumping Gold Medal and was a member of the 1968 Team Gold Medal for Canada at the Mexico Olympics.
Roger L. Attfield is a Canadian thoroughbred horse trainer and owner and an inductee of both the Canadian and United States horseracing Halls of Fame.
Kinghaven Farms is a horse racing stable that was founded in 1967 by Donald G. "Bud" Willmot. Located in King City, Ontario, north of Toronto, the success of the stable would see it expand to the United States with the acquisition of a 660-acre (2.7 km2) farm and training center near Ocala, Florida. In 1974, Bud's son David S. Willmot began managing the farm's racing/breeding programs. In 2004, David Willmot announced that Kinghaven was shutting down its Thoroughbred operation, although he would continue to race a handful of horses in the following years.
L'Enjoleur was a Canadian Thoroughbred race horse. Bred and owned by prominent Montreal businessman Jean-Louis Lévesque, L'Enjoleur was sired by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Buckpasser, a son of another Hall of Famer, Tom Fool. He was out of the racing mare Fanfreluche, a daughter of the 20th Century's most influential sire, Northern Dancer.
Norcliffe (1973–1984) was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by U.S. Hall of Fame Champion Buckpasser out of the mare Drama School by Northern Dancer.
Larry Attard is a retired Hall of Fame Champion jockey and current horse trainer in Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing.
Inferno (1902–1919) was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. He has been called "Canada's first great racehorse" by the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Robert P. Tiller is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. A resident of Brampton, Ontario, he has long been one of the top trainers at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack. He has won four training titles at Woodbine Racetrack, earned three Sovereign Awards for Outstanding Trainer and was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2008.
Knob Hill Stable was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation established by Toronto, Ontario businessman Steve Stavro. Stavro's interest in horse racing began in 1967 when he acquired a pair of yearlings – Boy Bandit and Danforth Dan. They were conditioned by J. C. Meyer. However, It wasn't until the early 1980s that Stavro became passionate about thoroughbreds. As his passion grew, he founded Knob Hill Stable in Newmarket, Ontario. At the peak of Knob Hill Stables, there were more than 60 horses, which included 15 or more racers at Woodbine Racetrack. Stable standouts were Molson Million winner Benburb, Canadian International Stakes winner Thornfield, Sovereign Award champion Leonnatus Anteas and Prince of Wales Stakes winner Alezzandro.
Northernette was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. A Canadian champion at both ages two and three, she was also a Grade I stakes winner in the United States.
Royal Chocolate was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1973 Queen's Plate, the oldest continuous race in North America and Canada's most prestigious horse race.
The Canadian Triple Crown is a series of three Thoroughbred horse races run annually in Canada which is open to three-year-old horses foaled in Canada. Established in 1959, the series is unique in that it shares the same distances as its American counterpart but is contested on three different track surfaces.
Robert T. Davies was a Canadian businessman, as well as a Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorse owner and breeder.
Tudor Queen was a Champion Thoroughbred racehorse in Canada and the United States. In 1969 she was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly by the Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Key to the Moon (1981–1988) was a Canadian thoroughbred champion racehorse.
Kiridashi is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse.
Mickey K. Walls is a retired Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was a Champion in both the United States and Canada.
Chop Chop (1940-1963) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. He was sired by Flares, a son of U.S. Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and a full brother to U.S. Triple Crown winner Omaha. Flares raced in England with considerable success for owner William Woodward Sr., counting the Ascot Gold Cup, Champion Stakes and Princess of Wales's Stakes among his wins.
Deceit Dancer is a Canadian Champion filly Thoroughbred racehorse.
James Charles Bentley was a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who twice won Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate. During his career he trained horses to win six National Championships, three of which would earn Hall of Fame induction.