2/ MAY 2019 THE RIDER 50 Years Of Quarter Horse Racing In Ajax


By Jennifer Morrison In 1969 Alex Picov and his


family opened the gates on their 65 acre family farm to friends and the community creating the Picov Downs “J” Track. Live Quarter Horse racing became a community staple. For 50 years several hun-


dred spectators have turned out every race day in the sun and amidst the excitement of live Quarter horse racing. And 50 years later the betting windows are still alive with activity and anticipation. Horses, jockeys, owners, trainers, and patrons all watching to see who will take home the purse money. What started as backyard


horse racing matches among friends in nothing more then t- shirts and cowboy boots has grown into one of the most pop- ular sporting events in Ontario. Picov Downs, now Ajax


Downs, has welcomed horses and horsepeople from Canada and the USA to compete in these short, but exciting dashes down the dirt track. Alex Picov was one of the original believers in the fu- ture of Quarter Horse racing in Ontario. He along with youngest son, Norm, opened Picov Downs


in response to the local demand and to support for Live Quarter Horse racing. On May 5, 2019 a more lu-


crative, professional and faster sport of Quarter Horse racing gets underway at its current home, the pristine, state of the art Ajax Downs just seconds from its original home. Fan friendly Ajax Downs


gets you up close and personal with our beautiful Quarter Horses and the great horsepeople who care for them. Trackside picnic tables and


the popular and always busy bar- becue sit adjacent to the Paddock area and a five-eighths of a mile oval track with one of the best dirt surfaces in the country. Each summer Sunday after-


noons are filled with many colourful events with giveaways and a chance to meet the partici- pants and learn about the sport of Quarter Horse racing. Indeed, special days such as Mother’s Day, & Father’s Day Canada Day, Craft Brewery Day and Family Day are just a few of the events that pack the Ajax stands and patio. “We have come a long way,


and we’re just getting better and


better,” said Ralph Pearson, one of the first presidents of the Quarter Racing Owners of On- tario, Inc. “This is going to be our


best year yet, our 50th anniver- sary!”


It was 1969 when the first


organized races were held at Picov Downs, moving to the little dirt strip built on land donated by the horse-loving Alex Picov and his family. “At first were having races


at Al Greco’s Circle M Ranch in Kleinburg, essentially in his backyard,’ said Pearson. “We raced our barrel horses, ponies, just to see who had the faster horse.” Once they had their own


track at Picov Downs, horsemen such as Gerry Armstrong among others, built fences, a judge’s tower complete with a jockey’s room. In 1971 it became a recog- nized track with the American Quarter Horse Association and Ontario racing regulators granted the track several pari-mutuel wa- gering days. Bob Woodward, Picov’s


leading rider in 1971, chuckles when he remembers the early days of Quarter Horse racing at Picov Downs. “Sometimes you didn’t re-


ally know what you were climb- ing aboard,’ said Woodward. “Some of them were more like pony horses than racehorses.” Woodward said the sharp


‘J’ turn often had a mud puddle that riders and horses had to avoid while pulling up. Ken Richards, who has


been involved in horse racing for more than 50 years remembers one instance when a visiting jockey had trouble after a race. “Our horses at Picov were


Ralph Pearson and Jockey Bob Woodward in 1973 at Picov Downs


trained to turn right after the race but during a stakes race one year a competing American horse with a jockey turned left and went through the track fence. The jockey ended up with two broken wrists.” And the starting gate they


used? Well let’s say it was a far cry from the fancy gates they use today.


“It had runners on it like a


sleigh, not wheels,” laughed Pearson. “We could only drag it one way and that was down the track to the finish line, so we ran the longer races first.” In the


early years,


horsepeople raced essentially for their own money they put up to enter in a race. But in the mid 1980s, Norm Picov took over his family businesses, Picov Cattle Company and its iconic Eques- trian Supply Store, and began to add purse money himself for each race. “Picov Downs was a cool


Picov Downs 1972


little track,” said Bob Broad- stock, president of the QROOI. “It was almost like a tailgating party each Sunday afternoon. It was more like a club back then, friends racing their horses against friends and then getting together after the races.” Broadstock, who trains and


races horses with wife Marie, came up through the ranks after working for Joe and Christine Tavares, the long time leading trainer and owner at Picov/Ajax Downs. When the explosion of slot


1971 at Picov Downs- Horse: Lil Go Twist


machines in the early 2000s brought the flashy machines to a building adjacent


to Picov


Downs, the Quarter Horse indus- try led by Norm Picov went to work on getting a new racetrack. His dream was realized in


2009 when Ajax Downs opened complete with pristine stabling for horses to ship in on race day, a beautiful racebook and simul- cast area and a sparkling restau- rant overlooking he track. “It was like a fuzzy dream; very surreal,” said Broadstock. “We went from a hill-billy type track to this amazing, state-of-the-art place.” As part of the slots-at-race-


tracks partnership program, Ajax Downs racing grew quickly. Li- censed horsepeople jumped from 145 in 2005 to over 1000 by 2012, the horse population in- creased from just over 100 to more than 600. Overall wagering on Quarter Horse racing ex- ploded, reaching $3 million, up from $300,000 in 2009. But just as quickly, the in-


dustry, including Thoroughbred and Standardbreds, lost a lot of participants when the SARP was cancelled in 2014. The good news is, the current provincial government has worked with rac- ing to help it return to health. The list of some of the big-


ger names of stables in the his- tory of Ajax Downs includes Bill Cruwys, Mel Romaine and Don Reid to many who still race horses today: Carol and Wayne Proctor, Les Baker, Barry Wood, the Tavares’ and Greg and Sue Watson. The Picov family and their


vision were recognized for the incredible growth of the sport in Canada when Norm was in- ducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2017. You want fast horses? How


about great ones from the past such as Gina Gay, who won Quarter Horses races at Picov, Woodbine and Greenwood, and


Picov Downs 1973


Picov Downs starting gates. 1973


Champions such as Go Smashing Baby, Rockish and One Kool Wave. It is so easy to fall in love


with these equine heroes (and get to know each one’s barn name!). Expected to race again in


2019 is Country Boy 123 (‘CB’), Horse of the Year for the last three seasons who was unbeaten at Ajax Downs last year. Today, the Quarter Horse


business is back on the rise


thanks to the QROOI board of di- rectors and its work with the provincial government, Ajax Downs’ General Manager Emilio Trotta and his creative and inno- vative team and of course, the brazenly fast athletes. Come out to one of the


most exciting and fun days you can have this summer at Ajax Downs and help it celebrate 50 years of Quarter Horse Racing.


Ajax Downs – Canada Day Celebration Ajax Downs - Opened 2009


Long Term Lease Secures Quarter Racing’s Future and Casino Gaming at Ajax Downs


Ajax, ON- Ajax Downs and On- tario Gaming GTA Limited Part- nership (“OGGTA”, a limited partnership between Great Cana- dian Gaming Corporation and Brookfield) have formally en- tered into a long term lease that will secure the home of quarter racing in Ontario for up to 19 years. The lease agreement re-


ceived final approval from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation late last week. The lease ensures that the


Ajax Downs racetrack can re- main open for the foreseeable fu- ture


and allows


approximately 1, 700 people who work in the quarter horse racing and associated industries to con-


the


tinue to invest in and grow their industry in the Durham Region and neighbouring communities. ‘’This is the best news the


quarter horse racing industry has heard in years. The Ontario gov- ernment has committed to ensur- ing we continue to have a place


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