Every few months, I have the great pleasure of being visited in my office by Bill Galvin. For those who don’t know him, Galvin is a Canadian horse racing historian, author and publicist.
At the age of 82, Galvin does not move as quickly as he once did. But his passion for the sport has not waned. On page 73, Galvin speaks his mind and takes us through his years of bringing the sport of harness racing to the general public through creative, unique and memorable means.
Whether it was 40,000 fans lining the Rideau Canal to watch ice racing, thousands of stories written and told about the Race for MS, or 30,000 people who found the sport through a series of poetry contests, Galvin, and those who supported him, showed us what was possible.
Today, as I talk with him, Galvin’s natural optimism is still there. But 40 years after fighting so hard to bring the sport to the public’s attention, he is saddened by where we are.
As the discussion turns to slot machines and government, Galvin shrugs his disapproval. “What the sport needs is attention,” he says. “You have to reach the public,” Galvin doesn’t have much time for the politics. To him, promoting horse racing has little to do slot machines or political will. Coming from a man who executed some of the greatest promotions in the last 50 years, his words carry great weight.
As days pass, there will eventually be more clarity on what we have to look forward to. What will horse racing look like? Who will be left? Where will racing take place? These are all questions that will be answered in time.
But the question that I ask, is, “who is the next Bill Galvin?”
At a time when the need to bring the sport to the public has never been more important, what are we doing? In the last 15 years how many times have you seen an ambitious project that takes harness racing out of its comfort zone? Not just in Ontario, but anywhere? How many times has the industry taken a truly bold and creative risk?
Do we think that the year of preparation to get harness racing on the ice in Ottawa came easily or without objection? Do we think it was simple to get the Race for MS to become a North American phenomena that raised $5 million for charity in the name of horse racing? How about thousands of kids writing poetry about the sport? Was it easy to have teachers across the country telling their classrooms about what our participants do, and passing on a love of the standardbred horse?
As the dust settles in Ontario, I am very hopeful that we will be left with an industry. It will continue to drive rural Canadian values, employ hard working people, and keep horses racing and breeding. What I do not wish to see is an industry that thinks it is doing enough when it is not.
Today Bill Galvin has scrapbooks full of newspaper clippings and accolades from a time many of us weren’t around for. His legacy involves thousands of newcomers coming to the track, and millions exposed to the sport. His torch, unfortunately, is packed up and in storage. Speaking on behalf of Bill, I think it’s time we dust it off and take a good run of our own?
Darryl Kaplan
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