Fifty-years ago, in 1974, the world was a much different place. The population was a tad shy of 4 billion (half of what it is now), the average income was about $14,000/year, a new house would run you about $35,000 (less than three times the average income), and Trudeau was our Prime Minister - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, not his son Justin.
In the world of pop culture, ‘The Way We Were’, by Barbara Streisand, and ‘Seasons In The Sun’ by Terry Jacks (great song) were the biggest hit songs; ‘The Sting’ - an absolute must-see for any horseperson - was named Best Picture at the Academy Awards; Stephen King had his first novel, ‘Carrie’, published; and future stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Eva Mendes, Jimmy Fallon, and Alanis Morissette were born.
The biggest news story of 1974 was the ongoing impeachment process of the President of The United States (maybe things weren’t so different back then?), Richard Nixon, due to his role in the Watergate scandal, and his eventual resignation. Now, I was only a small boy at the time, but this played a huge role in my life because I used to watch ‘Batman’ at 3pm everyday - the really corny one with Adam West - and almost every afternoon for months, when I’d turn it on, it would say ‘Regular programming has been preempted to bring you news coverage of the Watergate investigation’. I had no idea what Watergate was, but I knew I hated it.
What I did like back then, or start to like at least, were some of my favourite sports teams. I guess it’s no coincidence that some of the best teams of that era - the Minnesota Vikings, who lost in the ‘74 Super Bowl, the Philadelphia Flyers, who won the ‘74 Stanley Cup, and the Cincinnati Reds, became some of my favourites, and remain so to this day.
Two other things of significance that came to be in 1974, were two brand new magazines - publications that are both still thriving to this very day. One of them was TROT.
Yes, I’m quite proud to say that this is TROT’s 50th year of life, and my 18th year onboard.
Knowing this was the beginning month of TROT’s golden anniversary, I was pretty sure that I wanted this column to focus on that wonderful feat, but I wasn’t sure what angle to write from. As I scrolled through some of the history of our sport however - including the names of the winners of the big races of 1974, as well as what races even existed then - it hit me: Much of what we celebrate about our sport is its great history, and TROT has actually become part of that history over the years.
Yes, it was interesting to see that in 1974, the great Handle With Care won the Jugette, but it was more interesting to see that the first Jugette only took place in 1971, making that famous race just a few years older than our magazine. It was also a neat realization to see that this magazine is actually a year older than Flamboro Downs (1975), three years older than The Meadowlands Pace (1977) and ten years older than the North America Cup (1984).
Now, when I was missing out on Batman, and didn’t know what Watergate was, I didn’t know what TROT was either, but it did become part of my life, long before I came to work here. I bought into my first horse in 1983, and started getting my own copy of the magazine then. I remember reading the stories and thinking that I could write pieces like that too - maybe even better ones.
My guess is that this publication has been a part of your lives, to some degree, for many years as well. Whether it was a copy that was mailed monthly to you or your parents in the beginning, or even a hand-me-down one from somewhere else.
No matter how the magazine originally found you, I’ve really come to see that it truly means something to people in our industry. We see that all of the time. Just last month, one person took 10 extra copies, because their 14-year-old horse was featured. Or the month before, when a woman asked for an extra dozen, because there was something small in there about her husband. We even recently took a phone call from an elderly lady who sadly lost many of her worldly possessions in a house fire, and one of her biggest worries was replacing the many years of TROT Magazine that she had saved up.
TROT doesn’t just cover racing and its history, it’s now become part of racing’s history. It’s yours and it matters to you, and I guess that’s partly why the magazine continues to thrive - even during a time when some print hasn’t. It’s something tangible that our industry has, and that we share together. We thank you for that support, and we carry the torch proudly.
So here’s to TROT’s readers, its advertisers, its gatekeepers, and all of those that came before us. Here’s to another 50 years!
As for the name of that other magazine born in 1974: just a little publication with a circulation of over 2.5 million by the name of PEOPLE. More in the world may have heard of it. More may have read it. But I can pretty much promise you that it doesn’t mean as much to its readers as TROT does to ours.
Dan Fisher [email protected]