Elizabeth Mason, FEO, June 6, 2024, VOL. 5 ISSUE 20

Ridgeway’s own Richard Grubb, a Canadian horse racer, is being inducted into the 2024 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto.

Born in Kitchener in 1948, Grubb was raised on a farm in Ridgeway and attended his first horse race at 14 years old at the Fort Erie Race Track. Despite having “no idea about horse racing whatsoever,” he was “hooked right off the bat.”

Starting on the track at 16 years old, walking and grooming horses, Richard began racing when he was 17.  He is quick to admit that the weight regulations were the hardest part about riding.  Jockeys need to be small and light, and Grubb acknowledges that he faced the challenge of his weight throughout his career on a regular basis.  “I had to be 20 to 25 pounds underweight almost constantly. That was very difficult.” He didn’t let that stop him though, doing “whatever [he] had to do” to keep his dream alive.

That dream brought remarkable achievements. During his career, Grubb won over 100 major races, beginning with the very first race he rode as a professional.  That race on May 24, 1966 was followed up by 1,606 additional trips to the winner’s circle. 

In 1967, Grubb was Canada’s leading jockey with 230 victories. Websites about Woodbine Racetrack include the statistic that on May 16 of that year he won seven races in a single day, a feat that has been equalled twice, but not outdone.  He went on to race internationally, representing Canada several times in South Africa and in Europe, winning the Prince of Wales Stakes back home in Fort Erie in 1968.

He concluded his riding career in 1989 and in 1997 was presented the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, a Canadian thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually to a jockey who is Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or a regular in the country for more than five years, and who has made significant contributions to the sport.

He only slightly shifted course after leaving racing, going on to work for the Ontario Racing Commission for 24 years, before fully retiring.

In 2012 Grubb was inducted to the Greater Fort Erie Wall of Fame alongside other local equestrian athletes such as Jockey and Horse Racers Sanford “Sandy” Hawley, and Francine Villeneuve, who was inducted the same year as Grubb.

Now Richard Grubb is being inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame exists to “properly honour its pioneers and horses, as well as the contemporary heroes of Canadian racing.”  New inductees are added yearly to build upon an ever-growing honour roll of Builders, Drivers/Trainers, Jockeys, Standardbreds, Thoroughbreds and Trainers. The annual induction ceremony, being held this year on August 7 at the Mississauga Convention Centre, is a gala with guest speakers, dinner and a full evening of events, designed to bring tribute to the 12 winners chosen for 2024.

When asked what being inducted in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame means to Grubb he said, “Well, it’s the pinnacle in your sport. You can’t go any higher, really.  It’s been a great career.  Horse racing has taken me around the world. I’ve met amazing people in all walks and fields of life. It’s been so good to me.”

Now Grubb is retired and able to look back on his career with satisfaction and gratitude.  “I’m just totally honoured, totally honoured.”