by Garry Allison, The Horses, Rocky Mountain Turf Club
They call it the sport of kings, and on October 28 Max Gibb added five more kings to his Horsemen’s Wall of Fame in the Royal Ascot Betting Parlour in Lethbridge, AB.
“For a number of years we haven’t added anyone to the wall, and this fall we are catching up,” says Rocky Mountain Turf Club (RMTC) CEO Max Gibb. “At the start of the Fall Meet we added Ed Calfrobe and family, the Meeks family, Stan Marks and his family, and Dale “Digger” Mortensen.
“Now, as the Fall Meet has closed, we’ve added five more distinguished horsemen and their families: trainer/owner Phil Wiest and the Wiest family; jockey Cliff Myrashiro; our long-time paddock judge Bob Merlock; trainer/owner Wilf McDougall and his family; and Lee Haynes and his extensive family.
“These are all very worthy additions to the Wall of Fame, and all have exceptionally long careers here at Whoop-Up Downs.”
Phil Wiest
Phil Wiest, 74, has long been one of the most respected trainers at Whoop-Up Downs in Lethbridge, with an association with horses going all the way back to the 1950s.
“I first ran in Lethbridge in 1962 or 1963. I was working for Lyle Cressman, a trainer, and I bought a horse from him called Petite Four. That was a nice horse, a grey,” says Phil. “From that day on I’ve been into horse racing here in Lethbridge.”
Certainly he’s had his share of winners and he’s ridden a wide array of jockeys on his horses, the best of whom he says was the late Don MacBeth, who died of cancer in 1981, at age 37.
MacBeth came to Phil after the races in Calgary one Saturday as a 16-year-old boy and asked for a job. Phil brought the young man down to Lethbridge and they ran every day for a week straight.
Don won his first race ever, September 27, 1967, aboard Hedason, setting a track record at the same time. “Don was the best rider I ever had,” says Phil.
Phil loves horse racing, and his nephews Rick Wiest and Randy Howg are deeply involved as owners as well. His wife Caroline seldom misses a day at the RMTC. Phil’s brothers Dick, Reg, Cecil, David and John and sisters Phyllis and Elsie have all been involved in racing in one degree or another.
“I still come out here every day from home (he’s retired off his Enchant farm and now lives in Lethbridge) because I still love the horses. I’m still out there looking for that Smarty Jones,” Phil says with a laugh. “I’ll keep going ‘til I can’t walk. I’ll be at this as long as I can handle a horse.”
Cliff Myrashiro
Cliff Miyashiro was a stalwart of the RMTC at Whoop-Up Downs since 1993, but his career, and his passion, extends back 29 years before his retirement at the end of the Spring Meet, at age 48.
In 1975, Darrell Truman had a few horses, with Squeaky Berg in Edmonton, and encouraged Cliff to check out the possibility of becoming a jockey, a sport suited to his great condition, 112-pound, five-foot frame.
“I thought he was joking, but he was serious,” says Cliff. “Squeaky started me out at the bottom, after all I’d never been a round a horse in my life.”
Cliff was soon galloping horses in the crisp morning air, getting tips for riders and others around the track – keep you toes up, heels down, move your feet forward, take hold like this…
In Saskatoon, Cliff got his first chance to race ride, with the likes of Norn Jewell, Peter McAleney and Freddie Tobacco, all of who have ridden, or are riding here in Lethbridge.
“My first win was on Stormy Spirit, after about my 10th ride,” says Cliff.
He rode more than 700 horses that first year, winning 72 times. As he honed his riding skills, Cliff rode the bush tracks of the west as well, including Trout Springs, Millarville, Trochu, Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, and Maidstone.
By early 1980 he was in Winnipeg. A move to the west coast in the late 1980s was followed by a move east to Cleveland. After recovering from a serious injury he headed back to Lethbridge.
He and wife Leanna, an owner and trainer with the RMTC, have three children, Marshall, daughter Tansley, and Quinn.
Wilf McDougall
Wilf McDougall was the first president of the Alberta Community Horse Racing Association, and has a history in horse racing going back to when he was a jockey at age 12.
“Before I went off to play hockey, my Uncle Ernie Grier and I had race horses and I’d ride them,” says Wilf.
“I rode at Pincher Creek, Fort Macleod, and Carmangay. We ran on the Blood Reserve when the track and rodeo grounds used to be where the Senator Gladstone Hall is now. I was a jockey for about four or five years.”
Wilf and wife Mary Ruth (of 48 years) have four boys and a daughter. Twins Don and Dan are deeply involved in horse racing with their dad, and son Curt was involved at one time as well. Don’s son Chad and Dan’s son DJ help their grandfather with his horses at home on the reserve.
Wilf has had some good horses, but he says the best he ever had was I Hate Music. “I bought him from Jerry Bremner, and he gave him the name. Music wouldn’t run on the chuckwagons, but that horse made nothing but money for me.”
Bob Merluk
Bob Merluk has been part of the Whoop-Up Downs horseracing scene since the 1970s, except for a few years sabbatical, and has been the paddock judge for the RMTC since its inception nine years ago.
Bob, who started his racing career at Hastings Park in Vancouver where he shoed horses for 10 years is also a farrier at Whoop-Up Downs. He spends his mornings, usually 8 a.m. to noon, shoeing horses along the backstretch’s extensive barn area. On weekends his day begins at 8 a.m. and ends with the conclusion of the final race about 6 p.m.
“As a track official, and especially as paddock judge, I have to be aware of everything, from the human aspect to the equine side of things. At the track we look for anything.”
Because Bob is totally aware of all those aspects, the paddock, the jockey’s room, and the scales at Whoop-Up Downs run without a hitch.
Lee Haynes
Lee and Bernice Haynes first became involved in horse racing in the 1950s, when Lee was running horses and farming about five miles north of the Taber Sugar Factory. The couple had a family of six, most of whom became active in the sport.
One daughter, Sandra, is married to Harold Barroby, who has been the leading trainer in Vancouver five or six times. Son Rod started out as a jockey and moved on to become a top Alberta trainer.
He’s been in the business 41 years and has been the leading trainer on the Calgary and Edmonton tracks a number of times, with the assistance of his wife Star, and now Rod’s son Chase is involved with his dad.
Lee’s son Ryan is the track photographer at Northlands, for both harness and Thoroughbred racing. Another member of the Haynes family, cousin Pinky MacDonald, was a top jockey in Alberta for a while and then turned his skills to training on the A Circuit.
The family also includes daughters Debbie and Karen. As well as son Bruce, who served in the RCMP.
Lee owned and trained horses in Taber and Lethbridge and then moved onto the big tracks in Calgary, Edmonton and in the winter headed south to Phoenix, Arizona. He was totally dedicated to horse racing.
