On March 12, 1890, a great “trot” was held. In the first class, Campbell of Dundas was the winner. Phil Francis was his only competition. The winner went the mile in 2.50 and the horses had not been ten feet apart at any time except for the tail of the heat. The winner of the second class was Donald Angus Camp- bell. There were three other horses ln this race but they offered little threat as they straggled a great distance behind the lead horse.

In the third class there were six horses. The first man to cross the line had a little mare which was said to be about the size of a tobacco pipe and twenty years old. But the driver had been overly cautious for he trotted the first heat without entering or putting up the entrance fee. He claimed the money at the end of the second heat, but the referee declined to give it. He then offered to trot another heat but it was “no go". The money was awarded to Bennett MacDonald who came in second each time. The prizes were seven dollars, four fifty, and three dollars.

The conditions were not always the best for racing, but the race would go ahead on schedule as on March 1 t, 1925. This day the race was back on Jenkins Point and the ice was too wet for comfort. Where the horses finished the water was two to three inches deep. Fred Swallow and Jack MacKenzie, Gasperaux, trotted two heats. The latter came in ahead both times.

In the three minute class that day there were four entries and they all raced five times. Hayden came in ahead the first time and Jim Campbell the second. The other three heats were won by James Jenkins, Little River. In the “green" race first went to Vincent MacDonald, second to a Mr. Wood, third to Neil MacCormack, and fourth to a Mr. Allen.

Ice racing continued to be a popular sport up until the 1940’s and 50’s. Some drivers used a driving sleigh, some had old fashioned high trotting sleighs, and some had bikes.

Some of the drivers and their horses were: Jessica The Great, owned by Wallace Taylor, Strathcona; Peter Dawes owned by Lorne Keefe from Fortune; and Gratton Peters owned by Wallace Gillis of Strathcona. Other drivers included Alfie MacLeod, Earl Hayden, and Billie Taylor, all of Strathcona; Sam and Jim

Acorn of Primrose; Simon Cantello and Tom Rice of Seven Mile Road; Nelson Stewart, Annandale; and Lorne Wigginton, Primrose. there were many more that

are too numerous to mention in this brief overview of the topic.

Nelson Acorn told us that the horses were often trained on the ice and he recalled going down to the ice every evening for a whole month to work out the horse. Even though the races were only held about once a week there were often a lot of horses. on the ice just getting their exercise.

Although the races were considered a great .form of entertainment, they also had some tragedy. One day Arthur MacDonald, Forest Hill, lost his horse when the shaft of another driver’s bike went through his horse’s chest.

Ice racing today more often involves snowmobiles although there was at least one attempt made in recent years to revive the sport of ice racing on the

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