The name of Shorty Lockhart must have top billing when Collingwood harness racing
history is written Horsemen like Paddy Stone, Joe Welch and Paddy Neville were
big names in the sulky game at the turn of the century but Shorty completed dominated the scene for thirty-five years. Born in Honeywood, Shorty farmed in the Osprey district before he took to harness racing seriously in his early twenties. His
first good horse Dorothy Peters, was an instant success and he always likes to
talk about Make Believe, a handsome trotter that won him forty races in a
single season.

As implicated by his nickname, “Shorty” is small of stature but his courage and determination offsets the size handicap. He needs nobody to run interference for him because the little man from the Osprey Hills has always been on his own.

One of his greatest triumphs was a victory with Sonny Creed against top drivers like Keith Waples, Dell McTavish and Harold McKinley. Three outstanding match races stand out in his memory; Two against his old rival, Honourable Earl Rowe at Greenwood with Make Believe and at Grand Valley with Dorothy Peters. His match race with Sonny Creed against Dr. Morrish’s – Lochlinvar King was staged before the largest crowed ever to witness a harness race at London Raceway.

Shorty has trained and owned more than one hundred trotters in his days. His ace pacers, Sonny Creed and Single Chips have carried him over the mile at 2.03 at one time ore another and A.W. Chips and McCarr Hanover have stepped it in 2.04 with Shorty in the sulky.

He has fine memories in the racing exploits of such fine horses as Dorothy Peters, Make Believe, Dr. Fleet, Laurentide, Prince Demon, True Spencer, Frisco Van R., Alex Hardy and Collingwood Boy.

Clarence “Shorty” Lockhart has left his mark on the big tracks like the Blue Bonnett and Richelieu in Quebec, Greenwood, Mohawk, Garden City, the old Thorncliffe and Dufferin in Ontario and Batavia and Hamburg across the border.

He just had to be No.1 in the harness racing section of Collingwood’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Robert Stewart, secretary-manager of the Canadian Standard bred Horse Society, died suddenly after collapsing while playing in an Oldtimers’ hockey game. He was 38.

A native of Collingwood, Stewart had a lifelong involvement in almost all facets
of harness racing and served as the Society’s chief executive officer for
almost 16 years.

In his early teens he trained horses owned by his parents, Ray and Edna Stewart,
including Spencer’s Pride, Muddy Heel, If, Success Curl and Trivia.  During the summer school breaks he worked as a groom at the raceways for Clarence Lockhart and Pat Crowe and also trained horses for Jack Smith and Russ Irwin. He was licensed as a driver in 1969 and drove primarily in races at “B” tracks such as Owen Sound and at fall fair meets in the Collingwood and Barrie area.

Stewart was also licensed as a starter and associate judge from 1970 to 1978 and
officiated in these capacities at various non-extended meetings. In recent years, his Adanac Farms co-owned such outstanding racehorses as Happy Little B, Mon View, Saunders Alpine Label and Trojan Leroy, all winners of more than $165,000.

Stewart was widely known and highly respected throughout the standard bred industry in both Canada and the U.S.  He was primarily responsible for making the
three horse sales conducted annually by the Society among the most successful
in North America and was a strong advocate of having all horses’ blood typed and foals identified by freeze branding to ensure their identity and to verify their parentage.

After receiving his early education in Collingwood, Stewart graduated in Business
Administration from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto and then from
the Akron School of Business Administration where he made the Dean’s List both
years.