Gordon J. "Pete" McCann (1908 – January 18, 2000) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

. He was born in

East York East York is a district and former municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The borough was dissolved ...

, now part of the city of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Known to his family as Gordon, in racing circles he was nicknamed Pete. Pete McCann began his career as a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

. He raced at

Oriental Park Racetrack Oriental Park Racetrack in Marianao, Havana, Cuba, was a thoroughbred horse-racing facility operated during the winter by the Havana-American Jockey Club of Cuba. Founded in 1915, Oriental Park was the only race track in Cuba before Fidel Castr ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

where he was a leading jockey in 1926. He rode with success in Toronto then in 1940 took out his trainer's license and won his first

King's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate from 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, having been founded in 1860. It is run at a distance of for a max ...

that same year with

Willie the Kid Willie the Kid (foaled 1937 in Ontario) was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse best known for winning the eighty-first running of the King's Plate, Canada's most important race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, h ...

. McCann was hired by

E. P. Taylor Edward Plunket Taylor, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (January 29, 1901 – May 14, 1989), was a Canadians, Canadian business tycoon, investor, and philanthropist. He was a famous breeder of Thoroughbred horse racing, r ...

as head trainer at

Windfields Farm Windfields Farm was a six square kilometre (1,500 acre) Thoroughbred Stud farm, horse breeding farm that was founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Origin The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor o ...

in 1950 where he would spend the next twenty-one years. During his training career, McCann conditioned seven Canadian Hall of Fame horses and six horses that won

Canadian Horse of the Year The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honour in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Part of the Sovereign Awards program since 1975, ...

honours including Canadian Triple Crown winners

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in The Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. On the eastern side of the island is the national capital, national capital city of Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau; it had a population of 246 ...

in 1959 and

Canebora {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Canebora , image = , caption = , sire = Canadian Champ , grandsire = Windfields , dam = Menebora , damsire = Menetrier , sex = Stallion , foaled = 1960 , country = Canada , colour = Brown , breeder ...

in 1963. He also trained six winners of Canada's most prestigious race, the

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate from 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race and the oldest continuously run race in North America, having been founded in 1860. It is run at a distance of for a ma ...

and overall won seventeen races that now comprise the Canadian Classics. He also is tied for having trained the most winners with three in the

Canadian International Stakes The Canadian International Stakes is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses from three years of age and upwards on Turf. It is held annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The current purse is . History The Cana ...

. In 1971, McCann retired from training after Taylor divided the stable into Canadian and United States divisions under separate head trainers. Quickly bored, he returned to racing with a small stable of his own. McCann was inducted into the

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness racing, harness and Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine ...

in 1979. He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

at age 91.

References

Gordon J. McCann at the Canadian Horse Racing and Hall of Fame

January 20, 2000 ''Thoroughbred Times.com'' article titled ''Top trainer McCann dead''

Windfields Farm online
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Gordon J. Canadian horse trainers Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Toronto People from East York, Toronto 1908 births 2000 deaths