Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

1,200 Honor Fallen Horse
This story originally appeared in the Toronto Sun on March 6, 2006
About 1,200 people, including police and civic dignitaries, attended a memorial today at Ricoh Coliseum to pay their respects to Brigadier, the Belgian cross police horse that was killed in the line of duty Feb. 24. The hour-long ceremony was a solemn and dignified event, attended by police horses, members of the canine unit and guests including Mayor David Miller and police chief William Blair.

While the memorial was for Brigadier, the event was balanced by outpourings of support for rider Const. Kevin Bradfield, who was almost killed in a hit and run. Police were forced to put down Brigadier after the driver of a van struck the horse deliberately before fleeing the scene. A 42-year-old suspect, Dirk Sankersingh, is charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

Bradfield, who is still nursing rib and neck injuries, spoke emotionally about the bond he had with Brigadier, his voice cracking with emotion. He talked of the horse as his "partner" and recalled fondly how "he watched every move I made in the barn." Brigadier paid "the ultimate sacrifice" and was a "true hero," Bradfield said. His tribute earned him a standing ovation.

While Brigadier didn't have the bloodlines of an Arabian horse, and never raced at Woodbine, the horse was "a valuable, well-trained partner in preserving peace," Rev. Walter Kelly told the mourners. "You lost a great member of your team and you will go through the normal process of grieving." However, he spoke optimistically of the future as he looked at Bradfield and said: "Kevin, we love you and you will ride again."

Some people might have questioned so much attention being focused on the death of a horse, and it was noted in the ceremony that this memorial came just a year after four RCMP officers were slain in Alberta. However, the members of the mounted unit are "majestic" animals, Blair said, and they play a valuable role in helping to preseve to peace.

The loss of a police horse touched young and old alike. Before the ceremony, a 4-year-old girl walked up to a rider outside the Coliseum and presented the officer with a card while her mom looked on. The card said, in part: "Sorry that you're dead. We're going to miss you." The girl's mother, Jay MacGillivray, said her daughter, Isobel, was so touched by the death of Brigadier that she slept on the card overnight and had a penny taped to it. "She was very upset," said MacGillivray, who was a rider before she fell ill with multiple sclerosis. Another animal lover, Pat Mazurick, 54, carried a toy stuffed horse into the coliseum with a card that honoured Brigadier as "a top cop . . . You're now grazing in greener pastures."