Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Odds On Racing's

Personality of the Month
for July 2011

William Rowe

William Rowe was one of Ontario's preeminent racing officials both on and off the track in the latter part of the 20th Century. He’d grown up around horses in the Barrie area, the son of Earl Rowe, a former lieutenant-governor of Ontario.

William Rowe

He later left for his hometown of Barrie where he founded Barrie Raceway. He was a director of the Canadian Trotting Association (Standardbred Canada) and a founding member of the Racetracks of Canada.

William Rowe and Horse

Rowe was a part of one of the most influential racing families, growing up the son of a Hall of Famer, the Honourable W. Earl Rowe. The senior Rowe chose breeding stock from the best that could be found, and it has been said that he advanced the development of today’s trotting horses during his years on the Roweland farm in Newton Robinson, Ont.

On the track, Rowe followed in his father's footsteps as a driver and campaigned some of the farm's top stock. The first edition of the Simcoe Stakes for three-year-old colt trotters - for a purse of $2,710 in 1962 - was captured by Rowe and Captain Riddell in a time of 2:11.3.

Together with his father, William Rowe founded two Ontario harness racing tracks, Windsor Raceway and Barrie Raceway, while William was also instrumental in the creation of Georgian Downs. The opening of the all-weather plant at Windsor, where Rowe served as both General Manager and President, in the fall of 1965 helped usher in a new era in the sport as major metropolitan centres across North America followed Windsor’s lead with year-round harness racing.

Rowe had a ‘tartan’ surface laid at the track so it could withstand the winter weather and Windsor “never lost a program because of weather” for 14 straight years.

Rowe passed away at age 88 in March of 2011.