96-Year-Old Legendary Canadian Horse Trainer Becomes the Second Oldest in North America to Saddle a Race Winner

When Robert ‘Red’ McKenzie was born on January 1, 1927, he probably never thought he would be training horses till the end of time. However, this Friday, the legendary horse trainer added another feat to his long list of equestrian achievements during his lifetime. On Friday, McKenzie, at the age of 96, saddled a horse that went on to win a race at Century Mile in Edmonton.

Red McKenzie started out as a horse rider himself when he was just 13 years old. In an equestrian career spanning over 80 years, McKenzie won more than 1,600 races as a horse trainer and around 300 races as a jockey. The Canadian is currently the oldest trainer in Alberta and might have created some kind of a new record when he won another race at the age of 96.

The horse trainer who created equestrian history

The veteran trainer saddled a 10-year-old mare he owns, Entitled Star, to a 25-1 upset victory in a $4,000 claimer in the second race at Century Mile in Edmonton at the age of 96. According to Canadian Thoroughbred, while this might be a record in Canada, a fact that yet remains unconfirmed, in North America, he probably became the second oldest horse trainer to saddle a race winner. According to anecdotes passed around in the equestrian community, the credit of the oldest trainer to win a Thoroughbred race is currently given to Jerry Bozzo.

This veteran horse trainer saddled a winner on October 11, 2018, at Gulfstream Park West, just two weeks before his 98th birthday. Sadly, Bozzo passed away a month after he won that race. If this is true, then for all intents and purposes, Red McKenzie is the second oldest to saddle a Thoroughbred winner in North America, an amazing feat in itself. Before McKenzie, the record for the second was held by Noble Threewitt, who visited the Santa Anita winner’s circle when he was 95 years old. Threewitt also left this world at the age of 99, in the year 2010.

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For Robert, this victory was his first of the season. According to the Equibase data, McKenzie has won 623 races in his lifetime, however, the data only goes back to the 1970s. Around that time, the iconic trainer had already spent more than four decades in the horse-racing industry. Reports credit at least 1000 more victories to him. For someone who had 87 victories under his belt when he was just 17 years old, these statistics almost become an expectation. But such is the personality of this living legend, he has been a winner since he was born.

A legacy that speaks for itself

After 300 wins as a jockey, Red decided to leave competitive riding and instead enter a different role, as a trainer. Every trainee horse that McKenzie took under his wing, he shoed himself, and his winning touch made him the prodigal horse trainer that he is today. The best horse that McKenzie trained was arguably Grandin Park. The horse was an Alberta-based Thoroughbred who campaigned from 1972 through 1980, amassing a 29-17-14 record from 116 starts.

Around 15 years ago, when he was 81 himself, Red McKenzie showered some wisdom during an interview with Horse Racing Alberta. He said, “Age is just a number. If you’ve got nothin’ to do, you’ll get old awful fast. Horses can keep you young, I think.” This advice seems to have worked beautifully for him, as he is 96 now and shows no signs of stopping.

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