Celebrating the legacy of lifelong horseman Dave Ratchford.

by Melissa Keith

Century Farroh (p, 4, 1:49s; $1,350,398) gained fame as the $17,000 London Selected Sale yearling who went on to become a three-time O’Brien Award winner, as 3-Year-Old Male Pacer of the Year in 2019, plus Older Male Pacer of the Year and Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year in 2020. With that fame, the Mach Three—Beachy Girl stallion brought the spotlight to his owner Dave Ratchford, a lifelong horseman from North Sydney, NS.

Ratchford died on June 11. He had campaigned horses from Cape Breton to Pompano and destinations in between over a seven-decade career that officially began when he was just 16. His obituary credited him with developing, owning, and racing over 375 horses.

Rachael MacDonald is an owner/trainer/caretaker who is based at Truro Raceway in Bible Hill, NS. She shared a connection with the late trainer/driver, whose legacy now carries on through the next generations of Ratchfords.

“[Truro Raceway trainer] Danny Romo and I have horses for the Ratchfords,” said MacDonald. “Dave usually had a yearling or two on the go. Dave’s daughter, Karen Cox, was texting me and said they were looking for a horse she and her daughter Shann could learn to race with, under Dave’s tutelage.”

Susan Romo, wife of Danny Romo, is a daughter of the late Doug Ratchford, another longtime horseman who last raced at Truro Raceway before his death in 1994.

MacDonald owns Alberta-bred pacer Daddys Eyes (p, 6, 1:53.3e; $86,125), whom she had raced at Truro Raceway, and Red Shores Charlottetown in recent years.

“He was okay, but it’s tough, as you know,” she told HRU. “He’s a 9-year-old free-legged stallion. Nice old horse.”

Karen’s efforts to locate a hobby horse for her father, Dave, to teach her daughter, Shann, about the sport led her to MacDonald’s stallion.

“Dave had been sick for a few years, so I think the idea was that it would get him back in the barn,” said MacDonald. “I tried to find them a horse without much luck, and then it occurred to me that my horse [Daddys Eyes] would probably get along better in Cape Breton, so I simply sent him down to them and the deal was that they would just send him back when they were done.”

The importance of passing down Dave’s expertise was not lost on MacDonald.

“Dave Ratchford of course has had tremendous success racing, including Century Farroh who made $1.5 million for Dave and is now standing at Seelster Farms, and a bunch of others,” she said.

“So Daddys Eyes, or ‘Riggs’ as he is called, went down to North Sydney, and Dave’s granddaughter started jogging and training him. Dave would give her instructions, and then stand on the fence watching her.”

On May 4, 2024, Daddys Eyes debuted at Northside Downs in North Sydney, NS for trainer Dave and driver Ryan Campbell, finishing second by a nose in his qualifier.

“And opening day at Northside [May 11], he went out and won his first start,” said MacDonald. “In the first six starts with him, I think they won three, and they were delighted. It was awesome.”

Dave shared training duties with Shann as she learned from him, but the 80-year-old horseman’s health was in steady decline.

“On June 8th, Riggs won, and Dave was out in the winner’s circle with him,” said MacDonald. “But the next day Dave’s health took a turn. That Tuesday, draw day, he was in the hospital in Sydney, and they told him they were going to leave Riggs out of the draw because [Dave] was sick. I guess he told them they certainly would not be doing that, so they left [Daddys Eyes] in to go. Dave passed away that [June 11] night.”

The date of his passing overlaps with a memorable milestone in his lengthy Northside Downs/Cape Breton Sports Hall of Fame career. Dave trained and drove standardbreds well before the dates that the digital record-keeping currently displays, which only begin with statistics from 1992.

On Saturday (June 9, 2018), Dave drove a 2-year-old colt he owned and trained to an inconspicuous 2:04.3 qualifying win at Northside Downs. On June 16, 2018, he drove the same colt to victory in a 2:01.4 qualifier at the same North Sydney, NS half-mile where he built his own career.

On June 30, 2018, Dave’s friend Dr. Ian Moore first qualified the colt at Woodbine Mohawk Park, with driver Trevor Henry taking the lines for the Ontario-based trainer. Century Farroh won the baby race in 1:58, launching a racing career that would carry him through five Ontario Sires Stakes Gold leg victories at age 3, four of them at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Century Farroh also prevailed in his Somebeachsomewhere Stake division, the 2019 North America Cup consolation, his Simcoe Stake division, all at Mohawk, and the Jenna’s Beach Boy, at Hoosier Park. He was supplemented to the Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt Pace at Mohawk, but ended up sixth behind winner Dancin Lou in their Oct. 19, 2019 elimination.

At age 4, Century Farroh captured the Dan Patch Invitational as well as his 2020 Breeders Crown divisional final at Hoosier Park. The stallion concluded his racing days at Mohawk in October 2021. His last win was in the July 24, 2021 Woodbine Mohawk Park preferred handicap for driver Sylvain Fillion, who had been in the sulky for his biggest wins at age 3.

Being remembered for developing Century Farroh is only part of Dave’s legacy.

After his physical departure from the racing scene on June 11, his presence continued, and strengthened.

“That Saturday [June 15, 2024], the whole family — they are a huge family — went to Dave’s funeral in the morning, and then to the track in the afternoon to race Riggs, and he finished second,” said MacDonald. “Since then, the girls [Dave’s daughter Karen and granddaughter Shann] have been racing Riggs without Dave.”

Daddys Eyes has lived up to his name, carrying on as if Dave was still watching and advising from trackside at Northside Downs. MacDonald said the recent success of Daddys Eyes has brought about a local racing revival.

“It has been four starts, and I think [Daddys Eyes] was second once and won the other three, the last two being the top class, and the last one [July 13] he won a memorial race and got a cooler,” said MacDonald. “His win photos have more people in them then there are in the grandstand. He is the only horse in [Karen and Shann’s] barn. When they race him, there are 50 people in the barn, and 20 of them are fussing over Riggs.”

Rather than being somber about events, the wins by Dave’s last trainee have turned into celebrations, added the Trenton, NS horsewoman.

“[Daddys Eyes] is the most loved and well looked-after horse on the planet,” she told HRU. “It’s a big party every week, with food and drinks and the whole family there, including many friends and neighbors of Dave’s who spent years and years sitting in the barn door drinking coffee and watching colts train.”

MacDonald herself is now assisting where Dave left off.

“Because none of them have a trainer’s license yet, I am training [Daddys Eyes] again until Karen and Shann can write their tests, but they will take over from there and the Ratchford legacy will live on,” she said. 

The generational story that elevated Dave and his colt to the pinnacles of success at Woodbine Mohawk Park and the Breeders Crown is building again, on the same sacred ground where Century Farroh took his early lessons.

“The whole family are very emotional about Riggs; I think he is really pulling them through this difficult time,” said MacDonald. “There seems to be something a little extra special about the horse, and the whole situation. I keep telling them that Dave must have spoken to Riggs before he passed away, and asked him to look after everyone. And we jokingly call him ‘Riggs Ratchford.’ At one point Karen said to me, through tears, that even his name, Daddys Eyes, has meaning.”

Century Farroh’s first crop of 15 foals was born last year. It would not be surprising to see one, or more, competing at Northside Downs or Woodbine Mohawk Park in the future for Dave’s daughter and granddaughter, who learned with the guidance of Daddys Eyes.