Some horse, some legacy
Somebeachsomewhere is a unique and deserving hall of fame selection
The skepticism, at times, was audible.
Somebeachsomewhere, the legendary harness racing horse from Truro, was recently inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.
And the occasion wasn’t marked without some raised eyebrows.
As owner and trainer Brent Macgrath and hall CEO and induction ceremony master of ceremonies Bruce Rainnie exchanged the customary banter, I could sense the doubt – not so much in words, but in sounds. Like when Rainnie questioned Brent about whether “Beach” could comprehend he hadn’t won for the first time – and what turned out to be only time – one July 2008 night in New Jersey.
“The next morning, he was a little pouty, like athletes can be,” Brent said.
The word “athletes” generated a few murmurs from the large crowd gathered at the Halifax Convention Centre.
“The next morning, I called the guy who was feeding him because I wanted to know if he was looking for his breakfast or not… his first words were ‘I didn’t know if he was going to eat the feed or me’ … So that was a good sign,” Brent said.
“He wanted to get back at it, straighten things out, make the record right and it wasn’t really very close after that,” he added, alluding to Beach’s 10 wins that concluded his three-year-old season and racing career.
At this point, I should acknowledge a personal bias, having a family connection to the great horse. Brent is my brother-inlaw and my sister, Rhonda, also played a large role in the Beach’s career and life.
I’ve had the conversations with Brent, on more than one occasion. About how the best horses separate themselves from the pack much like human athletes do; more drive, desire, confidence and that unquenchable thirst for all that goes with winning. The attention, the accolades… a sense of pride.
I witnessed that pride during the one Beach race I was able to come east for, from my home at the time, in Salmon Arm, B.C. At a packed 2008 North America Cup, hosted by Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville, Ont., Beach dominated the field. He won going away and as he paraded back in front of the grandstand, with the capacity crowd wildly cheering him and driver Paul Macdonell, there was an undeniable sense of accomplishment in Beach’s movements.
Whether Brent convinced those in the convention centre crowd of the horse’s self-awareness as an athlete, who knows? Even if he did, there still might be some wondering about a horse joining a hall which, up to this point, had been an honour exclusively reserved for humans.
Rainnie called the induction “historic” and noted Beach joins race horse Northern Dancer and show-jumping champ Big Ben on the short list of equine members in Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.
“Our job as a hall of fame is to tell the story of sport in Nova Scotia,” reads a passage in the ceremony program, quoting Rainnie.
“And any great story is driven by great characters. Somebeachsomewhere is one of those characters. He is an essential part of the sport narrative in the province.”
Brent maintains he is one of the great equine athletes, is not the greatest.
“And if there was going to be a horse admitted, it should have been him,” he said, acknowledging there was probably push-back with Beach’s selection to the hall.
“I get that,” he said. “But there is no question who the athlete was on those Saturday nights he raced.”
No question indeed.