Cavalaris top trainer six times
Lou Cavalaris Jr., Canada’s leading thoroughbred trainer in the 1960s and ’70’s, passed away Thursday at age 89 of an apparent heart attack.
Cavalaris was best known for guiding Dancer’s Image to the 1968 Kentucky Derby. The win made Cavalaris one of only three Canadians to have a claim in a Kentucky Derby winner, but the horse was stripped of that title two days later after testing positive for phenylbutazone. The testing resulted in a ban for Cavalaris, but he led all Canadian trainers in wins six times, and his 175 winners in 1966 made him the leading trainer in North America.
A native of Hamilton, Ohio, Cavalaris served in the Second World War and began working with horses in Detroit in 1946 under the tutelage of his father. Horse racing took Cavalaris to tracks in Ontario, and he became a legendary trainer by the 1960s, managing horses for Allen Case, George Gardiner, and other prominent owners.
After becoming a Canadian citizen in 1960, he would become Canada’s leading trainer six times. He won the Sovereign Award as Canada’s outstanding trainer in 1976.
Cavalaris also served as secretary for the OJC. His storied career also included stints on the Breeders’ Cup Selection Committee, the Ontario Racing Commission’s Board of Appeals, and the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award committee. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Cavalaris is survived by his wife, Helen, and sons Michael and Louis.
The funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church in Etobicoke.