If you enjoy hauling yourself out of bed before the birds wake up on an occasional horse show morning, imagine doing it Every. Single. Day.
Just ask Elizabeth Elder of Aurora, Ontario, who has been putting in the early hours and hard work at the racetrack since 1994. “I’m up at four every day, I don’t even need an alarm,” she notes, laughing.
But racing was not her first love. Liz was a familiar face on the hunter/jumper/equitation scene for decades. “Basically, I think I rode before I could walk,” she says. “I travelled all over North America, I had a lot of really nice horses and met some great people.” Those travels included the vibrant Ontario circuit, Upperville, VA, Lake Placid, NY, and the prestigious Harrisburg and Washington indoor fall shows. “I went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for Young Riders. I went to Spruce Meadows with a Dutch Warmblood called Mr. Sandman. Then of course we had that Quebec circuit back in the day with Ste. Adele and Bromont ‒ those were fantastic shows.”
Unlike today, many of the top hunters and jumpers at that time were not European warmbloods. “Most of my best horses were thoroughbreds. My dad too; he still raves about them,” she says of her Olympic gold medal-winning father Jim Elder, who rode dozens of thoroughbreds in his competitive years in both international eventing and show jumping.
“My top hunter was called Sweet Dreams, a grey thoroughbred mare. We won everything; in one year I think I won six equitation medals on her. She just cleaned up,” Liz recalls. “My favourite jumper was a thoroughbred called Sportable. Rodney Jenkins rode the horse in the shows in Virginia before I got him, and then he ended up being sold up here, but he was really difficult. The young girl [riding him] couldn’t get along with him; he was stopping and what have you. So I got him and he won everything for me. He would never have a rail, he was amazing.”
Despite successes in the ring, Liz did not feel challenged enough and was looking clear-eyed ahead to the future. “Honestly, there was no way I was going to get sponsorship for an Olympic horse. And while I like teaching the young kids, I couldn’t see myself doing that for the next thirty years.”
Several of her friends and fellow riders had already transitioned to the racing industry, so the move seemed like an organic next step. “When I went first to the track, there were all these people that I knew from the horse show world like Malcolm Pierce and Gail Casselman. It’s a different kind of industry but if you’re a horseman, you’re a horseman through and through. For instance, [top US TB trainer] Bob Baffert trained Quarter Horses, and D. Wayne Lucas came from that world, too.”
Her first job was with Jimmy Day, her father’s Canadian Equestrian Team compadre. “He was my go-to person for obvious reasons. He was the private trainer for Sam-Son, so that was like a dream come true. Malcolm Pierce was the assistant trainer and he worked for my dad. And I was best friends with Catherine Day [Phillips, Jim’s daughter, also a top Canadian trainer].”
Running in that circle, it’s inevitable that you’re gonna end up at the track.
“It’s always been a family thing, from the jumpers to the racehorses. I just got lucky, too,” Liz adds. “If you’re going to start something new, you have to start with the top people in the business. That’s the only way you’re going to learn. So I worked for Jimmy and then I worked for Roger Attfield.”
Her first race as a trainer was in 2003 with a horse named Orf. “I bought him from the yearling sale. Then I trained my mom’s horse, Here Comes The Sun. He was her total baby; she didn’t even really want him at the track because he couldn’t get turned out. The first day he ran, I swear my mom brought 50 people. That was a fun day.”
In the winner’s circle at Woodbine with recent victor Flawless Pink. Note the masks and absence of spectators in the stands; strict COVID-19 protocols that have allowed racing to take place this year.
Since those early days and as of this writing Liz has had a total of 408 starts, with 54 firsts (including two stakes races), 51 seconds and 41 thirds placings. Although she has many favourites, several horses stand out. “I won the Algoma Stakes in 2010 with Secret Wish [Street Cry (IRE) – Awesome Lass, by Awesome Again] and the Toronto Cup in 2014 with a horse called Lafontaine [Artie Schiller – Deli Cat, by Bold Ruckus]. They’re both owned by my cousin Robert Cudney of Cudney Stables. General Brock was one of my favourite horses, and also a horse called Jack Pine. It really is a family affair; I feel very lucky and blessed.”
Liz currently has eight horses in training ‒ four for Cudney Stables and four for Vera Simpson at her Curraghmore Farms. While currently ‘farmless’ herself, Elder lives a slightly nomadic life between Ontario and Florida. “I went to Ocala this winter to Classic Mile Training Center. It’s a great atmosphere, so quiet and lots of paddocks and 200 acres of hacking. The horses love it there, it’s very relaxing for them.”
Her 21-year-old daughter Sophie, who is currently doing her final year at Ryerson University, is “absolutely not” into horses to the same extent as her mom. “When she was little she rode at my dad’s farm. Her little pony’s name was Spanky, after The Little Rascals. She’s an animal lover ‒ she’s crazy about the horses ‒ but not as a career. Which is fine with me,” Liz admits.
Liz is not alone as a former top jumper competitor who has gravitated to the racetrack. Michael Matz, an Olympic team medallist and World Cup Final winner (1981 with the great Jet Run) went on to have a stellar career as a trainer, winning the 2006 Kentucky Derby with Barbaro and the 2012 Belmont Stakes with Union Rags. Rodney Jenkins, individual and team silver medalist at the 1987 Pan Am Games, has been training for decades out of Laurel Park, MD, and has over 800 wins including the Maryland Million Turf ‒ twice.
Liz’s advice for somebody thinking of getting into this challenging industry?
“Well, number one, you have to have the passion and the love of the horse. Believe me, if you want to work seven days a week, you’d better love what you’re doing! And have really good people around you ‒ people who share your passion. It’s not really about the dollars.”
She underlines her commitment to that last statement by giving back through her work with the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Headquartered in Lexington, KY, the organization help funds a number of affiliates including LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society in Ontario which ensure the horses have loving homes and careers after racing.
Liz has personally seen her own trainees go on to second careers. “All my horses ended up at my dad’s farm and they all went on to do super in the hunter ring or three-day eventing. One of my little fillies was champion in Ocala for the whole Children’s Hunter circuit. My other horse, Jack Pine, is competing now in three-day eventing.”
There is no question that thoroughbreds are versatile and the added bonus of coming off the track is that they have been well-handled, well looked after, and have good manners. “You can do anything with them,” agrees Liz. “You can tie them, bathe them, clip them. They can do any discipline, even dressage and polo. They’re just amazing. I don’t know why people always think ‘oh, this horse is from the track, it must be crazy.’ If I got treated every day like my thoroughbreds … I would like to come back as one. They get the best treatment.”
