Standardbred › Drivers & Trainers

Keith Waples, born in Victoria Harbour, Ontario in 1923 drove in his first race at Canadian fairs as a 12-year-old. He's been at it ever since, and with remarkable success. Grey Ghost, at Sundredge, provided his first win, and his wins total exceeds 3,000 although the exact number will forever remain buried in the columns of countless papers in those areas where he drove during his early career.

Canadian fans at Blue Bonnets, Greenwood, Garden City, Mohawk, Dufferin, Richelieu, Thorncliffe and Woodbine have seen him capture leading driver honours on many occasions. Fair racing fans boast of watching him sweep entire cards on occasion.

Highlights of his career include winning the Roosevelt International Trot in 1962 with Tie Silk, the American-National at Sportsman's Park with Choir Boy, and setting the Richelieu Park pacing record of 1:59.3 with Mighty Dudley in 1959, for his first two-minute trip, the first 2:00 mile ever in Canada. Blaze Pick, Zip Tar, Rob Ron Robbie and Rob Ron Tarios have been standouts for Waples. In 1972 he captured the Little Brown Jug, Adios Pace and Prix d'Ete with Strike Out. In 1973 he won several major three-year-old pacing stakes with temperamental Rob Ron Ritzar. In 1974 Rob Ron Ritzar continued winning Ontario Stakes for Keith, and so did Kawartha Ilene and Albert's Star.

Despite training a large stable and competing on both sides of the border in many seasons, Keith found time to star with several amateur hockey clubs for ten years.

His purse earnings have topped $5 million, and if he is easing up on the driving at all, it is only because he is taking an active interest in the front-office operations of two of Canada's most successful tracks, Orangeville (Ontario) and Cloverdale (B.C.). He, along with Jim Keeling, was instrumental in taking major league harness racing to the west coast, where it is enjoying unprecedented success.

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