Standardbred › Drivers & Trainers
There was a time in the late 1980s and early 1990s that the name of William (Bud) Fritz was synonymous with harness racing in Ontario. The Fritz stable came as close to utterly dominating the province's sires stakes program as any single operation ever has.
It was 53 years ago that the Walkerton, Ontario horseman took his first ever drive coming at Elmira Raceway. Since that time he has captured driving titles at Hanover Raceway, Orangeville Raceway, Western Fair Raceway, Elmira Raceway and Owen Sound Raceway. His career statistics show that Fritz won over 1,900 races to go along with purse winnings of nearly $10 million.
Fritz has enjoyed some tremendous years as a trainer and driver but none could compare with the year 1990 when Fritz trained a great pacer and a sensational trotter. Fritz trained and drove the three-year-old pacing colt Apaches Fame to numerous victories that year. But without question one of the most memorable achievements for Fritz came when he guided the hometown favorite to a stunning victory in the $1 million North America Cup, Canada's richest harness race before a capacity crowd at Toronto's Greenwood Raceway.
Apaches Fame would go on to win many more stakes events including the Burlington, the Confederation Cup and the Provincial Cup and finished his season with $1.1 million in earnings.
That same year Fritz trained and drove A Worthy Lad to a victory in The Canadian Trotting Classic, one of 30 straight wins that the son of Worthy Bowl would enjoy before being exported to Sweden.
These two star performers earned national honors for their respective divisions and gave Fritz his third title as Canada's Horseman of the Year in 1990 to go along with that honor in 1986 and 1989. Fritz received another O'Brien in 1990 as Canada's Trainer Of The Year.
Other noteworthy performers that have emerged from the Fritz stable and contributed to his 1900 victories and nearly $10 million in purse earnings include Silver Reign, Annie Ivy, Misty Silver, Tommys Becky, Queens Arms, Silver Wraith and Halos Girl to name a few.
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