Ray Remmen

Athlete (1993)

Horse Racing

Ray Remmen was born in Saskatoon on May 28, 1947, was raised in Hanley, returned to make his home in Saskatoon and then embarked on the American standard bred racing circuit.

By the time he was eight years old, he was jogging and training horses with his grandfather, Art Hunter of Hanley. He drove his first race at the age of 16 at Ladner, B.C. By the late 1960s, he was training and driving at Marquis Downs in Saskatoon and on the Alberta circuit. His brothers, Larry and Gord, were also in the family business.

Ray won the Western Canada pacing derby three times and at Edmonton in 1975 with a horse, Stormin' Stephen, posted the first-ever sub two-minute mile in Western Canada. He later shipped to Windsor, Ont. and then to The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

Ray won the Hambletonian with Shiaway Pat in 1981; the Woodrow Wilson Stakes with Grade One in 1985; and had a remarkable 1990 with a horse called Beach Towel.

Ray and Beach Towel won the 45th annual Little Brown Jug. They also won the Breeders' Cup in Pompano Beach, Fla.; the Molson feature at Montreal Blue Bonnets; and the American-National Stakes with the fastest mile ever recorded on a Chicago track.

He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1991.

In his career, he has driven more than 2,600 winners and his purse earnings have gone beyond the $30-million mark.

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" I’ve been travelling with (my grandfather) Art ever since I was four years old. I had it in my blood when I was young and there is no way you can get it out of your system. " -- Ray Remmen, harness racing driver