Harry Giddings Jr. (May 18, 1884 – June 15, 1949) was a

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. The H ...

owner,

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

, and trainer of

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

s. He was born in

Trafalgar Township Trafalgar Township was a township within the historic Halton County in Ontario, Canada. It today forms parts of the towns of Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hills in the Regional Municipality of Halton. Named after Cape Trafalgar where Horatio Ne ...

Halton County, Ontario Halton County is a former county in the Canadian province of Ontario, with an area of . It is also one of the oldest counties in Canada. History Halton County is named after Major William Mathew Halton (1746-1823), a British Army officer, who w ...

now at the outskirts of the town of Oakville. Raised on a

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

, he learned about training

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

s from childhood and by 1907 was successful enough to have one of his horses compete in the

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

, Canada's most prestigious horse race first run in 1860. Between 1911 and 1942, Harry Giddings would win a record eight editions of the Queen's Plate. Sixty-six years later in 2008

Roger Attfield Roger L. Attfield (born 28 November 1939 in Newbury, Berkshire, England) is a Canadian thoroughbred horse trainer and owner and an inductee of both the Canadian and United States horseracing Halls of Fame. In his native England, Attfield ha ...

tied the record. In addition to his Queen's Plates, Giddings Jr. won ten of the two other

Canadian Classic Races The Canadian Triple Crown (branded as the OLG Canadian Triple Crown for sponsorship reasons) is a series of three Thoroughbred horse races run annually in Canada which is open to three-year-old horses foaled in Canada. Established in 1959, the ser ...

which today constitute the Canadian Triple Crown series. Harry Giddings Jr. maintained a

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation o ...

near Oakville, and owned four of his eight Queen's Plate winners. He trained horses for other owners and was active in the business until his death in 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giddings Jr., Harry 1884 births 1949 deaths Animal sportspeople from Ontario Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees Canadian horse trainers Canadian racehorse owners and breeders Owners of King's Plate winners