Louis C. "Lou" Cavalaris Jr. (January 30, 1924 - May 2, 2013) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born 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 ...

racehorses who was inducted into the

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 ...

and who for ten years was a highly respected racing secretary for the

Ontario Jockey Club Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two horse racing tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates ...

Background

Born in

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at th ...

, Cavalaris served in the

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World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Thereafter he became a

short-order cook Short order cooking, in the restaurant business, is the preparation of foods that are quick to cook. Many small restaurants serve only short-order items, which include fried, broiled, griddled foods, as well as assembled foods like sandwiches. Sh ...

. Following that he worked in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

on the

backstretch Backstretch refers to either: (1) the portion of an oval racetrack on the far side of the grandstand, parallel to the homestretch, or, (2) particularly in North America, the area near the racetrack where horses are stabled and the daily work of main ...

. In 1960 he became a

Canadian citizen Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in Ca ...

. He was married to Helen and they had two

sons A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current co ...

together, Michael and Louis. At the time of his passing he was living in

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

and had a granddaughter Julia.

Career highlights

In 1946, Cavalaris took out his trainer's license, working with his father, who had a couple of horses in Detroit. In the mid-1960s, he ran Canada's most powerful public stable. He led Canadian trainers in wins in 1966 (although that was a tie), 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973 (also a tie), and 1976. In 1966, Cavalaris led North American trainers with 175 winners. Some of Cavalaris' most noteworthy clients were

Allen Case Allen Case (born Alan Case Lavelle Jones, October 8, 1934 – August 25, 1986) was an American television actor most noted for the lead role of Deputy Clay McCord in NBC-TV's ''The Deputy'' (1959–1961) opposite series regular Henry Fonda, who ...

Peter D. Fuller Peter Davenport Fuller (March 22, 1923 – May 14, 2012) was an American auto dealer, racehorse owner, and boxer who owned Dancer's Image, the first winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby to be disqualified, and Mom's Command, 1985's America ...

George R. Gardiner George Ryerson Gardiner, (April 25, 1917 – December 7, 1997) was a Toronto businessman, philanthropist and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum, the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to ceramic art. Early years Gardiner was born in Tor ...

, Margaret Seitz, and Joan Reid. Among the most famous horses he trained were

Cool Reception Cool Reception (1964–1967) is a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. During his two-year-old racing season, trainer Carl Chapman retired and the colt's conditioning was taken over by Lou Cavalaris, Jr. Racing career In 1966, Cool Re ...

, Henry Tudor,

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, and Victorian Era. He was also the trainer of

Dancer's Image Dancer's Image (April 10, 1965 – December 26, 1992) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby to be disqualified. Background Dancer's Image was a gray horse owned and bred by busines ...

, who won the

1968 Kentucky Derby The 1968 Kentucky Derby was the 94th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 4, 1968. The race was the first Kentucky Derby in which the winning horse was subsequently disqualified. Dancer's Image won the race, but was disqual ...

on the track but was disqualified two days later due to testing positive for traces of the pain-killer

phenylbutazone Phenylbutazone, often referred to as "bute", is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for the short-term treatment of pain and fever in animals. In the United States and United Kingdom, it is no longer approved for human use (except in th ...

, a substance later made legal by the Kentucky Racing Commission. In 1969, Cavalaris became Gardiner's exclusive trainer. In 1976, he directed Gardiner to record earnings of $639,816 (over $100,000 more than the previous record in Canada that Cavalaris also set). This was one of eight money-winning titles in the space of 11 years. Other famous winners he trained were Arctic Blizzard, Carney's Point, Chatty Cavalier, Double Quill, Haymaker's Jig, James Bay, Mary of Scotland, Monte Christo II, Orbiter, Plegada, Prompt Hero, The Knack II, Two Violins, Vindent de Paul, and Yukon Eric. His last winner, in June 1996, was Major Pots, owned by Gardiner.

Other related activities

Cavalaris had a place on the Breeders' Cup Selection Committee, the Ontario Racing Commission's Board of Appeals, and the

Avelino Gomez Memorial Award The Avelino Gomez Memorial Award is a Canadian thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually to a jockey who is Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or a regular in the country for more than five years, who has made significant contributions to the spo ...

committee.

Retirement

Cavalaris turned in his trainer's license in 1978. At that point he became the

racing secretary In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves :wikt:traverse, traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach ...

for a decade. Following that he went back to training. And in 1996 he retired once more.

Awards and recognition

In 1976, Cavalaris won the

Sovereign Award {{refimprove, date=October 2021 The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing. The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Y ...

as outstanding trainer. In 2006, he was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame and in 1995 the

. In 1996, he was hailed as North America's leading trainer.

Background

Career highlights

Other related activities

Retirement

Awards and recognition

References

Further reading