I know little of Peter,
since I got involved in the sport two years ago. But from my dad’s remembrance
blog of Peter, he said he was, “a man you could forget even if you only saw him
once. He was a tall, looming fellow and he said nothing more than ever had to
be said. He appeared stoic but was not; he internalized. Once it was his turn
to present an opinion or take a side, he was anything but passive.” You can
read his blog on Hoof Beats.
We remember Peter
has a major horseman, via the campaigns of Precious Bunny, Riyadh, Pacific
Rocket, Kadabra, Strong Yankee and Majestic Son. He won almost every race an
owner can dream of winning. His resume included the Little Brown Jug, North
America Cup, Meadowlands Pace, Canadian Trotting Classic, Breeders Crown and
many divisions of the Ontario Sires Stakes.
We remember Precious
Bunny through the rivalry he had with Artsplace and Die Laughing. The three
pacers made people come to the races to see who the best was this time.
Precious Bunny’s major wins included the North America Cup, Meadowlands Pace,
Art Rooney Pace, the Adios and the Little Brown Jug. He was voted horse of the
year in 1991. Peter bred Precious Bunny to foal another horse of the year,
Bunny Lake. Precious Bunny was voted into the Canadian Hall of Fame in 2004.
We all remember the
1993 Little Brown Jug as in my opinion; it was one of the greatest Jugs ever
run. Riyadh came into it, looking to be the eighth horse to win the Triple
Crown. After winning his elimination, the second heat would be the challenge of
his life as Life Sign won his elimination in fine style. Life Sign hung
throughout the final heat and Presidential Ball sat in the pocket. Riyadh was
pressured down the stretch and Life Sign took the lead at the wire and Jim
Morrill Jr. settled for second aboard Riyadh. The eighth Triple Crown winner
would be Western Dreamer in 1997.
1993 Little Brown Jug
1993 Little Brown Jug
Peter’s fabled
trotter Kadabra was another horse of the year for Heffering. In 2002, he was
not eligible for the Hambletonian, which was won by Chip Chip Hooray. Through
the other races, Kadabra was the one to beat. They voted him trotter of the year
in 2002. He went on to race eight times at four, winning four of them and
$249,600. He won the Titan Cup and Arthur J. Cutler Memorial. In the Cutler, he
defeated Magician, who won the race in 2000 and 2001. Kadabra would race
slightly the rest of the year and retire to Peter’s Tara Hill Stud.
We also remember the
loss of Geoffrey Stein, who collapsed due to apparent heart failure after
completing his daily morning jog. The co-owner of Preferred Equine died at 58
years old.
Geoff got involved
in the horses when he went to Roosevelt Raceway to watch Une De Mai win the
International Trot. After he graduated college, he started his career in
harness racing as a chart caller for Sports Eye (Now Harness Eye) and then
became the assistant editor. He left Sports Eye in 1981 to buy, sell and race
standardbred horses. He started a limited partnership known as Select
Standardbred Inc. He partnered with his friend David Reid in 1988 to purchase
Preferred Equine and in short time, it became the sports leading sales agency.
Geoff and David ran many of the year’s top sales corporations, including
Tattersalls and Garden State Sales.
Geoff was a part of
Moni Market Breeders, who owned the great Moni Maker. He also got involved with
Ice Wine Stable, a thoroughbred ownership group. He later managed the stallion
career of 2008 trotting superstar Crazed.
"The one thing
that I'm most proud of throughout my career is I don't think there's anybody in
the business that could say that they were ever cheated or treated
dishonestly,” Stein once said.
There are no words
that can be said for these two magnificent breeders. All we can say is, rest in
peace, you will be missed throughout the sport.
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