Canadian Hall of Fame owner Gustav Schickedanz dies
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Canadian Hall of Fame owner Gustav Schickedanz died Monday at home near Schomberg, Ontario, at 90.
Schickedanz campaigned a host of Canadian champions under trainer Mike Keogh, most notably Wando, who was the last Canadian Triple Crown winner and Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2003.
Schickedanz won back-to-back Sovereign Awards for Canadian champion sprinter, with Langfuhr in 1996 and Glanmire in 1997. Langfuhr captured the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Grade 1 Carter in 1997 before beginning a long and fruitful stallion career at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky.
Langfuhr sired Wando and Mobil, who was the Canadian champion older male in 2004. Schickedanz owned Mobil and Kathie’s Colleen, who was Canada’s outstanding broodmare in 2008.
Schickedanz also won the prestigious Queen’s Plate with Woodcarver in 1997. He also bred the Grade 1 winners Jambalaya and Gal in a Ruckus, along with 2006 Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Kimchi.
Schickedanz was bestowed the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit at this year’s Sovereign Awards ceremony. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame as a builder in 2009.
Schickedanz immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1950 at age 21. He became a bricklayer and stone mason before launching a real estate development company with his family, Schickedanz Bros. Limited.
Schickedanz entered Thoroughbred racing in the 1970s as a buyer of yearlings. His first stakes winner was Victorious Answer in 1979, who became his foundation broodmare.
Schickedanz was also dabbled in breeding Standardbreds. In partnership with Charles Armstrong, he bred Goodtimes, once the richest Canadian-bred trotter and member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Schickedanz spent his winters in Aiken, S.C., where his horses trained in preparation for the Ontario racing season.
Visitation will be at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Egan Funeral Home, 203 Queen St. (Hwy 50) in Bolton, Ontario, which will be followed by a 1:30 p.m. service. A private family burial will take place in Unionville, Ontario.