Canadian owner, breeder, and industry leader Robert Anderson dead at 64

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Robert Anderson, a longtime owner and breeder and a member of the Woodbine Entertainment Group’s board of directors, is dead at age 64.

Anderson suffered a massive heart attack in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 3 and died in hospital on Sunday.

Based in his hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, Anderson was active in the breeding, selling, and racing of Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses both in North America and abroad for the past 40 years.

Anderson Farm bred more than 1,400 Thoroughbreds and raised and raced such Canadian champions as Larkwhistle, Pennyhill Park, and Prince Avatar. Standardbred champions included Cabrini Hanover, Pampered Princess, and Southwind Allaire.

A member of the WEG board since 1984, Anderson also was the chairman of the company’s Thoroughbred racing committee and chairman of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Foundation.

Anderson also had served the industry as president of the local chapter of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society and national president of the CTHS; chief steward of the Jockey Club of Canada; member of the board of the Hambletonian Society and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association; member of the Ontario Racing Commission advisory board; chairman of the Guelph Centre for Equine Research; and member of the E.P. Taylor Equine Research Fund.

Funeral arrangements are pending.