Hall made lasting mark on racing

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Robert “Bobby” W. Hall was 85 when he died peacefully at his home at Emerald Acres in Aldergrove, British Columbia, with his daughter Sandra Loseth by his side Wednesday. Hall will forever be linked to an historic moment in horse racing in North America.

He was the owner of George Royal, who won the San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita in 1965 and 1966. John Longden, the all-time leading rider at the time, announced that his last ride would be on George Royal in the 1966 Capistrano. More than 60,000 people turned out to bid farewell to Longden, and Hall said he had never heard such a noise when George Royal came from more than 15 lengths behind to win the 1 3/4-mile race on turf by a nose.

Hall also was George Royal’s trainer when he won nine consecutive races at Hastings, then named Exhibition Park, as a 3-year-old in 1964.

Hall was born in Ireland and moved to Canada in 1954. At the time, had no idea where Canada was and had never heard of British Columbia.

“I was the youngest of four children, so I wasn’t going to get any of my parents’ property,” Hall said when he was inducted into the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2011. “A friend of mine was going to Canada, so I decided to join him.”

His first job in Canada was logging, but seeing the dangers involved, he moved to Vancouver, where he found work mucking stalls and exercising horses. He had worked with horses on the family farm in Ireland and had ridden in point-to-point races, which are about 3 1/2 miles. He eventually started training horses for Elizabeth Gormley.

“It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” said Hall.

Anyone who knows his wife, Ann, would agree. She was Gormley’s daughter and ended up marrying Hall in 1959.

“Mom said she had a good-looking Irishman working for her, so I thought I should check him out,” said Ann. “The first day I met him, my mom had a horse running, and it won.”

Hall started to make a name for himself with horses like Desert Fire, a $1,100 claim who won the 1959 Premiers. In 1961, he finished second in the Futurity with Polly Royal, who was out of Polly Bashaw, a half-sister to George Royal.

Everything changed when he bought George Royal for Vancouver furniture dealer Ernie Hammond.

“I thought a colt out of Polly Bashaw could be a good one,” Hall said. “Ernie paid $3,000 for him, but he insisted I take half. My share came out of training bills.”

George Royal became the only British Columbia-bred to win what are now considered Grade 1 races. He won the Canadian International twice, and when he retired, he was the second-leading Canadian-bred money winner behind Northern Dancer. He was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1976.

Hall gave a lot of credit to Donny Richardson for George Royal’s success. Richardson was his rider in Vancouver and became his trainer in the United States.

“Donny stepped down as his rider in California because he wasn’t getting on many horses and felt he couldn’t do George justice,” said Ann Hall. “It was one of the most unselfish things I have ever seen.”

Archie McDonald, an award-winning columnist for the Vancouver Sun, remembers the excitement George Royal caused in Vancouver.

“Back then, horse racing was big here,” said McDonald. “The entries were on the front page of the newspaper, and when George Royal started winning major races in the U.S., it was huge. Every Saturday, the feature race from Santa Anita was on TV. When he was running, people would put on big parties to watch the race.”

Hall didn’t just have success with George Royal. Timber Music, a horse he owned and trained, became the first of her sex to become the Horse of the Year in British Columbia in 1971. Another local champion he trained was Screaming Sue, the top older female in 1988. The same year, he also had the top B.C.–bred older horse, Big Brac.

Hall left a legacy of which he was very proud. Three of his six children are heavily involved in horse racing. Sandra Loseth is a trainer, breeder and owner, and Jennifer Johnson and Phil Hall are trainers. Granddaughter Christine Ammann is a trainer at Hastings, and Phil Hall’s daughter Sarah works is an exercise rider. Grandson Justin Jensen is a jockey riding at Fort Erie.

The “Guv,” as Hall was affectionately known, spent his last days at Emerald Acres in “the house that George built.”

“I saw him the night before he died,” said Phil Hall. “I showed him a video of my 2-year-old filly Cyclone Cindy winning her first start last Sunday. He had a real gleam in his eye when he said, ‘She looks like a good one, son.’ ”

Celebrations were a big part of Hall’s life, and he certainly had a lot of fun along the way. One of his disappointments, though, was not being able to persuade Bing Crosby to sing “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” in the winner’s circle after George Royal won the Canadian International the second time.

“He just returned from Ireland, and he was the decorator,” said Hall. “I couldn’t get him to do it.”

No doubt someone will lead a rousing rendition of the song when people gather at Emerald Acres this Wednesday evening for a celebration of Hall’s life.

On Saturday, Hastings was to honor Hall with a tribute before the first race.