Harry Rutherford was 'extraordinary' standardbred breeder

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Harry Rutherford’s success in harness racing may have been one of Brant County’s best kept secrets.

Rutherford, owner and operator of Mount Pleasant’s Cool Creek Farm with his wife, Diane Ingham, passed away on June 11 in his 84th year.

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“I think the community really didn’t have an appreciation for how much of a success story Cool Creek Farm is,” said longtime harness racing journalist Harold Howe.

“Harry and his wife, Diane, who goes by the nickname of Joey, between them they were a tremendous team in building, on a per horse basis, I would argue, the best standardbred horse breeding facility in the country.

“The results that they achieved were extraordinary. They punched well above their weight.”

Like most young Canadians, Mr. Rutherford was a bit of a hockey player in his youth before starting a 31-year career with the Brantford police department.

When it came to horses, Brantford’s Max Webster, a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame member, and his son, Brian, were big influences on Mr. Rutherford.

Cool Creek Farm’s 78 acres isn’t a large corporate entity with 100 mares. Howe said the couple normally have about 10 mares and understand that breeding successful horses – determined by results on the track and their sale commercially – is as much an art as it is a science.

Mr. Rutherford and and his wife developed their own program that produced outstanding results.

“They looked like athletes,” Howe said of the couple’s horses.

“Their feeding program and exercise program, all of that, was immensely successful in producing mature young horses.

“Not everyone can do that.”

In 2007, Mr. Rutherford and his wife bought a $15,000 US share in promising two-year-old trotting colt, Deweycheatumnhowe. By the following season, the horse was the winner of more than $3 million and eventually won the 2008 Hambletonian before going to stud.

Three other notable horses produced by the farm include: Pure Ivory, winner of $1.4 million and producer of 2019 Hambletonian champion, Forbidden Trade; Elegantimage, a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame member with $953,000 in career earnings; and Casual Breeze, winner of more than $1.3-million.

Last October, Mr. Rutherford and his wife sold a yearling filly in Kentucky for $300,000 US.

Mr. Rutherford and his wife were named Canada’s Breeder of the Year in 2009.

“It’s extraordinary,” said Howe of the couple’s success.

“Lots of people can produce horses but can you produce horses that can succeed at the highest level?

“Anyone can get lucky breeding one, maybe two horses. But when you look at the lineup they came out with, that’s not luck. Their program repeated itself over and over and over again.

Howe said Mr. Rutherford will be missed by many.

“On the industry front, they won’t replace him,” said Howe.

“I will miss having the chance to (talk) with him. He had a great personality. Everybody liked him. No one ever said a bad word about him.

“He was everybody’s friend.”