As It Happens

Ontario trainer 'devastated' after his racehorses die in fire

Ben Wallace lost 17 horses in the barn fire at Classy Lanes Stables Training Centre in Puslinch, Ontario.
Trainer Ben Wallace with Penji Hanover, a horse which died in the fire. (Ben Wallace)

Trainer Ben Wallace got the call late Monday that a fire had broken out at a barn housing 17 of his prized racehorses.

He tells As It Happens guest host Helen Mann, "The barn was just totally engulfed. There were flames coming out of every window. You couldn't get in at all."

The fire completely destroyed the barn at the renowned racehorse training centre Classy Lanes Stables, in Puslinch, Ont. When the flames were out, the remains of more than 40 racehorses were found inside.

More than 40 race horses perished in the blaze. Many raced at Woodbine, Mohawk and other tracks in southern Ontario. (David Ritchie/CBC)

An emotional Wallace had raised some of those horses from birth. "You can't get any closer," he says. "It's a seven-day a week job."

One of the horses that died was a promising multiple race winner named Apprentice Hanover. "He's won his last three starts at Woodbine," Wallace says. 

"In his last start he won over a million dollars in earnings. He was just coming into his own." 

The roof of a horse barn at Classy Lane Stables Training Centre collapsed in a fire that killed over 40 racehorses. (Natalie Kalata/CBC)

Wallace says his loss has not fully sunk in, and he hasn't had much time to think about the future.

"I will always train horses," he says. "I've just got a big financial nut to crack, and that's going to be the hard part right now."  

Wallace says the fire will mean a loss of jobs for some "great people who have worked for me for a long time. But, I won't have work for them."