SUDBURY—Mike Noble, originally from Gore Bay, who went on to become the undisputed king of harness racing drivers at Sudbury Downs race track, has been selected as one of 10 individuals and one team who are going to be inducted into the Greater Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame.
“It is quite an honour,” stated Mr. Noble of the upcoming hall of fame induction. “I’ll be the first harness racer who raced in Northern Ontario to be inducted. Mike Saftic was the first, but he raced mostly in southern Ontario. It is quite an honour.”
Mr. Noble raced and won on the first day the Sudbury Downs race track opened on June 3, 1974. “And I’m 99 percent sure I won the last race held at Sudbury Downs in 2013.”
“Mike was the first rider to win 1,000 races at Sudbury Downs, and won more than any other rider in history here,” said Randy Pascal, one of the committee members for the GSSHF. “It is a testament to his longevity that he won a race here on the first day the track (Sudbury Downs) opened in June 1974, and in the last race here on Thanksgiving Chris Sheridan, also on the committee, told the Recorder, “nominations from members of the public were open for those to be considered for the hall of fame until the end of December (2017). Then the process of selecting the finalists takes place.” He pointed out Mr. Noble had received nominations from a couple of people from Woodbine Racetrack, including Mike Saftic.
“I raced over 40 years,” said Mr. Noble. “I drove in my first race when I was 18 and my last when I was 59 in 2013. My first drive was on the old track in Chelmsford. And I started on the Island, in Gore Bay, when I was 16,” he told the Recorder, noting the race track was located where the Gore Bay Curling Club is located now.
“I went to work with Harold McKinley at Greenwood racetrack at the age of 17 in 1972,” said Mr. Noble. “Then I came home and worked with Bev Shouldice, then worked for Platt Purvis.”
Over his over 40-year career of racing and training horses, “I won over 1,800 races and change and close to $4 million in prize purse money,” said Mr. Noble noting, however, as the driver he only kept five percent of the winning purse.
“I grew up with horses around,” said Mr. Noble. “We were at the general store when my brother Pat and I would give pony rides, we were even on the Razzle Dazzle CBC show for this; we were two independent businessmen at the age of 7-8,” he quipped.
“My dad liked horses and always had a couple around and I got hooked,” said Mr. Noble. When he won his 1,500th race at Sudbury Downs it was on North Bay Lady.
More than 100 names, including teams and corporate sponsors, were reviewed by the selection committee. Mr. Noble will be inducted into the players category of the hall of fame at the 50th annual Sports Celebrity Dinner at the Caruso Club in Sudbury on June 13.
Mr. Sheridan said another reason Mr. Noble was chosen for the hall along with his racing and training success is that, “he is quite a character. We are looking forward to his induction into the hall of fame.”
“I guess you can say an Island boy does well,” added Mr. Noble.
