The legacy of “Loosh”

I lost a great harness racing friend a few days ago.

Lucien Fontaine passed away and, while I don’t shed tears very often, I shed tears over the passing of “Loosh.”

I met him 43 years ago—1979—and found him to be one of the most genuine, caring people I have ever met in my lifetime.

He was an outstanding horseman and, as I said in line one, a great friend and, as longtime owner Charlie Dombeck said, “an even greater man.“

While he made his mark on the racetracks of North America for about a quarter century from the mid-’60’s to the late ’80’s, his legacy remains to this very day for every single driver in our sport…and will live on for infinity.

But more about that later.

Lucien Fontaine was born in Pointe Aux Trembles, Quebec, Canada on April 12, 1939.

It’s a charming town on the edge of Montreal with a three-story high windmill, the tallest in Quebec and, as Loosh remembered, “It’s at the corner of Third Avenue and Notre-Dame Street and that’s about the most exciting thing in town!”

But it was less than an hour from Blue Bonnets Raceway and Lucien was able to “catch the bug” for the sport and get some valuable education from, first, Keith Waples and, then Clint Hodgins—both great horsemen in their own right.

He had a couple of drives in 1959 while learning the trade and did win some races in 1960 and 1961 while beginning to excel on the racetrack.

“Hodgins had some really nice horses to drive back then,” he recalled, “and it was great to kind of hone my skills by learning from a horseman who had driven great horses like Bye Bye Byrd, Adios Butler, Cold Front and, way back when, Proximity, to name a few.”

It wasn’t long after that Loosh started to become noticed after successful seasons at Rockingham Park and Monticello Raceway…and then it was on to New York to compete on the Yonkers-Roosevelt circuit.

“There were mostly ‘trainer-drivers back in those days and ‘catch-drivers’ were few and far between,” he said.

But Fontaine was being noticed by trainers on that tough circuit after showing a consistency with “batting averages” as high as .364.

In 1964, he broke into the top 25 list in wins with 113 and continued on that select list for the next 12 of 13 seasons, including a career best 264 trips to the winner’s circle—second in the nation—and vaulting him to his first (and rare in that era) $1,000,000 earnings in purse money benefitting the owners.

In 1973, Loosh picked up the catch-drive in the famed Messenger Stake and guided Valiant Bret to victory for trainer Harry Tudor and the Gray Brothers—that race with a $122,732 purse.

Loosh recalled, “It was a very bulky field on a half mile track—I think 11—and I had no choice to go for the lead. Once I got there, I thought, ‘we gotta go all the way now.’ I had some company on the outside at the half, but we put him away and opened enough daylight on the backside to get the win. It was quite a thrill to win that big of a race…especially catch-driving!”

Early in 1975, Loosh missed that coveted that top 25 list…but not because of lack of talent.

He suffered a broken collar bone in an accident.

“These things can happen at any time, and this was one of those times when a horse in front of me took a bad step and went down and we hooked, and I was vaulted in the air. One of the horses trailing hit me on the shoulder and the damage was done,” he said.

Still, Loosh won 169 races that year and banked $1.1 million for the owners.

That included a win with Golden Fulla in Sire Stakes action in Goshen, right next to the museum where Lucien will be officially honored with his induction into the Hall of Fame.

“I had some pretty good horses to drive back then,” he recalled, “like Country Don, Irish Napoleon, Big Towner, Cigar Store Injun and, one of my favorites, Pocomoonshine, who I really loved.”

But Fontaine’s fame would become etched in history forever in 1986 as he handled the lines back of Forrest Skipper as that horse “faced the world” as Loosh said and was a perfect 15-for-15 in becoming the Horse of the Year.

From the Dan Patch to the Driscoll…from the Graduate to the Breeders Crown…from the Cornell to the U.S. Pacing Championship…undefeated under the guidance of Lucien Fontaine.

So famous was Forrest Skipper that Rumpus Hanover was relegated to the back row for Loosh, though he won over $500,000!

About the pair, Loosh remembered, “Forrest Skipper was just unbelievable and kept his great form the entire season, something only a real great horse can do.

“As for Rumpus, well, he had breathing problems, so I had to come up with an invention to help him out. You’ve heard of knee spreaders? Well, this was a “nostril spreader so his his nostrils wouldn’t close when he blew hard. It was concocted with thin wire wrapped in plastic and very soft cloth.”

In this journalist’s eyes, THAT should have been enough to get Loosh into the Hall of Fame.

Lucien’s career was cut way short when he was forced to have open heart surgery in 1989, closing out his brilliant career with 3,458 wins and $21,2 million in earnings for owners.

But now onto the legacy part…

Behind the scenes, Loosh played a monumental role serving as a Vice-President of the National Association of Harness Drivers, The Standardbred Owners of New York and a committee member the New York State Racing Commission.

He was THE person that got the ball rolling and implemented with the 5% fee automatically deducted from the purse and paid directly to the drivers and trainers.

As Hall-of-Fame trainer/driver Wally Hennessey said, “Loosh had—and has—a direct impact on the guaranteed income for every driver and every trainer that has raced for the past 35 or 40 years or so…and his legacy will last forever.

What does that mean?

Well, since the mid-1980’s, well over $15 BILLION in purses have been paid throughout North America, which means $750,000,000 in income was paid to both drivers and trainers!

Just for random example, the leading driver back in 2005 made over $750,000—not bad for 2,200 starts.

This year, possibly, 30 drivers that have a chance to earn over $200,000 in driver fees. Some have already reached that plateau.

Trainers have the same luxury with a long list over $100,000 and many others approaching that mark…and that’s just from the 5% trainer’s fee that a gentleman from Pointe Aux Trembley went to bat for all drivers and trainers involved in our sport.

Multiply that effort back in the early 1980’s times 35 or 40 years and the impact is staggering involving 10’s of thousands of horsemen and women.

So, as great as a horseman Loosh was on the racetrack, his contributions will last, literally, for generations to come proving his greatness off the track…

When you guys and gals pick up your checks this week, point to heaven in the sky and salute the gentleman who got it done for you—Lucien Fontaine.

Yes, I lost a great friend a few days ago.

And whether you realize it or not…you did, too…

by John Berry, for Harnesslink