Elli? II 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     liked James “Roach" MacGregor because 
     
     he was stylish. He would watch Clark 
     
     Smith and how he drove because, “He 
     
     was probably one of the best drivers that 
     
     was ever around here.” Joe Goguen, 
     
     George Mauger and Art Porter used to 
     
     come over here for Old Home Week with 
     
     good horses and he would always pay 
     
     attention to these horsemen. He would 
     
     store valuable ideas in his memory bank 
     
     from these and other talented horsemen 
     
     to use himself later in his career. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In 1967 at the tender age of 18, Jody 
     
     Hennessey opened his own public stable 
     
     in what he described as a little cubicle at 
     
     the Charlottetown Driving Park. His 
     
     modest stable of five horses included 
     
     Chatty Doll and jimmy Tag for Harry 
     
     Redmond, Simmac Frank and Simmac 
     
     Star for Jack Brown and Shady Deal for 
     
     Matt Redmond. This was the beginning 
     
     of the Jody Hennessey Stable which 
     
     would develop into one of the most 
     
     prominent in the Atlantic provinces for 
     
     the next three decades. During this peri— 
     
     od, the Charlottetown Driving Park and 
     
     Exhibition Park in Saint John would be 
     
     his base of operation with frequent trips 
     
     to the other racetracks. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Most drivers remember their first official 
     
     drive in a race and for this driver the 
     
     horse was Mystery Judy at the GDP. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Behind the Gate 
     
    
   
   
    
     Ralph MacFayden owned this little mare 
     
     and they were going double dashes at 
     
     that time. Jody recounted his first official 
     
     race, “I was pretty keyed up going into 
     
     that race because it was quite an experi— 
     
     ence. I remember that Don MacNeill had 
     
     Miss Kimble on my helmet and I was 
     
     praying that my mare would keep on her 
     
     feet because I had just received my dri- 
     
     ver’s licence. We finished fourth with no 
     
     incident and was I happy! 
     
    
   
   
    
     Jody’s first win was at the C.D.P. with 
     
     Shady Deal for Matt Redmond. This 
     
     horse had a lot of speed but there was 
     
     something about him that made Jody’s 
     
     father a little dubious about the horse but 
     
     Jody drove him to the front early and 
     
     won wire-to—wire in 2:12. The next week 
     
     they had three horses in the same race so 
     
     Walter Craig drove Shady Deal, Jody 
     
     drove jimmy Tag and Joe drove Simmac 
     
     Star. Shady Deal, with what turned out 
     
     to be a funny knee, did a complete som— 
     
     ersault in that race but the talented Walter 
     
     Craig escaped uninjured. 
     
    
   
   
    
     In a career that spanned some 41 years, 
     
     this talented teamster was involved with 
     
     some very memorable horses. He will— 
     
     ingly rerninisced. George Canning’s 
     
     thnem Accolade was probably one of 
     
     the nicest horses to ever race in the 
     
     Atlantic provinces. Jody drove him to 
     
    
   
   
    
     “I was pretty leeyed up going into that race because 
     
     it was quite an experience. ” 
     
    
   
   
    
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