Unfortunately, there are also many low 
     
     points in this game and Jody had his 
     
     share. The lowest point in his career 
     
     took place in a Gold Cup and Saucer Trial 
     
     when Glengyle Major got hit and broke 
     
     his leg in the first turn. He had to be put 
     
     down. Jody got emotional, “I still think 
     
     of it. He was such a beautiful little horse. 
     
     It was my biggest disappointment on the 
     
     racetrack.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     I asked Jody what best piece of advice he 
     
     would give a youngster contemplating a 
     
     career in the racing industry. After four 
     
     decades of involvement with consider- 
     
     able success, Jody was well qualified to 
     
     answer this important question, “When 
     
     you get hooked up in the race game, it is 
     
     your life. If you are going to do it, then 
     
     do it properly. The horses control your 
     
     whole life. You get up in the morning 
     
     and it is horses seven days a week. If 
     
     you are not going to commit yourself 
     
     seven days a week and give the horses 
     
     your attention and work hard, then try 
     
     something else. There is much more to 
     
     this game than being on the track driving. 
     
     Keep things tidy. Keep your barn like 
     
     you would like to keep your home. 
     
     Make people want to come to your barn. 
     
     Pay attention to what you are doing. 
     
     Never mind what the fellow next door or 
     
     down the yard is doing. Do your own 
     
     job always to the best of your ability.” 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Behind the Gate 
     
    
   
   
    
     Jody’s wife, Shelley, was a teacher at 
     
     Charlottetown Rural High School. Her 
     
     lineage went back to the famous Joe 
     
     O’Brien and she loved horses as much as 
     
     Jody. Shelley‘s mother, Donna Saunders 
     
     was a daughter of Leigh O’Brien who 
     
     was a brother to Joe O’Brien. Jody stat— 
     
     ed, “Everything we do, we do as a team.” 
     
     Horse racing was a hobby for this couple 
     
     who both loved the game. They resided 
     
     on a farm in Summerville with a small 
     
     barn and paddock for their broodmare 
     
     Mynab’s Acton Up and her progeny. 
     
     They had no plans to increase the size of 
     
     their ham or the number of their horses. 
     
     It wouldn’t be surprising to see Shelley 
     
     training some horses on the track and 
     
     doing it well. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Two of the local horseman that have 
     
     worked in the Jody Hennessey Stable in 
     
     the past were Ron Matheson and Don 
     
     MacDougall. Colin Johnson got his start 
     
     in the game with this stable at Exhibition 
     
     Park Raceway in Saint John. Jody was 
     
     operating his own stable at age 18 but 
     
     before that he worked in the stables of 
     
     Joe Hennessey, Mike MacDonald and 
     
     Duncan MacTavish. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Jody admired and got valuable pointers 
     
     from some very talented horseman like 
     
     Joe Hennessey, Jack Bernard, James 
     
     MacGregor, Basil Whelan, Clark Smith, 
     
    
   
   
    
     “When you get booked up in the race game, it is your life. 
     
     If you are going to do it, then do it properly... ” 
     
    
   
   
    
     150