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Horse Racing in Toronto

Bunty Lawless

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Bunty Lawless

Bunty Lawless was a bay, male Thoroughbred born in 1935. He was the first horse that Willie Morrissey owned and was trained by Jack Anderson.[1] His sire was Ladder and his dam was Mintwina. The horse was named after a friend of Morrissey’s who passed away in 1921.[2]

Bunty Lawless began his racing career in 1937 and had a fairly successful start. In his first four races, he finished first once and second three times.[3] He also went on to win the Clarendon Plate and was second in the Coronation stakes that same year.[4]

Morrissey was extremely confident that his horse would win the King’s Plate, as he was willing to “an unlimited side bet, horse for horse, with any other owner of a King’s Plate entrant.”[5] His owner was so protective of the horse that he hired guards to protect him.[6]

Morrissey was correct, as his horse did go on to win the King’s Plate.[7] CBC's Digital Archives has a audio recording of the race. He also won the Hare Memorial and the three-year-old championship at Long Branch.[8] However, he was second in the Breeders’ Stakes (beaten by Mona Bell) and second in the Grads Cup Memorial (defeated by Fore Isus) in front of a crowd of 15,000 at Dufferin Park.[9]

As a four-year-old, he won the $5,000 Orpen Memorial Handicap, defeating Mona Bell by a nose.[11] In mid June of 1939, Bunty Lawless and Archworth were both entered in the feature race at Dufferin Park, in which Bunty Lawless defeated Archworth by a nose.[12] Don Cowie called it the “race of the year” that drew a crowd of “more than 15,000” to see the two King’s Plate winning horses in action.[13] Though this was not the only race that the two horses were both entered in, it perhaps had the most exciting conclusion due to the photo finish. Both horses were also entered in the McIntyre and Loudon Memorial Handicap, in which Bunty Lawless won while Archworth was fourth.[14] While Bunty Lawless had many wins, he finished second in the Hendrie Memorial Handicap, being defeated by Donosiris.[15]

His racing season for 1939 ended abruptly when he was injured while being unloaded from a railroad car in Chicago, which lead Morrissey to file a lawsuit against the Canadian National Railways.[16] It took almost a year for Bunty Lawless to return to the races; his last race in 1939 was on August 30, but he did not race again until July 4, 1940.[17] However, he did win at least one race in the 1940 season, such as the Francis Nelson Memorial Handicap.[18]

Bunty Lawless was initially retired in October of 1941, where he was given a ceremony that included him breaking “from the starting gate and, breeze once around ‘Little Saratoga' [Dufferin Park]. It will be his last public appearance before being retired to stud.”[19] However, he came out of retirement to race again in the Thorncliffe Handicap in September of 1942 where he finished fifth, but did win the Francis Nelson Memorial Handicap again in that same month.[20] He was again retired in early October of 1942.[21]

Bunty Lawless made a lasting legacy on horse racing in Canada. He was given the title of Canada’s Horse of the Half-Century by a poll conducted by the media.[22] In October of 1941, Dufferin Park named a race after him, the Bunty Lawless Handicap; the Bunty Lawless Stakes is still ran at New Woodbine. [23] He also sired future King’s Plate winners Epic and McGill. [24] At the time of his death in June of 1956, he “was the first and only Canadian-bred horse which sired winners of more than a million dollars on the racetracks.”[25]

Bunty Lawless was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1976.

[1] “Promising Juvenile,” The Globe and Mail, August 6, 1937, page 16; Tommy Munns, “Former Newsie owns, ex-teamster trains King’s Plate Winner,” The Globe and Mail, May 23, 1938, page 19.
[2] Tommy Munn, “Scanning the Sport Field: Why Morrissey Named the Colt Bunty Lawless,” The Globe and Mail, July 17, 1937, page 15.
[3] “Promising Juvenile,” The Globe and Mail, August 6, 1937, page 16.
[4] “Bunty Lawless Wins Clarendon Plate Test,” The Globe and Mail, September 16, 1937, page 17; Don Cowie, “Skyros Captures Coronation Stakes Classic,” The Globe and Mail, September 27, 1937, page 18.
[5] “‘King’s Plate Winner, says Morrissey,’” The Globe and Mail, April 27, 1938, page 16.
[6] “Willie Morrissey taking No Chances; Bunty’s Stall Guarded,” The Globe and Mail, May 17, 1938, page 16.
[7] Douglas Eppes, “Win by Bunty Lawless Discards Tradition,” The Globe and Mail, May 23, 1938, page 1.
[8] “Bunty Lawless Wins $2,000 Hare Memorial,” The Globe and Mail, June 27, 1938, page 19; Tommy Munns, “Bunty Lawless 3 year-old Champion,” The Globe and Mail, October 11, 1938, page 15.
[9] Tommy Munns, “Scanning the Sport Field: Mona Bell Nose Gives her victory,” The Globe and Mail, October 3, 1938, page 19; Don Cowie, “Fore Isus Surprise Winner at Dufferin Park,” The Globe and Mail, June 20, 1938, page 21.
[10] “Donosiris Wins $5,000 Orpen Memorial Handicap," The Globe and Mail, June 13, 1938, page 20.
[11] Don Cowie, “Bunty Nips Mona in Thrilling Dash,” The Globe and Mail, June 8, 1939, page 19.
[12] Don Cowie, “Photo Separates Bunty Lawless and Archworth,” The Globe and Mail, June 19, 1939, page 16.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Don Cowie, “Bunty Runs Home Again,” The Globe and Mail, June 29, 1939, page 19.
[15]Ralph Allen, “Bunty Lawless Yields to Suffern in Hendrie,” The Globe and Mail, May 29, 1939, page 19.
[16] Douglas Eppes, “Hoof Beats,” The Globe and Mail, July 4, 1940, page 16; “Railway Sued by Bunty’s Owner,” The Globe and Mail, July, 4 1940, page 69.
[17] Douglas Eppes, “Hoof Beats,” The Globe and Mail, July 4, 1940, page 16.
[18] Don Cowie, “Bunty wins Decisively,” The Globe and Mail, September 9, 1940, page 17.
[19] “Last Outing for Bunty: Appears at Dufferin,” The Globe and Mail, October 18, 1941, page 18.
[20] Appas Tappas, “Thundering Hoofs,” The Globe and Mail, September 12, 1942, page 18; Appas Tappas, “Thundering Hoofs,” The Globe and Mail, September 14, 1942, page 18; Appas Tappas, “Thundering Hoofs,” The Globe and Mail, September 17, 1942, page 20.
[21] “Bunty Lawless Retired,” The Globe and Mail, October 3, 1942, page 20.
[22] “Horse of the Half-Century Bunty Lawless Dies at 21,” The Globe and Mail, June 9, 1956, page 27; "Bunty Lawless," Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, accessed April 3, 2019. URL: https://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/1976/12/13/bunty-lawless/.
[23] Appas Tappas, “Thundering Hoofs,” The Globe and Mail, October 20, 1941, page 18.
[24] “Queen’s Plate Stakes, Canada,” Thoroughbred Heritage, accessed April 3, 2019. URL: http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/racecharts/Can/QueensPlate.html.
[25] “Horse of the Half-Century Bunty Lawless Dies at 21,” The Globe and Mail, June 9, 1956, page 27.