The CHRHF is deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of William (Bill) Galvin and extends our condolences to his family, many friends and associates.
William ‘Bill’ Galvin, a native of Arnprior, ON and a resident of Mississauga, ON, at the time of his passing, made a tremendous impact on horse racing in Canada — so much so that he was inducted to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of fame in the second year a dedicated Communicator category was available.

Galvin was a Canadian horse racing historian, poet, author, publisher, educator, horseman, humanitarian, publicist, former thoroughbred racing official and one-time executive editor of Trot Magazine.

His promotions transcended racing. He led a charge to bring harness racing onto the ice on Ottawa’s Rideau Canal and expose the sport to thousands of potential fans.

He started the Race for MS fundraiser to gain exposure for the sport, and ran numerous other high profile campaigns dedicated to the well-being of horse racing during his career.

He was also a member of the Advisory board for the School of Equine Studies at Toronto’s Humber College of Applied Arts.

Galvin was the director of special promotions (harness and thoroughbred) for the Ontario Jockey Club and publicity chairman for the Greenwood Centennial Program.

He produced a History of Grand Circuit Racing in Canada and the Golden Horseshoe Circuit Press Book, conducted equine poetry and art competitions for grade school children and organized both trotting under saddle races at Greenwood and intercollegiate harness driving championships.
He published Ballads of the Turf in 2006, was the first publicity chairman of the Sovereign Awards and published a 100-year history of racing at Greenwood and Woodbine. Galvin, the former president of the North American Harness Publicists Association, was a regular weekly contributor to Canadian and U.S. harness trade magazines and wrote a regular nightly review of the races for the dailies and other media.
In his “retirement,” Galvin continued to promote horse racing and was always working on a project or two, including literary contests for students in 2018, and his continued pursuit to obtain permanent recognition in Fort Erie for historic racing figure Samuel Johnston who was instrumental in moving Grand Circuit racing to Fort Erie in the late 1800s due to anti-betting legislation in Buffalo, NY
More recently, Galvin established ‘The Stable That God Loves’ as a fundraiser for the Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada. He continued to work with racetrack chaplaincy programs, serving as the Vice-President of the Race Track Chaplaincy of Canada Inc. He also delved into Standardbred racehorse ownership, co-owning 2020 two-year-old winner Shes A Sassy Beach with Woodbine Mohawk Park’s Ken Middleton.

Additional information will be posted as available.