Standardbred Driver (Veteran)

Gilles Gendron of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, started his illustrious driving career in the spring of 1967 at the age of 22.  During his career, he drove in more than 37,000 races, posted 7,053 victories, finished second in 5,008 starts and recorded 4,819 thirds.   He drove horses to earnings in excess of $36.9 million.  Gendron was the dominant driver at Blue Bonnets racetrack during the 1970s and 1980s.   At age 27 in 1972, Gendron won the Challenge of Champions hosted by Windsor Raceway, defeating the likes of Herve Filion, Ronnie Feagan and Carmine Abbatiello.  Nicknamed “Le Chef”, he dominated the Blue Bonnets driving charts, leading the driving standings 10 times between 1972 and 1984.  For 14 consecutive years, he won more than 200 races and ranked in the North American top 10 seven times. Among the equine stars he drove were Hall of Famers Grades Singing and Garland Lobell.  In 2009, he drove a pair of winners at Rideau Carleton to put him at 7,000 career wins to join Quebec natives Herve Filion, Michel Lachance and Luc Ouellette in the select group of North American drivers who had posted 7,000 career wins.