Veteran horseman Tim Drake says bringing a new life into the world never gets old
KING CITY — From February through June, after a long day's work, Tim Drake might be found overnighting in a room the size of a closet at the end of the barn at Silver Duck Stable.
Inside there's two battered La-Z-Boy chairs, a small TV and an array of video screens showing stalls in the barn. The no-fills nook allows the 62-year-old stable owner to be close — with an alarm set for every 30 minutes overnight to stay on point — while waiting for a mare to foal.
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And when he sees telltale signs on the screen, he jumps into action.
"You've got to love it. It's not something you ever get rich on. You make a living, but I do love it. I really do," said Drake. "People look at me like I'm nuts. Maybe I am."
The moment the mare bonds with the foal makes it all worthwhile, however. The miracle of life and motherhood wins him over every time.
"That's why I do it," he said. "I tell you as long as I've foaled mares, you'd think it'd get to be routine. It never ever does. Never ever … If that don't move you a little bit, you've got no heart."
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It doesn't come easy.
After starting work in the barn at 4:30 or 5 a.m., Drake catches a few hours sleep in the afternoon. Wife Suzanne, a trainer at nearby Woodbine, sometimes spells him for a few hours overnight, allowing Drake to catch a few hours sleep in the La-Z-Boy.
"I go home once a day and have a shower and that's the only time I see home," said Drake.
"It's a way of life. It's not really a job," he added. "That's what you live for."
Jo Maglietta, the assistant farm manager, echoes that view.
"It doesn't matter how many years you've done it or how may you've seem, it always is the most exhilarating experience ever," said the 42-year-old Maglietta, who has worked at Silver Duck for some 17 years. "Just to see that new life and the connection the mums and the babies make, it's really cool. It's really special."
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It's that kind of devotion that prompts owners to send their mares to Silver Duck Stable.
"I like to have them three weeks to a month ahead (of the due date), at least," Drake explained. "The reason is just so you can kind of get used to them, their habits and whatnot."
That homework helps Drake know when a mare starts acting out of character and the foal is coming. Plus the weeks in advance of the birth allow the mare to get used to him.
And it helps to be on good terms with an animal weighing 1,300 pounds in a small stall.
One of Drake's loyal owners is Charles Fipke, a member of both the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, who sends horses from Kentucky. But mostly he handles Ontario-bred horses these days.
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Fipke, whom Drake refers to as Mr. Fipke, entrusted Drake with several mares who were pregnant by Galileo, an Irish-bred star that won the Irish Stakes and England's Epsom Derby and was named European Champion Three-Year-Old Colt of 2001.
Galileo's huge stud fee did not go unnoticed at Silver Duck Stable. But Drake's down-to-earth approach soon took over.
"I mean they all foal the same," he said. "A cheap horse foals the same as an expensive one. It's just when you've got one that's almost a million-dollar stud fee, it puts a little bit of pressure on you to get everything done right."
In the past, Drake's stable has foaled as many as 35 in a year. This year has been more manageable with Drake and Maglietta waiting on one last mare to deliver.
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When they arrives, the foals weigh between 90 and 130 pounds.
A couple of years ago, they had four mares foal in a 24-hour period. "It was pretty hectic," he recalled.
After foaling season is over, Drake's stable looks after horses recovering from injury or surgery. The Milton Equine Clinic, University of Guelph and the nearby King Animal Hospital all use Drake.
"Surgery's important but the after-care's just as important," said Drake.
He says there are more good days than bad days. But there are times when the birthing mare needs more help, prompting an emergency call to the vet and perhaps a trip to hospital.
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On rare occasion, the mare may also reject the foal, necessitating the use of a surrogate mare.
The stable is located on part of Kinghaven Farms, once a thriving thoroughbred racing outfit. While the Wilmot family still has some horses, its focus now is on producing honey, eggs and greenhouse lettuce on the property,
Drake has had his corner of the farm for some 12 years. Silver Duck was on the former Kinghaven Farms location for some 15 years.
The stable is small but functional, guarded outside by a small statue of a jockey — not to mention Brody, Daisy and Delilah — Drake's three dogs.
Vets are not usually present at the birth because they can't get there in time. Drake says if all goes well, the vet gets involved the day after.
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The vet adds to the tests already done by Drake. That includes checking the colostrum, the first milk produced by the mare that is rich in antibodies vital for building the foal's immune system.
Drake reckons he has foaled more than 800 mares over the last 40 years or so. But he's smart enough to know there's always something new to learn.
"I still see things that I've never seen before. And I guess that's what keeps your interest in."
"Any time you think you know it all, they'll just make you a liar," he added with a chuckle.
Drake grew up around horses in Englehart, Ont., some 540 kilometres north of Toronto.
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After high school, he headed west on a one-way train ticket with $40 in his pocket. The initial job never came through and he ended up working at a gas station/car wash for $1.90 an hour.
Then he got a job with the late Lord Roderic Gordon, who had thoroughbred horses. He ended up at Harlequin Ranches in Alberta under the late Richard Bonnycastle. When the stable was moved to Ontario, Drake came too.
When that farm was sold, Drake turned down an offer to go to England to work and stayed in Ontario, working for Jim Day, a former equestrian champion and thoroughbred trainer, and the late Gustav Schickedanz.
"I learned a lot from Jimmy. He was a pretty good horseman," said Drake.
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He then opened his own stable, which at its height housed 80 or 90 horses. He chose the name Silver Duck, a nod to drake being the male duck.
"We thought it would be a little extravagant wishing for gold so we thought 'Well we'll go with silver. Keep it modest,'" he said with a chuckle.
His goal is simple. Make things as easy for the mare, whose pregnancy usually last 11 months and five days, and foal as possible.
Once a mare's water breaks, usually the foal shows up with a half-hour. Drake has to ensure the foal comes out the right way with the front legs and head first.
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If that's not the case, he literally gets hands on — and hands in — to help get the foal in the right position. Drake and helpers may then have to help pull the foal out.
There are rare times when the mare rejects the foal, which in a worst-case scenario requires a nurse mare to help tend the newborn.
The mare and foal will stay a few weeks at the stable for at least a few weeks before returning home. Most of the foals will end up on a racetrack.
"We sure hope so. If everything goes good," said Drake.
He looks beyond a horse's resume, however. Each one has a personality.
"Winning a cheap race to me is just as good a feeling as winning a stakes race. It's not as lucrative but your horse got there ahead of everyone else's," he said. "And you're proud of the work that you did. You're so proud of the horse and the work that he did.
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"Because it's not always the fastest horse wins the race. A horse has got to have a little bit of heart. The trainer's got to have done his job. The jockey does his or her job. The groom and the hot-walker. It's a team effort."
And it starts with Drake.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
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