Searching for Harness Racing history info from Pacific Northwest racing in the 1940's

[Leosflame@juno.com]

I have been searching for some information and I have not had any luck yet. My great-grandfather raced in the Northwest in the 1940's. I know he was at Longacres in June of 1948...I have a letter. He and my great-grandmother lived in Yakima, Washington and he was based at Yakima Meadows. I have pictures of him with his horse in his stall. I have searched and searched for any information but I can find nothing. I got on this site hoping that someone could point me in the correct direction or had some information. My great-grandfather's name was Johnny Richmond. His horse was "Baby Woolen " I'm using this icon because I am running into a brick wall....HELP!!!!:bang:
If you have anything for me..please email............I will be eternally grateful. Nikki

[wilderness]

Hello Nikki,
I've seen your web searches for "Baby Woolen".

Searched my extensive data for both "Baby Woolen" and varitions of "John Richmond" without any success.
A search on "Richmond" alone, returns 323 references and that's far too many articles to sift through.

You really need more information.
1) years involved, I'm sure he his harness racing didn't start and end in 1948?

2) There was an extensive Norhwest Circuit that began in the spring, up in Canada and ended in the fall in Northern California. I've read an article on this circuit in a 1960's periodical, unfortuately, I failed to make note of the date of the periodical and browsing many issues to look for a specific topic requires a tremendous amount of time. In addition the browsing results in deviations from itinerary as a result of the browsing as well. (more work unrelated to the task). There's very little information of these circuit stops on the internet or even with the stops known by folks who participate on the internet (it's simply before their time; I've made numerous inquiries in both Canada and the US).

My suggestion includes the following:
1) more information of your great-grandfathers "years" in the business.
2) Make some inquiries to any historical societies in Yakima. Or try some old Platt books or land maps of the same area.
3) once you have names or MORE horses he had and more years involved, you would at least be able to locate some USTA YearBooks (which began publication in 1939) and seek out the the tracks from that area for results of his horses (there would not be any personal information of "Johnny Richmond" in these books.
4) There may be some northern Cal and Canadian newpaper archives on microfilm that would provide you with results far beyond what you'd locate anywhere else, however, be forewarned, reviewing microfilm may consume weeks and months and the rewards (fruition) are meager in regards to the time spent.

Racing reflections from the mid-40's requires somebody in their very late 80's to early 90's and it's highly unlikely that you'll find such a person in an internet forum.

Best of luck.