A journey that began with baby steps at Hastings Park has taken John Gunther to the upper echelon of the racing world. He’s left large footprints on the finest tracks in North America.

Horses bred at his Glennwood Farm in Kentucky -- Stevie Wonderboy and First Samurai -- finished first and third respectively in the 2005 Breeders Cup Juvenile. He has had two starters--Kimberlite Pipe and homebred Eye Of The Tiger -- in the Kentucky Derby.

Although Stevie Wonderboy won an Eclipse Award as the top 2-year-old in North America, beating out First Samurai, it takes second place to just running in the Kentucky Derby. “The Derby has been my biggest thrill,” says Gunther. “Both horses finished fifth and were beaten less than five lengths.”

In the past four years horses owned or co-owned by Gunther have won or placed in 37 stakes, including several Grade One races.

Gunther grew up on a farm in Alberta and when he later moved to Vancouver he worked three years as a longshoreman on the Vancouver waterfront and whetted his appetite for racing by going to Hastings on weekends.

He later became a stock broker and bought a thoroughbred mare named Odette to use as a riding horse. He decided to breed her and when she produced a winner he was hooked for life.

He is now a partner in the brokerage house Jones, Gable. and owns a farm in Langley where he bred the local stakes winners Bold Advice, C.T. Express, Bold Issue, Dixie Premiere, Jolly Taxpayer and Bay St Dancer.

In 1991 he bought out partner Ole Nielsen in a 215-acres farm near Versailles, Ky., and changed the name from Canmor to Glennwood Farm. About the same time he purchased a yearling named Wall Street Dancer who ran in the Breeders Cup at Belmont as a 2-year-old, and later won the Pan American Handicap.

He currently has about 15 broodmares in Kentucky and three in Langley.

He has been part of numerous ownership groups and was instrumental in enticing John Toffan, a fellow Vancouver stockbroker, and Trudy McCaffery into the owners ranks. Among the stars who campaigned in Toffan and McCaffery’s gold and silver silks were Grade One winners Bien Bien, Free House and Came Home.

Gunther’s recent stakes stars have been Bending String , Wildwood Flower, and Two Trail Sioux, the latter owned in partnership with longtime friend Don Winton, former chairman of the Pacific Racing Association. Two other Vancouver ownership connections have been Jerome Rak with Kimberlite Pipe and Hugh Harlington with American Chance.

American Chance was puchased as a 3-year-old and went on to a distinguished career as a race horse and later as a stallion in New York before dying prematurely in 2004 while serving as a shuttle stallion in Argentina. Eye of the Tiger was one of his numerous stakes winners.

Winton says Gunther, “Has an extremely good eye for conformation, and he studies bloodlines thoroughly. He’s extremely hands on in all aspects, from choosing horses to choosing trainers. When studying bloodlines he looks beyond a racing career and determines what he’ll have when it’s over. As a result he has assembled a very strong broodmare band.

“He moved naturally from having a hobby to running a business. When he had success in B.C. he had to move on in a bigger way. He is very businesslike in everything he does. It’s no accident he has been so successful.”