BRYANT MCAFEE (2008) by Archie McDonald
In the beginning Bryant McAfee was recruited by the horse racing community to straighten out some crooked numbers. He ended up straightening out a number of lives.
McAfee has been an integral part of the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association since 1970 which happens to be the year that he swore off alcohol. Abstinence changed his life and the ripple effect of that decision has been felt throughout the Hastings Park backstretch.
His induction into the B.C. Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame is the latest in a long list of awards he has received from racing and accounting organizations throughout North America.
He has been executive director of both the HBPA of B.C. and the HBPA of Canada since 1978 and is the the longest serving director in the history of that organization.
In 1995 he became only the 225th person since 1905 to be elected a Fellow of the B.C. Institute of Chartered Accountants. The honour is bestowed on those who have provided distinguished service to the accounting profession. There are currently about 9,000 chartered accountants in the province which makes the odds of having the initials, FCA, after your name at least 50 to 1.
In 2006 he was the first ever recipient of the Industry Service Award from the North American body of the HBPA. In an organization whose motto is “Horsemen helping horsemen,” he was the biggest helper of all.
He had just quit working for Gardner and Co. in 1970 when Reg Ellett, president of the B.C. Thoroughbred Breeders Society, asked him to look into some suspicious book-keeping practices by one of the office employees.
He did such a commendable job that HBPA president Ken (Sonny) O’Connell drafted him to audit the horsemen’s finances prior to presenting them at a general meeting.
He soon became a permanent fixture on the HBPA board when secretary-treasurer Walter Gregory became ill and Bryant was asked to pinch-hit. He’s been in the batter’s box ever since.
At first he did the job “working out of my back pocket from my office downtown,” It became a full time account in 1995 and about six years ago he moved into his current office at Hastings Park grandstand, near the main entrance.
For 34 years he has been assisted by Marion Yip, who comes in one day per week from her job with the B.C. Medical Association. Bryant describes Yip, a widowed mother of two girls, as having, “exceptional administrative skills.”
There are few things more bland than working with numbers but it is the heartwarming work of helping humans that has made McAfee one of the most respected men to ever be associated with racing in B.C.
Horse owner Pat Bryant had been McAfee’s sponsor in Alcoholics Anonymous and he suggested they start a chapter on the backstretch. With the support of track operator Jack Diamond it began in 1980 with a meeting above the backstretch cafeteria. Seven showed up.
Thanks to enthusiastic recruiting by jockey’s agent Roddy Morrison the 15 chairs were soon filled for the Wednesday night meetings. When midweek racing disappeared the meetings were switched to Sunday mornings at 11.
McAfee still attends most weeks.
The substance abuse program evolved into the Winners Foundation, which helps and counsels individuals who have alcohol and drug problems.
McAfee estimates that between 250 and 300 have gone through the program. “About 10 per year come and go,” he says. “We have a higher success rate than most because we are a tight community and people look after each other.”
Before his involvement with the HBPA McAfee had been a casual horse player and in his new position he became a modest horse owner. His first horse was King Galaxy, which he owned in partnership with longtime friend Bruce Eagle.
Working with a few partners he had his first and only stakes winner in Kelaway, heroine of the 1974 Vanity Handicap. Professor Moriarity was a high class runner in the 1990s and this year he’s shared a double whammy with allowance winners Seminole Brave and Foxy Like A Cat.
If you had a dollar for every meeting McAfee has attended over the years you would feel like a lottery winner. He has invested countless hours discussing and bargaining with race track management, the Racing Commission, PNE, City Hall, provincial governments, the Lottery Corporation as well as chairing committeee aned attending national and international conventions.
Harold Barroby, who has been on the horsemen’s executive almost as long as McAfee, says: “He is such an important person, not only to horsemen but to the whole industry. He knows everything inside out. He could have made a lot of money if he had spent his time doing something else. But he loves the industry, really and truly loves it.
“He is always the voice of reason even in the most trying times.”
McAfee says his most satisfying experience has been helping to foster a much better level of communication between horsemen and management, a relationship which had been toxic in the Fifties and Sixties.
Bryant and wife Ethel, who reside in North Vancouver, have been married 53 years and have three children and two grandchildren.
He is the second Hall-of-Famer from his home-room class at King Edward High School in Vancouver. His friend Arnie Hallgren, outstanding in baseball and football, is a member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and occasionally joins McAfee in his clubhouse box.
McAfee started his accounting career running in high class company. He articled under Frank Griffiths who later became owner of the Vancouver Canucks and also has been recognized by the B.C. Hall of Fame as a builder.
Now Bryant Prentice McAfee has made it a Hall of Fame Trifecta. |