Ty Hawk was possibly the top British Columbia sprinter of all time, although he did not reach his full potential until he had left the province. He was a foal of 1995, a son of Dark Hawk out of the Darby Doc mare Typhoon Tess, and was bred by D.C. O’Brian. He was the distinction of being one of two B.C.-bred Thoroughbreds who set world records. (The other is Primrose Day, by Marcus out of Fay King, bred by Mrs. C.N. Oldfield, who set a world record of 3:34 for 2 1/16 miles at Longacres on August 23, 1937.)

Ty Hawk was a winner at two and three in British Columbia and was third in the B.C. Derby in 1958 but he achieved his greatest successes when he began racing against top horses in California, Arizona, Ontario and Chicago. Taken to California he was claimed by Les Lear, who trained him thereafter. As a 4-year-old he finished second in the Peninsular Handicap in California and early the next year he set a world record of 1:14.4 for 6 ½ furlongs at Turf Paradise.

He raced in Ontario as a 5-year-old and was a devastating sprinter, accounting for the Fort Erie Handicap and the Highlander Handicap (then, as now, Canada’s top sprint event). Perhaps his most impressive performance in Toronto was in the Jacques Cartier Stakes. The Globe and Mail of July 9, 1960, had the following report.

“Ty Hawk, one of the fleetest fellows ever to appear on a Canadian racetrack heads up a compact field of six older speed horses in the $7500 Jacques Cartier Stakes (at Woodbine) going six furlongs.”

And on July 11 the Globe and Mail reported the results of the Jacques Cartier, in which Tyhawk was the odds-on favourite at 1 to 4 on a sloppy track.

“The rain dampened crowd of 13, 283 jeered lustily at the misfortune of Ty Hawk and jockey Cliff Potts. Ty Hawk owned by Jack Singer and Les Lear reared high in the air just as the gates opened. He stood momentarily in the gate, then reared slightly again before coming out. By this time he was more than 15 lengths behind pace setting Redundancy. Although appearing hopelessly beaten the game son of Dark Hawk and Typoon Tess gave it his best shot all the way to wind up fourth, only two lengths back of the winner, Theo Geo. Ty Hawk, on the outside, was just a jump away from third money.”

He later ran in Chicago and finished third to the top horse Alhambra in the Armed Handicap. In all, he won 17 races and $58,825, a sum that seems very small today, considering his accomplishments.