Too Old to Race? Never!

you're listening to an article from horse canada.com. too old to race? never! by: kim izzo |. a senior citizen in guelph, ontario, hit the winner’s circle at the western fair district standardbred racetrack in london. the driver is bill megens, a spry 91-year-old. “everyone thinks i’m too old. i’m 91, but the horse does the running,” megens told guelph today. “as long as you got a clear head and you’re strong enough to hold onto the horse.”. megens makes a good point. show jumping legend ian millar still co-holds the record for the most olympic appearance by any athlete in any sport (10, a record he shares with georgian sports shooter nino salukvadze). and not to take away from captain canada, the fact that his horses do the heavy lifting (and jumping) likely has much to do with that distinction. advertisement scroll to continue with content in megens’ case, he’s been in the horse biz since 1951 and he raises standardbred racehorses as well as drives them. his son, who was a likely successor, unfortunately passed away at the age of 56. megens decided to keep going and continue running his farm. according to guelph today, megens’ 2024 winnings were nearly $10,000, which is a drop from what he once earned prior to the pandemic, including a high of $246,864 in 2002. next up is the 2025 season and megens has set his sights on races at flamborough downs. when asked about retirement, megens said that if he reaches 100, it might be time to consider it. “life is too short,” he told the reporter. “i only got nine years to go to be 100 … my dad got to be 99.”.