Cunard Tapped As Lady Pace Honoree

DELAWARE, OH--Gail Cunard, director of the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in Goshen,  NY, is the 2008 Lady Pace honoree.  The native of London, England will be honored in winner’s circle ceremonies following an Ohio Breeders Championship to be raced Jug Day afternoon.

Cunard was raised in the north of England not far from Liverpool.  She graduated with a diploma in commerce from the University of Liverpool where she was in school with of a young musician named John Lennon, later to become famous with the Beatles.

“John was in the College of Art, which was in the same building as the College of Commerce,” said Cunard.  “He was a familiar figure. He wasn’t famous, just one of the students, although he did tinker with a band at the time.”

In the mid-1960s Cunard and two girlfriends journeyed to Montreal, Quebec where she took a secretarial position with a steam shipping company.  “I was only going to stay in Canada a couple of years, but I met Tom Cunard, and that was it.  We got married. Tom graduated from McGill University in engineering  We moved around a lot, living in such places as St. Joseph, MI and Ridgeway, PA.  We have two kids, Nicholas and Robyn, and four grandchildren.”

The couple moved to Goshen, NY in 1978. Their home, built in 1747,  sits on 30 acres of land a few miles outside Goshen.  “I’m an English lady who lives in the cradle of the Revolution.  This is my home. I have lived here longer than anywhere else in the world,” said Gail, who has been a citizen of the United States for 25 years. 

That same year, Gail  became general manager and executive director of the Goshen Chamber of Commerce.  From 1979 to 1982 Gail also managed the Historic Track.  “That’s how I got to know  the harness racing world.  The only other time I even saw a harness race was in the mid-1960s at Blue Bonnets Raceway in Montreal.

In 1985, Gail was appointed Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of the Harness Racing Museum by the late Ebby Gerry, Sr., president of the Hall of Fame Museum. 

In 1996, long time director Phil Pines retired, and Gail became the director and chief administrative officer of the Hall of Fame.  She sees her role as preserving the past while promoting the future.  “I want to make history come alive, make it interesting and provocative. 

“I am an idea person along with fund raising and promoting exhibitions,” said Gail.  “I have a great staff, they do a great job.” Since becoming director, Mrs. Cunard has developed the traveling Currier & Ives exhibit, ‘the Kentucky Connection’ and new in 2008, “A Drive To Win.”  More than a half-million people saw the Currier & Ives exhibit at such places as the Delaware Ohio County Fair, The Kentucky Horse Park and The Red Mile.

Gail is excited about “A Drive To Win” which is dedicated to the drivers and trainers who make every race possible but through circumstance, choice, design or fate, do not rise to stardom.  Twenty-seven huge portraits, many provided by The United States Trotting Association and The Horseman And Fair World weekly magazine,  introduce the subjects of the exhibit, most of whom will be recognized by harness fans nationwide.

‘A Drive To Win’ exhibit will be on display in the Jugette Barn throughout the Delaware Grand Circuit week (September 14-18).