"Father of Thessalon Won King's Plate Twice", Sault Star Clipping, 1973

PAINTING OF KING'S PLATE POST PARADE IN FIRST DECADE OF THIS CENTURY

. . . was found in Searchmont Hotel in 1956 when Bud and June Graham bought it. Built in 1903, the hotel served newly established lumber interests.

Father of Thessalon won King's Plate twice

NAN RAJNOVICH

Staff Writer

In the august halls of the clubhouse at Woodbine Race Track in Toronto, three great bronze wall plaques list the winners of the Queen's Plate, beginning in 1860.

The middle plaque lists the winners of the King's Plate, the name of the race during the reigns of King Edward and King George V and VI.

A northerner from Algoma glancing at this second bronze board is startled to read that a horse called Thessalon won the King's Plate in 1903.

Thessalon won the race that day for N. Dyment, the board said. He was ridden by Castro and completed the circuit in the creditable, but not outstanding time of 2 minutes, 15 and one half seconds (race times are now given in fifths of seconds, but that came a few years later).

Was the horse named for the classic Greek region of Thessaly? Or could it be, the northerner hopes, that the fine thoroughbred was actually named for a small town on the north channel, which even today boasts of a population of only 1,798. Could it he the name was not of ancient Greek origin but an Ojibay word meaning point of land.

Anyone in Thessalon can tell you

the answer to that. Nathaniel Dyment, a Barrie lumberman, is looked on as the father of Thessalon since he came there in 1871 to locate a site for his mill.

Earlier the narrow neck of land had been designated as Tessalon on Galinee's map of 1670. An 1815 map marked a fort on the point. Actually the Canadian government had considered St. Joseph Island and Thessalon as a suitable place for a fort and St. Joe won out.

With the arrival of Dyment's mill machinery in 1873. the wilderness gave way to a permanent settlement.

The Dyment mill operated there until 1906, the final 10 years under the direction of Nathaniel's son Albert, who also represented the area in provincial parliament.

Nathaniel and his son Albert were both interested in horses as well as lumber. In Trent Frayne's book on the Queen's plate he mentions that in 1898 "Barrie industrialist Nathaniel Dyment had a well regarded filly named Maritana entered in the race." Seagram horses had won the race in the past seven years and although Maritana challenged Seagram's Bon Ino entering the stretch, she ended up third behind Dalmoor, another Seagram horse. Dyment had another third in 1900 with Bellcourt, which was entered again in 1901 and ran second to the Seagram entry', John Ruskin.

"The name of Nathaniel Dyment finally found its way onto the list of King's Plate winners in 1903 after a decade of defeat in Canada's greatest horse race," Trent Erayne wrote.

"The Barrie lumberman owned the first and second horses in the 44th running."

"Dyment's pair, Thessalon and Nesto (after Nestorville. five miles west of Thessalon? ( were third in the betting trailing the Seagram pair (6 to 5) and the Hendrie entry (4 to 1) at a price of 6 to.1."

Fly-in-Amber, the Seagram filly stepped in a hole and fell. The Dyment horses were running second and third.

"At the half the black colt Thessalon had taken the lead and his stablemate had passed Jack Canuck and Marston Moore to move into contention.

"When Nesto drove ahead as they rounded the last turn only to have Thessalon, with jockey Castro punishing him severely, regain the top in the stretch. With a 16th of a mile to go Thessalon broke clear to a three length advantage, and won it that way, with Nesto second a length ahead of Golden Crest, finishing strongly."

That was only the beginning for Dyment horses. In 1904 "a strapping colt named Sapper carried the green and orange silks of Nathaniel Dyment to a King's Plate record on May 21, 1904.

Nesto, second in 1903, was considered the horse to beat but Sapper took the lead immediately and Nesto also ran.

Dyment's Will King ran second in 1905 and his Court Martial also placed in 1906 behind Seagram's Slaughter.

Nathaniel Dyment died in 1906 and his son, Albert, sold the Thessalon mill the same year. Albert took over his father's stables although in 1909 the colt, Fort Garry, still ran as a Nathaniel Dyment horse. He led early but "went to pieces".

In 1912 John Dyment's well regarded Heresy won and the purse earned was the largest in Plate history, $4,535, the first time the winning share had topped $4,000.

John was a great nephew of Nathaniel. According to his brother, Harold Dyment of Toronto, their father, John was the first of the Dyments to be interested in thoroughbred horses.

Harold's father John ran the Orkney Stock Farm west of Hamilton.

Harold is the family historian. He told us that John did not live to see Heresy win. He had joined his second cousins, Albert and Simon, sons of Nathaniel, to form Brookdale Stable. Heresy ran under the Brookdale colors. Brookdale also had the winner, Heresy, in 1921 and a few years before Dyment's Tarahera had run second.

...Champs' names:

Thessalon, Sapper

In 1936 A. E. Dyment officiated as president of the Ontario Jockey Club, to present the King's prize to Clifford Hatch, owner of Monsweep.

Harold Dyment tells us family descendants living today are no longer involved with thoroughbreds.

He says there was a smallplace near Thessalon named Dyment, after his second cousin, Albert. There is also a Lake Dyment, (our Diamond Lake?) named for Harold's brother, Philip, when he was interested in mining. Harold, Philip and two other brothers ran a mining investment firm for a time.

The first Dyment came to Canada in 1823. Harold has traced the family back to 1720 in England. They were actually French, coming to England from Normandy.

The first boy in the family was always called John. Harold's late brother John was the eighth John Dyment.

Dyment interests today include five manufacturing plants in the United States and two in Canada. Harold said he's had no criticism from Washington about Canadian interests owning American plants.

In his book Shantymen and Sodbusters, J. E. MacDonald reports horseracing was a tremendous attraction to rural and town dwellers alike before the turn of the century.

"Thessalon boasted an excellent track, bleachers, bandstand, stables and all the other facilities of an up-to-date racing centre. These facilities were built almost entirely by Dave Gordon. Pacing and trotting horses were brought in from near and far for racing meets."

Black Billie, the most famous stallion at Thessalon. was also owned by Dave Gordon, who was woods manager and contractor for the Dyment Company for many years.

The Gordon family had come from Barrie, brought by Mr. Dyment, and it might be safe to say that the harmony between the owner and his manager was partly due to their mutual love of horses.

A footnote to the story of the Dyment horses and Algoma is added by the discovery in the Searchmont Hotel of a large picture of Queen's and King's Plate winners 1901 to 1906.

W. W. Bud Graham, who now owns the hotel, has the picture still stored away.

It seems likely that the picture belonged to the Dyments since it would show the famous Thessalon and Sapper, winners in 1903 and 1904. How it came to be in Searchmont. isn't known. Searchmont was a lumbering town too. but Harold Dyment doesn't recall Searchmont in relation to the family history.

Harold Dyment has promised to send along more information on the Dyment family.