By Curtis Stock – Horse Racing Alberta

ALBERTA, CA–MAY 28, 2025–At 81 years old - racing Quarter Horses since 1977 - Bucky Stockwell was thinking of retiring, But the oldest quarter horse trainer in Alberta - and possibly all of Canada - Stockwell couldn't do it.

"It's in my blood," said Stockwell, who was Alberta's leading quarter horse trainer last year and topped the standings in B.C. 12 of the 14 years he raced there when they still had quarter horse racing.

"I just want to fish.

"I want to relax. I want to take my time. Go fishing and not have to hurry back.

"It sounds good to me when I talk to myself.

"Every morning it's the same thing. Feed, train, watch them gallop and make the owners happy.

"But it's going to be tough to quit; I've been doing this too long.

"I've been thinking of quitting for the last five years. But it's going to be tough. It's not going to be easy."

Alberta's R.A. 'Red McKenzie, who is now 98 and finally retired, became the oldest thoroughbred trainer in Canada - and second oldest at a recognized racetrack in North America - to win a race when he was 96.

But Stockwell definitely doesn't want to keep going that long.

"There are no quarter horse trainers in Alberta older than me. I might be the oldest in Canada. Maybe there's somebody in Ajax, Ontario, where they only race Quarter Horses every Wednesday older than me but I don't think so."

One of the things that has kept Stockwell from retiring is Jd Wagon Boss, a stallion and former race horse he bought from the horse's breeder in Oklahoma.

"Wagon Boss had some babies coming and I wanted to see if they could run. And, they could.

"I started five of his babies last year and they were all winners. They won two stakes and four or five Futurities.

"One of my owners Glen Willis has 10 mares he wants to breed to Wagon Boss. How do you walk away from that?"

Stockwell had three horses in this past Saturday's Quarter Horse Derby at Century Mile going 350 yards. They couldn't outrun the Craig Smith trained Flash Me a Corona but, in a roughly contested race, Stockwell's horses finished second, third and fourth.

"It was a ping pong race. they were bouncing off one another. But that's horse racing. I'm glad they didn't take down Sizzles Boss's number, who finished second. He was the one that started it all."

Sizzles Boss is a three-year-old sired by Jd Wagon Boss. He had won four of his last five races.

Jd Wagon Boss also sired the third-place finisher in that Derby, Rjs Boss.

"And then there's Bitterroots Wagon. He won six of nine starts," said Stockwell.

"Every year Wagon Boss throws runners, every year he throws a champion," said Stockwell, who, with his wife, Bev - a former trainer herself - lives in a trailer at a trailer park in Leduc.

"Our home is Camrose but living in Leduc is right beside Century Mile so it makes it a lot easier for us.

Jd Wagon Boss could run too.

"He won his first three starts," said Stockwell, who worked as a consultant in the oil fields for 30 years working for Mobil, Chevron and Shell.

"Wagon Boss won his first race in Lethbridge by five lengths while breaking the track record for the 300-yard race.

"Then, he won his next two races in Grande Prairie.

"After those three races I took him to Prairie Meadows in Iowa for the big show - a $131,000 Grade 1 stake. There were 10 horses from across the U.S. and Mexico. Wagon Boss just got caught at the wire. From where I was standing I thought he had won it."

Second place wasn't too bad. It paid $26,260.

Jd Wagon Boss's fourth crop is at the track.

"This year it looks like there's a couple of good ones too."

Stockwell said quarter horse racing has been good to him.

"You don't make a lot of money but it's been a good life for me. I've seen a lot of good horses and we've met a lot of nice people.

"Glenn has three horses he wants me to train next year. I didn't want too but he talked me into it.

"So, we'll see. I might have to keep going until I'm 85.

"I'm still getting new owners," said Stockwell, who trains 11 horses. "They are syndicates. One syndicate has 10 people. A second has four. And then there's a new owner that says he has six horses he wants me to train.

"We're short of Quarter Horses. But the thoroughbreds are short too.

"Both sports need more broodmares.

"Both sports need to advertise more. People don't even know there is horse racing in Edmonton.

"The way it's going I might outlive quarter horse racing in Alberta.

"There are lots of stakes races with big purses. There's a Futurity with a $100,000 purse. There's the Canada Cup with a $60,000 purse. And there are some nice breeders' bonuses for Alberta-breds.

"We just need to get the word out and attract younger people."

Stockwell doesn't come from a horse racing family.

"My dad, Dewain, was a rodeo cowboy. A bareback rider and a steer decorator. He was a mixed farmer in Whitecourt.

Buckey was involved with cutting and reining horses. One day in 1976 he went to look at a quarter horse that Jerry Stojan Sr. had for sale.

Stockwell liked what he saw and also liked the stories that Stojan told him about quarter horse racing.

"They were only racing in the 'bushes' those days: small towns across Alberta and in B.C.

"The purses were only $500 or $600. We did it for the fun," said Stockwell, who had a farm in Whitecourt where he ran cattle and a commercial herd of cows. "It was a big family. When we raced we had a big picnic and barbecue.

"Quarter horse racing just seemed like an interesting thing to do. I told myself that I could train race horses and out-run these guys."

The first race horse Stockwell bought was a yearling named Joleo Rocket.

In 1977 he took out his trainer's license.

Nearly 50 years later he's still doing it.

For how long is the only question.