Clarence D. Drook

  General Notes:

Some of the early trainers that trained at Converse included, Ike Jones, the father of Emma Sowash. Some of his heirs still train there. They include Jerry Sowash and Joe Sumner. One of the early woman trainers was Mae Britt, who could drive as rough a race as any man. Stutterin’ Ott Retherford and Oral Hobbs, whose son Merrill is still active in the business, also trained here. Ott Retherford died during a race at the ½ mile, so his nephew, Clarence (Ty) Drook, took over the reins for the second heat of the race. Ty trained a stable of horses there for several years and raced the grand circuit until in the late 1960s.

In later years you could hear the following names: Trimble, Shaw, Dever, Fox, Cain, Retherford, Burns, Drook, Druck, Bowman, Shirley, Hiple, Losure, White, Daugherty, Smith, Highley, Steelman, McVay, Mark, Knox, Miller, Crain, McGibbons, Harts, Montgomery, Williams, ...and the list could go on for miles. Each has contributed to the legend which has been Indiana harness racing and it’s future.

Clarence married Grace C. Cochran.