Gary Gibson dies

Former four-time Vernon Downs race-winning driving champion Gary Gibson died Friday, Oct. 6, at the Veteran’s Hospital in Syracuse hospital following a courageous battle with cancer. He was 62.

A product of both the Fred Haslip and Webber Farms training facilities in western New York, Gibson began his driving career on the Buffalo Raceway/Batavia Downs circuit. Following success at those half-mile tracks, the young trainer-driver made a seamless transition to Vernon Downs’ chute-attached three-quarter mile oval in the early 1970s with the stated goal of becoming a Grand Circuit reinsman.

Developing into one of Vernon’s most sought after catch-drivers, Gibson went on to capture four race-winning titles at the Downs (1979-1981 and 1997). He also ranks among the central New York track’s all-time leaders in total victories and 2:00 driving credits. In 1991, his best year statistically, Gibson’s black, gold and green colors visited the winner’s circle 125 times and he earned $396,469 in official purses.

A career winner of 2,999 races, according to the United States Trotting Association, Gibson achieved both his Grand Circuit goal and his ambition to drive in harness racing’s top trotting race, the Hambletonian. He also achieved success in the New York Sire Stakes program.

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