John G. Canty was an American Thoroughbred horse racing

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

.

A native of Ireland, his father and grandfather were racehorse trainers. He emigrated to the United States in 1953 and settled in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. After working in the horse racing industry, in 1959 he became a professional trainer. During his thirty-three year career, John Canty's best known horse was Unconscious, a colt owned by Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr.

Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr.

Arthur Addison Seeligson, Jr. was an American oilman, rancher, and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder....

 Unconscious notably won the San Felipe Handicap, San Antonio Handicap

San Antonio Handicap

The San Antonio Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California...

, California Derby

California Derby

The California Derby is a race for Thoroughbred horses held early in the year at Golden Gate Fields. An ungraded stakes, it's open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt...

, Santa Catalina Stakes

Robert B. Lewis Stakes

The Robert B. Lewis Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Raced over a distance of 11/16 miles on dirt, the Grade II race is open to three-year-old horses...

, and the Charles H. Strub Stakes

Strub Stakes

The Strub Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California each year.Currently a Grade II stakes race with a purse of $300,000, it is open to horses, age four, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the synthetic surface of Santa Anita and offers...

 and who was the betting

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 favorite in the 1971 Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 in which he ran fifth. http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2009/derby-charts/1971.pdf

John Canty was a partner with Castlebrook Farm in the horse Nor II who he conditioned to a win the 1972 San Luis Rey Handicap

San Luis Rey Handicap

The San Luis Rey Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Held during the third week of March, the Grade II event is open to horses of either gender, age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles on the turf.Prior to 1955,...

.

A resident of Arcadia, California

Arcadia, California

Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....

, John Canty died of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 at age seventy-two at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

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