Background
He was born in East York, now part of the city of Toronto.
He was born in East York, now part of the city of Toronto.
Known to his family as Gordon, in racing circles he was nicknamed Pete. Pete McCann began his career as a jockey. He raced at Oriental Park Racetrack in Havana, Cuba where he was a leading jockey in 1926.
McCann was hired by East. P. Taylor as head trainer at Windfields Farm in 1950 where he would spend the next twenty-one years.
He also is tied for having trained the most winners with three in the Canadian International Stakes. In 1971, McCann retired from training after Taylor divided the stable into Canadian and United States divisions under separate head trainers.
Quickly bored, he returned to racing with a small stable of his own. McCann was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1979.
He died of pneumonia at age 91.