Brad Grant

Brad Grant
Born	Bradley J. Grant
Nationality	Canada
Occupation	Businessman
Relatives	John Grant (father)

Bradley "Brad" J. Grant (age 61 or 62) is a Canadian businessman, horseowner and former hockey team owner from Milton, Ontario.^[1]

Early life

Grant was born in 1954 or 1955 to Kathleen "Kay" and John Grant, owner of J.B. Grant Trucking, a company that hauled cement in Ontario.^[2] Brad has four sisters and one brother.^[3]

Grant’s roots in harness racing stretch back to a childhood spent on his late father’s Standardbred breeding farm, which he purchased in 1965, in Hornby. John Grant, who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame as a builder in 1998, bred and raced a notable list of provincial stars including Hornby Glory, Hornby Tora, Hornby Judy, Armbro Luxury, and Classic Wish.^[4] Brad opted not to continue his father's Hornby breeding operation.^[5]

Grant's father John was not only involved in the trucking business, but also the golf course business and horse racing.^[6]

Trucking Ownership

Brad Grant, who founded trucking company Active Transport and later purchased John Grant Haulage from his father. He is president of both companies, two of Canada's notable names in the trucking business.^[7] John Grant Haulage has 57 trucks in operation.^[8]

In 2015, Brad Grant's investment firm purchased a controlling interest in Hutton Transport from St. Marys Cement.^[9]

Bradley J. Grant Investments also has financial interests in “a number of working transport companies,” including Active Transport and Movin Freight.^[10]

Hockey Team Ownership

Trucking magnate Brad Grant purchased the Tier-II Jr. A hockey team the Milton Steamers in April 1986 when it seemed like the organization might fold. For the 1986-87 season, he immediately changed the team's name from the Steamers to the Merchants after the Junior C team of old, and brought in former coach Gerry Inglis, who had also coached the Georgetown Raiders and had won five intermediate championships at the time.^[11]

Grant led the team to tremendous success in the late 1990's. During his 15 year ownership run, the team captured four division crowns, three league championships and a provincial title.^[12]

In 1992, the Milton Merchants were Central Junior B Hockey League champions with a 4-2 victory in Game 7 over the Aurora Eagles.^[13] They made the Ontario Hockey Association Sutherland Cup Junior B championship but lost in five games to the Mid-Western Junior B Hockey League's Kitchener Dutchmen.^[14]

The 1994-95 season marked the beginning of a historical run for the franchise as the club won five straight division titles. The surge of success increased when the Merchants were crowned league champions in 1997, winning the Buckland Trophy after defeating the Newmarket 87's. In the 1997 Dudley Cup playoffs, the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (NOJHL) beat Milton four games to one.

In 1998, the Milton Merchants repeated their Buckland Trophy title, dispatching the Newmarket Hurricanes this time, and then went on to become Central Canadian Junior A Champions by winning the Dudley Hewitt Cup, defeating the Rayside-Balfour Sabrecats (NOJHL) four games to two, and exacting revenge for the previous year's loss to Rayside-Balfour.

At the 1998 Royal Bank Cup, the Milton Merchants went 1-3 in round robin play. In the semifinal game, Milton lost 6-2 to the South Surrey Eagles and were eliminated from the tournament.

Harness Racing

In the 1970s, Charles Juravinski was one of the individuals trying to get a new racetrack off the ground just outside Hamilton, Ontario, what would later come to be known as Flamboro Downs. He was introduced to John Grant, Brad's father, who joined on to the venture. Flamboro Downs proved to be a wise move for Grant as the Hamilton-area racetrack was extremely well received once it opened in April 1975. Within that first year of opening, Juravinski first became familiar with John Grant's son, Brad. Years later John Grant sold his stake in Flamboro Downs due to health concerns, something Juravinski didn't want him to do. Many years later Juravinski and the younger Grant who join forces to co-own a horse named American Rock.^[15]

In 1997, Brad Grant got drawn back into the horse racing industry through the ownership of horses.^[16]

On January 4, 2016, a devastating barn fire at Classy Lane Training Centre in Puslinch, Ontario that killed 43 horses. Grant himself lost four horses in the fire that he owned — millionaire older pacer Apprentice Hanover, unraced three-year-old pacing mare Proven Effective, older gelded pacer Whiskey N Pie (a winner of $47,000 on the track) and older gelded pacer Whistle Jimmy K, who earned more than $47,000 racing.^[17]

Two weeks later, Grant traveled to New Jersey where he spent $275,000 US on three racehorses to be trained by Guelph native Ben Wallace, who lost all 17 horses he had at Classy Lane in the fire.^[18]

Personal

Grant serves the Milton District Hospital Foundation as vice chair and is a past chair of the foundation. He has donated thousands to the hospital foundation through his personal donations and donations from his trucking companies.^[19] He also is with the Ontario Hockey Association as the finance chairman.^[20] Grant lives in Milton, Ontario. He is married to his wife Bonnie.^[21]

References