Born at Indian River, Prince Edward Island in 1897, Johnny Conroy was the son of Peter Conroy, himself a noted maritime horseman and blacksmith. Johnny Conroy earned an enviable reputation throughout a lifetime of attention, care, and painstaking labour devoted to the sport of harness racing. Nova Scotia fans began to notice him in 1928 when he was stabled in Truro and raced Lambert Todd, Katherine Claude, Captain Mack, Baron Aubrey, August Queen and Worthy J.

Johnny was the leading driver at Charlottetown Old Home Week in 1930 and 1933. And, in 1933, his horse Darkey Grattan was the fastest in the Maritimes. Johnny equaled the pacing record for a Maritime mare in 1937 with Josie the Great. In the same year, racing out of Amherst, he won the British Consol trophy as well as the Three-Year-Old Futurity. He set new track records, established new maritime records, won driving championships and dash winning records; edging out the now famous Joe O’Brien for driving honours in 1944. At the end of the 1962 season, he won his last race with Phillips Queen and hung up his famous blue and white silks.

Even after he retired from racing, Johnny trained young trotters and pacers. Disliking the “big time” race circle atmosphere, he stayed in the Maritimes and greatly helped shape the history of the Truro Raceway, which holds the annual “Johnny Conroy Memorial” – an invitational pace in Conroy’s memory.