On Saturday, February 3, Standardbred
Canada announced the winners for the 2017 O’Brien Awards, at the 29th edition of
the annual O’Brien Awards Black Tie Gala held at the Hilton Mississauga /
Meadowvale hotel in Mississauga, Ont.
The O’Brien Awards honour Canada’s
best in harness racing over the past season and are named in honour of the late
Joe O’Brien, an outstanding horseman and member of the Canadian Horse Racing
Hall of Fame.
Richard Moreau, of Puslinch, Ont.,
was awarded his fifth consecutive O’Brien bronze in the Trainer of the Year
category. Moreau led all Canadian trainers in the wins column with 277
victories to his credit and more than $3.7 million in pure earnings. Moreau’s
stable star, Sandbetweenurtoes was honoured as Older Pacing Mare of the Year.
Owner Brad Grant of Milton, Ont., had
a phenomenal night, taking home three O’Briens bronzes – one each for his
two-year-old pacing colt, Stay Hungry, his three-year-old pacing filly Bettors
Up and his pacing mare, Sandbetweenurtoes. This was a monumental
achievement for Grant who lost many horses in the tragic barn fire at Classy
Lane Training Centre in January, 2016.
Al Libfeld of Pickering, Ont., and
Marvin Katz of Toronto, Ont., took home two O’Briens – one for Ariana G, voted
the country’s top three-year-old trotting filly and one as Breeders of the
Year.
Dr. Ian Moore, a native of Prince
Edward Island, and now a resident of Guelph, Ont., trains and co-owns two
O’Brien winners – Percy Bluechip, the divisional champion as Two-Year-Old
Filly Pacer and Classic Pro, the Three-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year.
Driver Doug McNair won his first
O’Brien as Canada’s Driver of the Year following a career year. McNair, a
resident of Guelph, Ont., was a finalist for this award in 2013. He topped the
charts in earnings for drivers in Canada last year with more than $5.9 million
in purse money, and $6.5 million in earnings in North America while driving 325
winners. McNair was also the regular driver for O’Brien winners Stay Hungry,
Bettors Up, and Sandbetweenurtoes.
Marc Campbell of Winsloe, P.E.I. took
his second O’Brien Award of Horsemanship after having a career year in 2017,
which saw him top the charts for training and driving at both Red Shores
properties –- Charlottetown Driving Park and Summerside. Campbell, who won this
award in 2012, recorded 255
wins and more than $584,000 in purse earnings as a driver.
On the training side, Campbell had
131 victories and more than $376,000 in earnings last season.
Hannelore Hanover was named Canada’s
Horse of the Year, and also won her second consecutive O’Brien Trophy as Older
Trotting Mare. Her connections received the inaugural Somebeachsomewhere Horse
of the Year Award. Hannelore
Hanover won 10 of 17 races last season, over $1.1 million in purse
money and scored victories against male rivals in an elimination and final of
the Breeders Crown Open Trot, the Allerage, and the Maple Leaf Trot. She also
swept the Armbro Flight.
Percy
Bluechip, Canada’s Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly of the year is
co-owned and conditioned by Dr. Ian Moore, who also managed her sire. The
Shadow Play filly scored five wins in nine races on the season and racked up
more than $440,000 in earnings. In addition to four wins in Ontario Sires
Stakes events, including the season-ending Super Final. The talented filly also
posted a wire-to-wire victory in the Eternal Camnation at Mohawk Racetrack.
Stay Hungry, a son of
Somebeachsomewhere won the two-year-old pacing colt division. Last season
he won six of nine races and bankrolled more than $557,000 during a season
that saw him score wins in a Champlain Stakes division, and an elimination of
the Metro at Mohawk Racetrack. His crowning moment came in a sweep of the
Breeders Crown at Hoosier Park where he took a nose victory in his elimination
and came back one week later to score a neck victory in the final.
The title of Three-Year-Old Pacing
Filly of the Year went to Bettors Up. The
daughter of Bettors Delight put together an outstanding season, finishing first
or second in ten of her 17 races while adding more than a half million dollars
to her bankroll. She scored a career best 1:49.4 effort at Mohawk Racetrack in
the Fan Hanover Final.
Classic Pro was the winner in
the three-year-old pacing colt division. Trained and co-owned by
Dr. Ian Moore, Classic Pro won four of 14 starts and earned more than
$293,000 on the season. Two of those wins were in Ontario Sires Stakes events
and one of those gave the Shadow Play colt his mark of 1:51.
Older Pacing Mare honours went to Sandbetweenurtoes. The daughter
of Somebeachsomewhere was a model of consistency, hitting the board in 24
of her 30 starts and earning in excess of $243,000, while primarily competing
in the Fillies and Mares Preferred races at Mohawk and Woodbine Racetracks.
Sintra took Older Pacing Horse
honours following a productive season where he won nine of 19 races and more
than $617,000. The son of Mach Three captured Canada’s oldest harness stakes
event, The Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk Racetrack, to take home the lion’s
share of the $615,000 purse. He also won a leg and the final of the Graduate
Series.
The outstanding trotting filly Kadabra Queen was the
Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly champion. The Kadabra filly won five of 10
races and more than $328,000 on the season. All five of her victories were in
the Ontario Sires Stakes, including a win in the season-ending Ontario Sires
Stakes Super Final at Mohawk Racetrack, her final start of the season.
In the two-year-old trotting colt
division, the winner was Alarm
Detector. The Chapter Seven colt was almost perfect in his
debut season, winning six of seven races and $276,000. Stakes victories
included the Define The World and an elimination and final of the William
Wellwood Memorial.
Ariana G won her second consecutive
O’Brien trophy, this time as Canada’s Three-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the
Year. The Muscle Hill filly won 12 of 15 races during her million-dollar
season. Her major victories included the Breeders Crown, Elegantimage, the
Simcoe, the Hambletonian Oaks, the Delvin Miller Memorial and the New Jersey
Sire Stakes final.
International
Moni took the three-year-old trotting colt division after winning
nine of 15 races and $620,000 in 2017. His victories included the Carl
Erskine Memorial, a Breeders Crown elimination, a Kentucky Futurity
elimination, the Bluegrass, a division of the Simcoe, an elimination of the
Hambletonian and a sweep of the Goodtimes.
The durable Odds On
Amethyst, was voted Older Trotting Horse of the Year. The son of
Muscle Hill, scored 11 wins and more than $232,000 in earnings, primarily
competing in the preferred and free-for-all trotting ranks.
In the Armstrong Breeder of the
Year category, partners Marvin Katz of Toronto, Ont., and Al Libfeld, of
Pickering, Ont., collected their second consecutive O’Brien trophy. The
Katz-Libfeld partnership has evolved into one of harness racing's most
respected breeding enterprises. From the ten horses bred by this partnership
and that raced in 2017, there were 27 wins and earnings of more than $1.5
million. Their top horse was O’Brien finalist Ariana G, a winner of more than
$1.1 million.
Brett
MacDonald of Manotick, Ont., was named Future Star winner. In only his
third season of full time driving, MacDonald posted some very impressive
numbers, driving 114 winners and horses to more than $616,000 in purse
money. The 21-year-old competes regularly at Rideau Carleton Raceway.
Chantel Gillis, 22, of Truro, Nova
Scotia was presented with the Outstanding Groom Award.
Standardbred Canada also presented
three Media Excellence Awards at the Gala, to recognize and honour exceptional
work in covering Canadian harness racing.
A complete list of the winners and
their respective owners is listed in the attached release.
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HORSE OF THE YEAR AWARD NAMED IN
HONOUR OF SOMEBEACHSOMEWHERE
On
Saturday, February 3, at the O’Brien Awards Gala, Standarbred Canada announced
that the O’Brien Award for Horse of the Year is now named the Somebeachsomewhere
Horse of the Year Award.
“In light of
his extraordinary success as a racehorse and stallion, and most importantly,
the tremendous impact that Somebeachsomewhere has had on the Canadian harness
racing industry, it was decided that we needed to do something to properly
honour Beach,“ said Dan Gall, President and CEO of Standardbred Canada.
“We made the offer
to the Schooner Stable and they graciously accepted this,” continued Gall,
“This is a way that each year when we honour our champions, we’ll be reminded
of the great impact that Beach had on the industry.”
Members
of the Schooner Stable – Reg & Louise Petitpas, along with trainer Brent MacGrath
and driver Paul MacDonell were on hand at the O’Briens to make the inaugural
presentation of the Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year Award to Jerry and
Theresa Silva, owners of the exceptional trotting mare, Hannelore Hanover.
Hannelore Hanover won 10 of 17 races last
season, won over $1.1 million in purse money and scored victories against male
rivals in an elimination and final of the Breeders Crown Open Trot, the
Allerage, and the Maple Leaf Trot. She also swept the Armbro Flight. She
was also recognized with an O’Brien as Canada’s Older Trotting Mare of the
Year.
Following a short
battle with cancer, Somebeachsomewhere was humanely euthanized at Mid-Atlantic
Veterinary Center in Ringoes, New Jersey at roughly 2 p.m. on Sunday, January
14.
The syndicate
announced that Somebeachsomewhere will be laid to rest at Hanover Shoe Farms in
Hanover, Pennsylvania after an autopsy is complete. Somebeachsomewhere had
stood stud at Hanover since his on-track career concluded at the end of the
2008 racing campaign.
Driven by Paul
MacDonell and campaigned by Brent MacGrath for the Nova Scotia-based Schooner
Stable, world champion Somebeachsomewhere won 20 of his 21 races during his
legendary career and earned $3,328,755 in purses. His major victories as a
freshman included the Battle of Waterloo, Metro Pace, Champlain Stakes and Nassagaweya.
At three, his highlights included the Burlington (which was later renamed the
Somebeachsomewhere Stakes), Pepsi North America Cup, Confederation Cup, Simcoe,
Bluegrass, Tattersalls, Messenger, Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final and
Breeders Crown.
The two-time
Canadian Horse of the Year was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of
Fame nine months after he retired – at the time holding eight world records.
During his stud
career, Somebeachsomewhere’s offspring earned more than $87 million and he was
the first sire in harness racing history to top $20 million in progeny earnings
in a single season. Among his offspring are 13 millionaires, including
Captaintreacherous ($3.2 million), Pure Country ($2.4 million), Downbytheseaside
($2.3 million), Huntsville ($1.8 million) and Check Six ($1.6 million).
