2009 O'Brien Awards - O'Brien Award of Horsemanship

Per Henriksen

Norwegian native Per Henriksen now makes his home in Norwood, Ontario. This veteran trainer prefers to specialize in trotters, the gait closest to his heart and homeland. Henriksen has trained a roster of champions including Clerk Magistrate, Oolong, Nuclear Kosmos, and Please Poppy.

Henriksen relocated to Ontario five years ago and has been making his presence felt in the training and driving ranks. He has a skill for turning around problem horses and conditions his trainees on a straightaway, not a traditional oval track. In 2009, for the third consecutive year, he eclipsed $1 million in earnings for horses that he trains. On the driving side, he made 52 trips to the winner’s circle in 2009 and drove horses to over $681,000 in earnings.

Some of his top performers in 2009 included the three-year-old trotting colt, I Wont Dance who won several stakes events including the OSS Super Final and banked almost $400,000 in earnings. Freshman trotting colt Magic Fruit won over $240,000, while sophomores Magic Carpet Ride and Littlemscantbwrong were both $100,000 + winners.

Henriksen's Stats:

Training Statistics

Driving Statistics

 


Rick Zeron

Rick Zeron has been posting impressive training and driving numbers for over two decades. The Oakville, Ontario resident shows no signs of slowing down as he posted some of his highest averages ever in the 2009 season.

Zeron has consistently ranked as one of the country’s top reinsman for the past decade and in 2009 drove horses to earnings in excess of $5.5 million which put him in fifth spot overall in the Canadian driving standings. On the training side, he had another productive season, conditioning winners of over $1 million.

Some of the horses that Zeron trained in 2009 included three-year-old trotting filly Margarita Mary, a winner of over $131,000, sophomore pacer Mysticism and older trotter, The Mame Event. Zeron also teamed up with O’Brien nominee Yursa Hanover on several occasions, including a victory in a division of the Casual Breeze.

For the past two years the charismatic horseman has taken part in Fraser Downs’ BC Breeders Classic program and donated his earnings to charity.

Zeron's Stats:

Training Statistics

Driving Statistics

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