This Saturday (February 2) harness racing’s version of the Oscars -- the O’Brien Awards will be presented to our 2018 Canadian Champions at the annual O’Brien Awards Black Tie Gala hosted at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario.

For those attending, here is the evening’s agenda:

For those watching from home, here’s what you need to watch and when:

5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (EST) To kick off the night we have “Red Carpet" coverage of the reception with our live Red Carpet Host, Kelly Spencer on Standardbred Canada’s website and Facebook page. Kelly will be interviewing some of the finalists and special guests as they arrive on the Red Carpet for the Gala.

9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. (EST) - Watch the 2018 O’Brien winners receive their awards live from the comfort of your own home live via video stream exclusively on standardbredcanada.ca. A link to the video will be available before the awards on Saturday night. The online stream is brought to you in part by Omega Alpha Pharmaceuticals ~ Effective Supplements Through Science. The awards presentations are estimated to last for 60 - 75 minutes.

The O'Briens will be hosted by Ken Middleton and Jason Portuondo, with Country Music singer, Natasha Zimbaro singing the national anthems.

Standardbred Canada will also provide live updates on the event through its social media channels. For anyone tweeting or adding photos to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, please use the #obriens18 hashtag.

Standardbred Canada would like to thank all of the Industry Partners and Sponsors for their support of the 2018 O’Brien Awards:

• Woodbine Mohawk Park for sponsorship of the wine

• Woodbine for their assistance with live streaming and video production.

• The Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation, sponsors of the Outstanding Groom Award.

• The Central Ontario Standardbred Association, sponsors of the cocktail reception.

• Ontario Racing, sponsor of the Media Excellence Awards.

• Horse Racing Alberta for sponsoring the O’Brien post event video interviews which you will see on our website for the week following the awards.

• Grand River Raceway for sponsoring the Red Carpet live broadcast.

• The Hambletonian Society / Breeders Crown for sponsoring table décor.

• OnTrack Media and Entertainment, an American Teletimer company, sponsor of the complimentary portraits which will be available online at obrienportraits.com

• Great Canadian Gaming & The Raceway At Western Fair District for their contributions as Industry Partners.

• Omega Alpha Pharmaceuticals, for sponsoring the video stream