"There were some great horses -- Dorsoduro [Hanover], Courtly Choice, Lather Up, [who] was also nominated...he’s a fantastic horse. This Is The Plan came around late so they were pretty even the whole year. I was happy to be on the right end of some of those but Jimmy was pretty good the entire year."

Adriano Sorella's Jimmy Freight took the title of Canada’s Three-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year at the 2018 O'Brien Awards. The son of Sportswriter won 11 races and more than $834,000, while collecting victories in all five Ontario Sires Stakes races he competed in, including his season-ending Super Final. He also won eliminations of the Messenger and Progress Pace, and finished his season with a runner-up finish in the Progress Final to eclipse the million-dollar mark in earnings.

Sorella took a few minutes before celebrating his O'Brien Award to reflect on the year that was and discuss the year ahead. He added that Jimmy Freight is back in training for his four-year-old season with Canadian conditioner Richard Moreau.

"We turned him out over at Richard Moreau’s place. Right after we won, his caretaker Lynn Cameron sent me a snapshot of him in the barn eating carrots and stuff like that. Maybe he knows something is up," smiled Sorella. "He’s there and he’s coming back. He’s jogging back and we’re looking forward to 2019."

To hear more from Sorella on the plans for Jimmy Freight as an older horse, check out the following interview.

This is the eighth in a series of several post-event video interviews with O'Brien Award finalists, sponsored by Horse Racing Alberta.

On Saturday, Feb. 2, Standardbred Canada announced the winners for the 2018 O’Brien Awards at the 30th 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. To view the full list of 2018 O'Brien Award winners, click here.