Standardbred Canada is pleased to announce that Ken Middleton and Jason Portuondo will take the stage to co-host the 2019 O’Brien Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2020 at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale Hotel in Mississauga, Ont.

This will mark the 17th consecutive year that Middleton has been an integral part of the O’Brien Awards as a co-host. When he’s not calling the races as Woodbine Mohawk Park’s regular track announcer, he can be found in the barn, training and caring for his horses.

Jason Portuondo is back to join Middleton for the fourth consecutive year. Portuondo was the on-air analyst for Woodbine Entertainment’s simulcast coverage of Standardbred racing from Woodbine Mohawk Park until October this year when he moved to the Thoroughbred broadcast team.

Middleton and Portuondo will also be doing the honours of announcing the O’Brien Award Finalists in a broadcast that will be live streamed to standardbredcanada.ca on Wednesday, December 18 at 2:00 p.m. (EST) This will be the first time that Standardbred Canada has announced the finalists in a live broadcast format.

Given that both of the emcees have some history in hosting the O’Brien Awards, we talked to them to find out some of their O’Brien favourites and get their input on menu, band, and more. Check out the video below!