On September 30, Standardbred Canada’s Board of Directors announced that the 2020 O’Brien Awards would be a “Virtual Event” due to the ongoing global pandemic.

Standardbred Canada is pleased to announce that the 2020 Virtual O’Brien Awards Gala will take place on Sunday, January 31, 2021. The virtual event will be available for viewing on standardbredcanada.ca from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (EST).

“Having a virtual event this year allows us the chance to honour the stars of our sport across the country, and moving from a Saturday to Sunday night is to allow more of our members to be able to watch and enjoy the celebration of our champion horses and horsepeople,” said Dan Gall, President & CEO of Standardbred Canada. “Even though it will be a broadcast, our team at SC will leverage technology to make it a highly interactive and entertaining event with all kinds of surprises and celebrations that properly recognizes our sport’s stars.”

For the past several years, the awards presentations of the O’Brien Awards Gala has been video streamed live on standardbredcanada.ca, so that SC members and fans of harness racing around the world could watch the Gala.

The 2020 O’Brien Awards Gala was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 30, 2021, at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario.