At the recent Standardbred Canada (SC) Board of Directors meeting, the Board approved a change to the criteria for the O’Brien Award of Horsemanship.

This award was introduced to recognize the Standardbred participant who best exemplifies the standard of horsemanship demonstrated by Joe O’Brien, and formerly the criteria specified that eligible candidates had to be trainer-drivers.

The new criteria is as follows:

The O’Brien Award of Horsemanship recognizes a trainer who exemplifies the high standard of horsemanship that was demonstrated by Joe O’Brien during his career, including the outstanding care and training of Standardbreds, respect for the horse, a commitment to equine welfare and success in the development and training of young horses.

Canadian-based horse people will be evaluated on criteria which focuses on the development and performance of young horses within their care, for the given year. While the award will be open to both large and small operations, the focus of this award is on the hands-on horseperson who is able to achieve success within their racing jurisdiction, and possibly beyond.

Criteria for evaluation includes integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to putting the welfare of horses first. Other measures for evaluation include performance ratings, stakes wins as a percentage of overall starts, and race lines that indicate signs of development and maturity.

SC will seek nominations for this award from membership and associations, which will need to be submitted no later than one week prior to the meeting of the O’Brien Awards Nominating Committee, which is usually held the last week of November.

The Nominating Committee will review all submissions in addition to other candidates that meet the criteria to determine the potential nominees for the O’Brien Award of Horsemanship.

It was also recently announced that SC’s Board of Directors approved a recommendation to rename the O’Brien “Driver of the Year” the “Keith Waples Driver of the Year” in honour of the Canadian driving legend, who recently passed away.