As the 2015 RUS Ontario season trotted into the history books and top 2015 honours were secured, the participants and fans of Racing Under Saddle came together to help a fellow horseman.

Corey MacPherson is waging a courageous battle with cancer at his home of PEI. Corey is the namesake of the ultra tough trotter Mopey Corey; and spent a part of his life in Ontario working with his friend Anthony MacDonald who in 2007 tagged his newly purchased yearling with the light-hearted name. Corey eventually returned home and started a family only to receive a frightening diagnosis of cancer. As he heroically fights, his racing family in Ontario is coming together to help out. By way of sale of special homemade candy apples and RUS t-shirts, with all proceeds going to the fund, RUS Ontario was able to make a $1,000 contribution. Special thank you to Racing Under Saddle sponsors Mad Barn Nutrition and Minor Details for making matching donations to help out this fellow horseman.

In addition to fund raising RUS Ontario also put the finishing touches on the title winners of 2015. Going into the October 31st RUS Finale rider Natalie Elliott could not be caught for the winningest rider title. With a solid fourth-place finish Saturday night she capped off a terrific season that saw her tally an impressive 10 starts for a 5-1-2 record. Her closest rivals were Sarah Town with 6 (1-3-1) and Marit Valstad with 7 (1-2-0).

For top RUS horse honours Santo Domingo topped the earnings and wins list. He stashed away $13,950 in RUS money and boasts a sharp 5 starts under saddle with three wins and a second to his credit. By virtue of his student’s prowess under saddle, Mike Guitard is the top RUS trainer as well. The owners of Santo Domingo, Jalade Investments Ltd, Deanmar Sons Stable and Peter Miskolczi, also deserve a tip of the hat with their veteran trotter making exciting moments in his under saddle exploits.

Honourable mentions in the top horse division go to Thor Seelster 5 (2-1-1), Massive Muscles 3 (2-1-0), Lexus Hawkeye 3 (1-0-2), Tragically Shipp 2 (2-0-0), and Twin B Excalibur who made five RUS starts and never missed a cheque. The 12-year-old Twin B Excalibur will be hanging up both his saddle and harness to head to retirement for his connections, trainer/owner Randall Fulmer and partner Phillip Katcher. He retires with lifetime earnings of $390,713 of which $3,151 was 2015 RUS earnings.

Congratulations to everyone who took home top honours, thank you to everyone who helped make RUS a reality, especially sponsors Mad Barn Nutrition and Minor Details, as well as all of the tracks and people that worked tirelessly. But mostly, congratulations to the Ontario harness racing family that came together to help a community member in need. Get well soon, Corey MacPherson.

(RUS)