The 2016 O’Brien Awards are scheduled for Saturday, January 28, 2017 at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale Hotel in Mississauga, Ontario.

Tickets will go on sale on Monday, December 5. Full details on the event are available here: O'Brien Awards - General Information.

Earlier this year, Standardbred Canada’s Board of Directors made some changes to the criteria for some of the award categories. The changes are as follows:

O’Brien Award of Horsemanship – Candidates must be trainer-drivers

Trainer of the Year – Trainers must have a minimum of 30 percent of their total starts (to Nov. 30) in Canada.

Future Star – In addition to the eligibility criteria for Future Star which includes:

• Must have made the majority of his/her starts in Canada in the year of consideration (over 50 percent)

• Does not have to be a Canadian citizen

• Cannot win this award more than once

• Cannot be over the age of 30 as of December 31

• Must be within the first three full-time years of the person’s career as either a trainer or driver

• Full-time requirement for trainers is a minimum of 75 starts (per calendar year)

• Full-time requirement for drivers is a minimum of 150 starts (per calendar year)

The following candidates will be excluded from consideration for the Future Star Award:

• Any candidate who has any one or a number of suspensions totalling 60 days or more in any of the three years of eligibility, or carrying over into the year of presentation.

• Any trainer who has received a positive test for a Class I, II, or III drug in any of the three years of eligibility.

Ballots will be sent out to O’Brien voters on Friday, December 2 and fan balloting will also be available that day on standardbredcanada.ca

Completed ballots are due by Friday, December 16 at 5:00 p.m. (EST) and the finalists in all of the categories will be announced on Tuesday, December 20 at 2:00 p.m. (EST).