The brightest stars of Alberta harness racing were honoured earlier this evening at the ASHA Awards, which took place in Edmonton
at the Greenwood Inn & Suites.
It comes as no surprise that the biggest winner of the evening was Keith Clark, who needed a wheelbarrow to haul home all of his hardware.
The Alberta kingpin was named Trainer, Driver and Horseman of the Year in addition to being directly associated with three other award winners.
The 2008 Horse of the Year title went to Tajma Hall, who assembled an 8-5-3 record from 20 trips postward. Among his accomplishments in his 10-year-old campaign was a breathtaking 1:50.3 performance at Northlands Park for trainer/driver J.F. Gagne.
The speedy son of Cambest, who is owned by Brian Buckley of Calgary and Peter Van Seggelen of De Winton, AB, finished the year with more than $98,000 in earnings. That helped bring his lifetime total to $756,745.
Here is a list of the 2008 winners:
2008 Champion Two-Year-Old-Filly
Incredible Beauty
Owners: Ceejay Stables, D. McDougall & R. Jones
2008 Champion Two-Year-Old Alberta-Sired Filly
Sealedwithapromise
Owners: K. Clark, MacPherson Stbds, V. Rea & L. Swalm
2008 Champion Two-Year-Old-Colt
Red Riverboat
Owners: Gerry Hudon, Craig Stamp & Gerry Gilroy
2008 Champion Two-Year-Old Alberta-Sired Gelding
Swiftys First Star
Owners: Kurt & Kathy Schmidt
2008 Champion Three-Year-Old Filly
Shark Fest
Owners: Keith Clark, Harvey & Ann Jaeger
2008 Champion Three-Year-Old Alberta-Sired Filly
A Ps Money Maker
Owners: J. Tinelli, T. Hamilton & Shir Win Stables
2008 Champion Three-Year-Old Alberta-Sired Gelding
Timberline Court
Owners: Gerry Hudon & Lynn Kowalevsky
2008 Champion Three-Year-Old Colt
Neal Diamonique
Owners: Ed Dhoedt & Chris Greenwood
2008 Champion Four-Year-Old Alberta-Sired Mare
KG Mist
Owners:Rod Hennessy & Lorne Duffield
2008 Champion Four-Year-Old Alberta-Sired Horse
Jaw Dropper
Owner: Ikey Kolias
2008 Champion Aged Mare
Hot Night
Owners: Jim MacPhail & George Rogers
2008 Champion Aged Horse
Tajma Hall
Owners: Brain Buckley & Peter Van Seggelen
2008 Champion Claimer of the Year
Peace Of Work
Owners: Keith Clark, Sandy Badry & Dallas McGee
2008 Groom of the Year
Marjorie Dumont
2008 Trainer of the Year (under 200 starts)
J.F. Gagne
2008 Driver of the Year (under 200 starts)
Ron Graham
2008 Trainer of the Year
Keith Clark
2008 Driver of the Year
Keith Clark
2008 Horseman of the Year
Keith Clark
2008 Breeders Award of Recognition
Samuel L. Johnson
2008 Breeder of the Year
Skywest Farms
2008 Horse of the Year
Tajma Hall
Owners: Brian Buckley & Peter Van Seggelen
2008 Ron McLeod Award of Recognition
Jim Haggan
Standardbred Canada Owner of the Year
Bill Boden & Gerry Hudon
Congratulations to the award
Congratulations to the award winners, but I believe the "voters" have a definite bias for certain stables especially in the three year old AB sired category.
Anyone attending the ASHA
Anyone attending the ASHA awards night that has mistakenly taken a mens black trench with removeable lining size 48 or 50 please contact me at 780-963-2508 or 780-963-8136. Brandie at ASHA is also aware of the missing coat and you can contact her.
Tajma Hall has been a
Tajma Hall has been a mainstay in Alberta since his two-year-old season in the year 2000. He's raced against the best... week in and week out - year after year.
In May of 2008, he became the fastest ten year-old-pacer ever to win over a five eighths mile track with a score in 150.3 at Northlands.
This past Saturday, he picked up his 62nd lifetime win at Northlands, pacing in 154.1 at the Open level - a season's mark for the Park...
He is, without a doubt, one of the classiest horses I've ever seen in my life and a very well-deserved winner of Horse of the Year in Alberta.
Congratulations once again to the connections of old 'Taj'.
In reply to Tajma Hall has been a by Sugar (not verified)
thanx for those very nice
thanx for those very nice comments they are very much appreciated and congrats to all the other winners sorry to have missed it all
it was nice to see taj win
it was nice to see taj win he is awesome
Congratulations all. You can
Congratulations all. You can be proud of your accomplishments. Best luck in future.
HEY JIM AND GEORGE...NICE TO
HEY JIM AND GEORGE...NICE TO SEE HOT NIGHT WIN THE AWARD FOR AGED MARE...WELL DONE...WAY SHE GOES...WAY SHE GOES...D.J.
In reply to HEY JIM AND GEORGE...NICE TO by DON (not verified)
great job to the trainer and
great job to the trainer and driver of hot night, he cowboyed this horse home several times
Congrats to Ron Graham a
Congrats to Ron Graham a classy Driver Trainer and a true gentlemen.
Congratulations to all the
Congratulations to all the award winners.Well deserved.
In reply to Congratulations to all the by susan (not verified)
mr. northlands gets his just
mr. northlands gets his just reward way to go tajma hall a classy and fan favorite