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On Tuesday, April 8, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame announced its class of 2014 inductees, which includes a total of 14 horses and individuals.
Albatross, Dreamfair Eternal and Rocknroll Hanover are the Standardbreds which make up part of the 2014 class. Robert Murphy, the late breeder/owner; Dr. Ted Clarke, in the builder category; horseman Wally Hennessey, and communicator Bill Galvin are the other 2014 inductees on the Standardbred side.
Apelia, Cool Mood and Wando are the Thoroughbreds that make up part of the 2014 class. Trainer Horatio Luro, jockey Robert Landry and breeders William ‘Bill’ Graham and Arthur Stollery are also 2014 inductees on the Thoroughbred side.
The Induction Ceremony will be hosted at the Mississauga Convention Centre on Wednesday, August 6, 2014.
STANDARDBRED INDUCTEES
Rocknroll Hanover banked more than $3 million during his racing career, for owners Jeffrey Snyder of New York, New York; Lothlorien Equestrian Centre, Cheltenham, Ontario; and Perretti Racing Stable, LLC, Cream Ridge, New Jersey. Career highlights included victories in Canada’s most prestigious races for two and three-year-olds, the Metro Pace for two-year-old pacers and the North America Cup for three-year-olds He then embarked on a second career, becoming one of North America’s most prolific stallions before passing away in 2013. To date, the son of Western Ideal, out of Hall of Fame mare Rich N Elegant, has sired winners of $60.7-million, including eight million-dollar-plus winners.
Dreamfair Eternal retired from racing in 2012 after a seven-year career that included 56 victories, and every major stakes event on the older pacing mare schedule, earnings of over $2.5-million and Horse of the Year honours in Canada in 2010. During that year, she racked up wins in the final of the Masters Series, an elimination of the Roses are Red Stakes, elimination and final of the Milton Stakes, the elimination and final of the Forest City Pace and the Breeders Crown. The daughter of Camluck was bred by John and Mary Lamers and owned by John Lamers of Ingersoll, Ontario. Patrick Fletcher trained her for most of her career.
A champion on the track and in the breeding shed, Albatross was a major influence on the Standardbred breed. He won 59 of 71 starts, including the Cane Pace and Messenger Stakes in 1971, and earned in excess of $1.2 million. Two of his major stakes wins in Canada included the Prix d’Ete and Canadian Pacing Derby. He retired as both the fastest and richest horse in the history of the breed. As a sire, Albatross's thousands of sons and daughters have won more than $100 million, including Niatross, who is considered by many to be the greatest pacer of the 20th Century, and Fan Hanover, who is the only filly to ever win the Little Brown Jug.
Wally Hennessey, 56, born in Prince Edward Island and now a resident of Coconut Grove, Florida, has more than 8,500 victories to his credit and has banked earnings in excess of $57 million. During the early stages of his career, Hennessey re-wrote the record books, setting new standards in both wins and earnings. In the late 1990s, he enjoyed success with the trotter Moni Maker, a winner of $5.5 million and numerous stakes including the Nat Ray in three different years, the Hambletonian Oaks and Breeders Crown. Throughout his career, Hennessey has been remarkably consistent, winning at least 200 races in each of the last 25 years, and driving horses to earnings in excess of $1 million for 24 straight years. In the summer of 2007, Hennessey was inducted into the Living Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York.
Dr. Ted Clarke is recognized by his peers as a visionary in the horse racing industry. Clarke’s strong and steady leadership has helped guide Grand River Raceway to be a leader in innovation and growth. Prior to Grand River’s opening, Dr. Clarke led numerous initiatives to put Elmira Raceway on the path to stability, including the inauguration of Industry Day, the Battle of Waterloo and the establishment of the Ontario Teletheatre Network. He was honoured for his innovative thinking and leadership with the Lloyd Chisholm Achievement Award in 1999 from the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association.
The late Robert Murphy, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, was one of Canada’s most respected horse breeders and owners, and was known by his popular ‘Red Star’ moniker. First introduced to racing at Cloverdale Raceway in 1980, he rapidly became one of Canada’s most prolific owners. He averaged 935 starts as an owner each year between 2005 and 2009. In 2007, at the age of 74, Murphy owned more Standardbreds than anyone else in Canada. Murphy had a great impact on harness racing in BC with both his breeding and training centres, but that impact extended across the continent as his horses raced all over North America.
William ‘Bill’ Galvin, a native of Arnprior, Ontario and now a resident of Mississauga, Ontario, made a tremendous impact on horse racing in the country as a Canadian horse racing historian, poet, author, publisher, educator, horseman, humanitarian, publicist and former Thoroughbred racing official. Galvin’s promotions transcended racing. He led a charge to bring harness racing on ice to the Rideau Canal and expose the sport to thousands of potential fans. He started the Race for MS fundraiser to gain exposure for the sport, and ran numerous other high profile campaigns dedicated to the well-being of horse racing during his career. He was also the executive editor of Trot Magazine and a member of the Advisory board for the School of Equine Studies at Toronto’s Humber College of Applied Arts.
THOROUGHBRED INDUCTEES
Wando, one of only seven horses to ever win the Canadian Triple Crown, was Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2003 for breeder/owner Gustav Schickedanz, an honoured member of the CHRHF. Trained by Mike Keogh, with Patrick Husbands as his primary jockey, the son of Langfuhr retired from racing with 11 wins, eight of them in stakes, from 23 starts and earnings of $2.5 million. He began his career as a stallion in 2006, first in Kentucky before returning to his birthplace in 2011. Wando’s progeny have earnings in excess of $5.2 million and include Grade 1 winner Turallure.
Apelia, a very fast filly owned and bred by Steve Stavro's Knob Hill Stable, was named Canada's Sovereign Award champion sprinter in 1993. Conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Phil England, she won half of her 24 career starts and was a stakes winner at the highest level for three consecutive years. A winner in New York, Kentucky, New Jersey, as well as Ontario, Apelia was ridden by Hall of Fame jockeys Larry Attard and Don Seymour in all her races except one. Apelia is the dam of champion mare Saoirse.
Cool Mood, herself a daughter of Northern Dancer, won the 1969 Canadian Oaks for Hall of Fame Builder D.G. Willmot, and went on to become one of Canada's most influential broodmares. In fact, she produced two fillies that, in turn, would both produce Canadian Triple Crown winners. Her daughter Shy Spirit was the dam of Izvestia, and daughter Passing Mood was the dam of With Approval. The latter is an equine member of the Hall of Fame along with his half-brother, Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold.
Argentine-born trainer Horatio Luro, nicknamed ‘El Gran Senor’ was hired as a trainer by E.P. Taylor and was best known in Canada for training Northern Dancer in 1964, fifty years ago. During his career, Luro trained 43 stakes winners, including three Queen’s Plate winners.
Named Canada’s outstanding jockey in 1993 and 1994, Robert Landry’s stats over a 29-year riding career include 17,656 mounts with purse earnings of $69.7 million and over 2,000 wins. Of note was his 1999 Atto Mile win on Quiet Resolve, as well as the 2004 Queen’s Plate aboard Niigon. He rode five consecutive Canadian Champion two-year-old fillies from 1996-2000. The 2003 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award winner for lifetime achievement as a jockey, Landry has also made significant contributions to the promotion of racing, including participating as a board member for LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society.
W. (Bill) D. Graham has been an integral participant in the horse racing industry for almost half a century as an outstanding breeder, owner and racing executive. He is the owner of Windhaven Farms which operates in both Caledon, Ont. and Lexington, Kentucky, and has bred and raced many Sovereign Award-winning horses throughout his career including the 2012 Canadian Horse of the Year Uncaptured. Graham also bred U.S. Grade I winner Joyful Victory who was victorious in the 2013 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita.
Arthur W. Stollery was the owner and breeder of two of Canada’s most celebrated racing stars, both CHRHF inductees: Kennedy Road and Laurie's Dancer. Kennedy Road, named after the location of his Unionville-based Angus Glen Farms, dominated Canadian racing for three years. He was named Champion two-year-old in 1970 and again Champion as a three-year-old the following year, 1971. This was followed by more accolades, including Canadian Horse of the Year in 1973. Kennedy Road was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000 and has a stakes race, which is contested annually at Woodbine, named after him. Laurie's Dancer, named after Stollery’s daughter, was an outstanding racing daughter of Northern Dancer. She captured the Canadian Oaks in 1971 on her way to being named Canada's Horse of the Year. During that season, she was also victorious in the very prestigious Alabama Stakes at Saratoga. Laurie's Dancer was enshrined in to the Hall of Fame in 2006.
STANDARDBRED INDUCTEES
Male Horse Category: Rocknroll Hanover – bred by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc, Hanover, Pennsylvania. Owned by Jeffrey Snyder of New York, New York; Lothlorien Equestrian Centre, Cheltenham, Ontario; and Perretti Racing Stable, LLC, Cream Ridge, New Jersey.
Female Horse Category: Dreamfair Eternal – bred by Mary and John Lamers, and owned by John Lamers, Ingersoll, Ontario.
Veteran Horse Category: Albatross – bred by John E Wilcutts, Aberdeen, North Carolina; Charles A Kenney, Lexington, Kentucky; Elizabeth B Peters, Wilmington Delaware; and Mark Lydon, Abington, Massachusetts. Owned by Hanover Shoe Farms Inc, Hanover, Pennsylvania; George Segal, Versailles, Kentucky; Castleton Farm, Lexington, Kentucky; Hal S Jones, Montgomery, New York.
Trainer/Driver Category: Wally Hennessey – Coconut Creek, Florida.
Builder Category: Dr. Ted Clarke – Elmira, Ontario.
Builder Category: Robert Murphy – Vancouver, British Columbia.
Communicator Category: Bill Galvin, Mississauga, Ontario.
THOROUGHBRED INDUCTEES
Male Horse Category: Wando – bred and owned by Gustav Schickedanz, Schomberg, Ontario.
Female Horse Category: Apelia – bred and owned by Steve Stavros, Knob Hill Stables, Newmarket, Ontario.
Veteran Horse Category: Cool Mood – owned by David Wilmot, Kinghaven Farms, King City, Ontario.
Veteran People Category Horatio Luro – Argentine-born trainer of Northern Dancer.
Jockey Category: Robert Landry – Toronto, Ontario.
Builder Category: William ‘Bill’ Graham – owner of Windhaven Farms, Cheltenham, Ontario and Lexington, Kentucky.
Builder Category: Arthur Stollery – owner Angus Glen Farms, Markham, Ontario.
Great news Wal, you certainly
Great news Wal, you certainly deserve this wonderful honor.
Great for Wally Hennessey to
Great for Wally Hennessey to be inducted he is very deserving and one of the good guys in harness racing.