Hall Of Fame Announces Finalists For Class Of 2025

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (CHRHF) Standardbred and Thoroughbred Nomination Committees have determined the categories and finalists to appear on the ballot presented to the Election Committees, from which the Class of 2025 will be selected.

The Board of the CHRHF determined that the Class of 2025 will be comprised of six inductees per breed and provided the option for a Nomination Committee to use only five categories and induct two individuals in one category to meet the total of six inductees per breed.  A 20-person Election Committee for each breed will determine, from the list of finalists, the individuals to be inducted in each of the categories, with the results to be announced on Wednesday, April 23.

The individuals named to the CHRHF Class of 2025 will be formally inducted in a ceremony on Wednesday, Aug. 6.

The Standardbred categories appearing on the 2025 Election Ballot include Builders, Communicator, Male Horse, Trainer and Veteran – Person or Horse. Categories and finalist names in each are presented below in alphabetical order.

In the Standardbred Builder category, the candidates are Brad Grant, Kent Oakes and Dr. Maurice Stewart.  The Standardbred Nomination Committee has chosen to double up this category, which will result in the top two vote getters from the three finalists becoming part of the CHRHF Class of 2025.

Following in the tradition of his CHRHF Honoured Member father John Grant, Brad Grant is a significant player within today’s harness racing world.  Among the impressive list of Standardbreds owned either solely or in a partnership are Hambletonian winners Atlanta and Ramona Hill, and CHRHF 2023 inductee Bulldog Hanover.  Other notable millionaire horses owned by Grant are Its Academic, Stay Hungry, Apprentice Hanover, Wheels On Fire and Sandbetweenurtoes. Grant has led all owners in purse winnings in seven of the last eight years at Woodbine Entertainment racetracks. He has been recognized within the industry as the recipient of the 2018 Humanitarian Award presented by the United States Harness Writers Association, Woolworth Owner of the Year at the 2022 Dan Patch Awards, and he was appointed to the Board of Woodbine Entertainment in 2023. As a businessman, Grant is recognized as one of Canada's foremost trucking magnates.

Prince Edward Island’s Kent Oakes dedicated more than 30 years of his career to partnering with harness racing organizations at all levels, leaving a significant mark on the province’s harness racing scene and, in turn, Canadian harness racing. Oakes served on numerous committees, including the Atlantic Harness Racing Development Council and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, and held crucial positions such as CEO of the Prince Edward Island Lotteries Commission, Director of Racing at the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission, and Racing Manager at Red Shores Racetrack and Casino. Oakes also represented the provincial government on the redevelopment committee for Charlottetown Driving Park, and on a national level Oakes served as the Chair of Standardbred Canada and was a longtime Director.  Oakes was posthumously honoured with the 2024 Cam Fella Award by Standardbred Canada, presented to individuals who exhibit exceptional and recent contributions to the Canadian harness racing sector.

Dr. Maurice “Mo” Stewart, a 1974 Graduate of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, was described by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Keith Clark as a "tireless worker trying to improve Alberta racing." Further, "he is a respected veterinarian, successful breeder/owner, and a relentless advocate for Alberta on the national scene." During his 35 years of service to Canadian racing, Stewart has volunteered with numerous industry organizations on boards, committees, as a delegate and a leader in the industry to meetings, functions, galas, conferences and seminars, at the provincial, national and international level, all for the betterment of the sport.

Finalists in the Standardbred Communicator category include Dave Briggs, Vance Cameron and Paul Delean.

Dave Briggs has covered horse racing with integrity and unwavering commitment for over 30 years and has earned rightful status as a well-respected communicator and proud supporter of the sport.  Briggs worked for The Canadian Sportsman for 19 years before it ceased publication in 2013. He currently serves as the Editor of Harness Racing Update and Communications and Content Specialist for Ontario Racing.  Over his time covering racing, Briggs has won nearly 30 national and international awards including a record 12 United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) John Hervey Awards and four Standardbred Canada Media Excellence Awards. He was named the Tom White Media Award winner for 2023 by the Little Brown Jug and the Delaware County Fair. He also has earned two World Trotting Conference Media Awards, an Ontario Equestrian Publication Award and a Dan Patch Media Award.

Vance Cameron got his start at one of Canada’s oldest operational racetracks, Summerside Raceway in Prince Edward Island, more than 40 years ago.  He grew up in a nearby community that mirrored his family’s passion for harness racing. Also announcing races at tracks in Ontario over the years, his calls of the Gold Cup and Saucer put him on the international map and he is frequently called upon by tracks throughout Canada to be a guest announcer. Known for his popular catchphrases such as "Boom! Just like that!" and "Brouhaha!" Cameron emerged victorious in Canada's Best Race Call poll, conducted by Standardbred Canada and voted on by fans of Canadian harness racing in 2019.

North Bay, Ont. native Paul Delean began his career as a horse racing columnist in the late 1970s at the Barrie Examiner where he met Bill Rowe and was, in turn, introduced to Standardbred racing. He began working for The Gazette in Montreal 1981 and was once referred to as the “English language voice of harness racing in Quebec.”  For owners, breeders, trainers, drivers and fans, Delean was the man on the front line telling them what they needed to know about the racing game in the province. In addition, Delean was a frequent and well-respected contributor to the many trade journals in racing.

Male Horses included on the 2025 ballot include Majestic Son, Marion Marauder and Muscle Mass. 

Majestic Son’s racing career consisted of 38 starts, including 22 wins, a mark of 1:52.2 and $1,993,157 in purse earnings. A son of Angus Hall out of the King Conch mare, Celtic Contessa, Majestic Son was trained by Mark Steacy for the Majestic Son Stable.  His career was highlighted by wins in the premiere stakes for sophomore trotters including the Champlain, Goodtimes, Canadian Trotting Classic and Breeders Crown.  As a sire, his North American progeny have earned $25.3 million including millionaire Charmed Life, six $750,000 winners, nine $500,000 winners, 31 winners of $250,000 and 66 winners of $100,000. Now standing stud in the Southern Hemisphere, Majestic Son was New Zealand’s Trotting Stallion of the Year in 2024 for the seventh season and he has topped the charts among trotting stallions in Australia nine times.

With $3.6 million-plus in the bank and 22 trips to the winner's circle, Marion Marauder boasts the resume of a racehorse that few can match.  He won the Hambletonian, Yonkers Trot and Kentucky Futurity in 2016 to become just the ninth trotter to win trotting's Triple Crown. The son of Muscle Hill-Spellbound Hanover also won the Goodtimes Stakes and a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial at three, en route to a season that amassed more than $1.5 million in purses, topping the North American earnings charts for all trotters. As an older competitor, his stakes scores included the 2017 Graduate Series final and Hambletonian Maturity, and 2018 Cleveland Trotting Classic, John Cashman Memorial and Caesars Trotting Classic. Marion Marauder was the recipient of the O’Brien Award for Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt in 2016. That same year, he was also named USHWA Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt and USHWA Trotter of the Year, followed by the USHWA Aged Trotter of the Year in 2017.  Marion Marauder is a resident of the Kentucky Horse Park Hall of Champions.

Muscle Mass retired to stud duty as the fastest two-year-old son of super-sire Muscles Yankee, having established his world-record mark of 1:53.4 in only his second career start. He established himself as a leading trotting sire and was the leading first crop sire of Ontario Sires Stakes winners in 2012 following up with spectacular years in 2013 and 2014 as the leading Ontario sire of two-year-old trotters. He also earned the title of the overall leading trotting sire in 2014. After spending the 2014 and 2015 breeding seasons in New York, where he sired world champion millionaires Six Pack and Plunge Blue Chip. He subsequently returned to Ontario in 2016. Muscle Mass has dominated the stallion ranks in Canada since his return, leading the nation’s trotting stallions in earnings for the last five years.  Among his offspring are three millionaires, including world champions Six Pack 3,1:49.1 ($1,973,661) and Plunge Blue Chip 3,1:49.4 ($1,596,841) as well as two-time O’Brien Award winner Adare Castle 4,1:52 ($1,416,096).

The 2025 Standardbred Trainer ballot features Doug Arthur, John Bax and Rod Hennessy.

Doug Arthur developed a reputation in harness racing as a “developer of champions” after taking Cam Fella, a $19,000 yearling purchase, and developing him into the Harness Horse of the Year in 1982 and 1983. The legacy of Cam Fella as a racehorse, a sire, and a foundation to the Standardbred breed, relates directly to his original purchaser and developer, Doug Arthur. Over time, Arthur was deemed by his peers as an astute judge of horseflesh and being able to identify a yearling’s potential talent, spending a significant amount of time inspecting a vast number of yearlings.

Trotting specialist and 2001 Canadian Trainer of the Year, John Bax’s most prominent pupil to date is Hall of Fame trotting Goodtimes, a winner of 50 races and more than $2.2 million in earnings -- making him, at the time of his retirement, the richest Canadian-bred trotter of all time. Other Bax trainees include 2001 Breeders Crown winner Duke Of York, Define The World – Canada’s Three-Year-Old Male Trotter of the Year in 2008  – and Riveting Rosie – Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final winner and O’Brien Awards divisional winner in 2013 and 2014.  In the 2014 Peaceful Way Stakes, a trio of Bax trainees – Stubborn Belle, Juanitas Fury and Southwind Champane – finished one-two-three in this event.  In 2021, two-year-old trotting colt Duly Resolved topped the OSS Gold standings for the division and Duly Resolved’s full sister, Righteous Resolve, set a new Champlain stakes record in 2022. Bax’s training stats include 925 wins and more than $26 million in earnings as of press time.

As Standardbred racing started to flourish in Alberta in the mid 1970s, Rod Hennessy took responsibility of his father’s stable in 1974 and subsequently rose to the top echelons of the sport in Western Canada. His record reflects a strong work ethic, extraordinary horsemanship, competitive statistics and major accomplishments as evidenced by the 2,200-plus training wins, $17 million in purse earnings and a .312 lifetime training average as of press time. In 2023, Hennessy trainee Shark Week became the first horse to pace a mile faster than 1:50 in western Canada with his 1:49.2 lifetime best at Century Downs. Among the accolades bestowed to him is being named the Alberta Trainer/Horseperson of the Year five times, and being awarded the Ron McLeod Achievement Award in 2016 for lifetime contribution to Standardbred racing in Alberta. He has also served as a mentor to numerous trainers and drivers who have gone on to achieve their own success in the industry.

The Standardbred Veteran ballot for 2025 includes horseman James MacGregor, as well as pacer Goliath Bayama and trotter Yankee Paco.

Bred by Bayama Farms Inc. in Lachute, Que., Goliath Bayama (p, 5, 1:48.1s; $1,509,163) became known as "The Monster from Montreal" after his thrilling wins in the Breeders Crown and U.S. Pacing Championship at The Meadowlands. He recorded 25 wins in 74 career starts giving driver Sylvain Filion his first opportunity in million-dollar races. Goliath Bayama finished second by a length to The Panderosa in the North America Cup in 1999 and was fourth in the Meadowlands Pace. Goliath Bayama is the fastest pacer in the history of Blue Bonnets, winning in 1:48.1s in an Invitational in August 2001.  As a stallion, the Abercrombie son sired 181 foals with total earnings of $7,487,883.

James “Roach" MacGregor started his career at Charlottetown Driving Park as a youngster, and by age 15, was training at the local racetrack. From meagre beginnings, MacGregor gradually acquired a sizable public stable. As a 19-year-old, he drove Josedale Clipper to Maritime Horse of the Year honours and soon was asked to accompany legendary Joe O'Brien to Foxboro, Massachusetts as trainer. Regarded by many as the Maritimes’ finest trainer-driver of his era, MacGregor compiled an amazing list of records and achievements over the next five decades, winning virtually every major stakes in the Maritime region and setting numerous stakes and track records at Quebec City, Blue Bonnets, Summerside and Sackville Downs in 1955 with Bay State Pat, a horse MacGregor switched from the trot to the pace. By 1954, his second season on the pace, Roach steered Bay State Pat to the winner's circle in 17 consecutive dashes, setting four track records along the way. The rags-to-riches saga of the "Maritime Diesel" eventually led to the induction of Bay State Pat in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1983.

Yankee Paco has the distinction of being the first Canadian-bred winner of the fabled $1 million Hambletonian, bringing him much attention that reached far beyond the world of harness racing. Piloted throughout the trotter’s career by CHRHF driver Trevor Ritchie, the pair also chalked up wins across North America. In 2000, during his multiple award-winning three-year-old campaign, Yankee Paco strung together a record of nine wins and two seconds in 11 starts between June and October, including a win streak of nine races – many of which were in open company facing the best in the world. Yankee Paco ended his racing career easily defeating his Canadian-sired rivals in the $250,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final. In total, Yankee Paco won $1,361,421 as a three-year-old and $1,486,197 in his career, which concluded with divisional honours as the sport’s top three-year-old trotting colt in Canada and the U.S. and overall Horse of the Year honours in Canada.

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The six categories selected by the Thoroughbred Nominating Committee for the 2025 Thoroughbred ballot are Builder, Female Horse, Jockey, Male Horse, Trainer and Veteran – Person or Horse. Categories and finalist names in each are presented below in alphabetical order.

A Thoroughbred Builder ballot comprised of John Burness, Ivan Dalos and Phil Kives are offered for voter consideration.

John Burness has been involved in the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry for over 50 years and continues to operate his Ontario-based Colebrook Farms, which currently standing four stallions. The 350-acre facility provides complete cycle of breeding services extending to foaling out mares, weaning, breaking, boarding and state of the art on-site training facilities. His operation extends from Canada to the U.S., purchasing and claiming horses. He is a co-owner of Grade 1 stakes winner Johnny Bear. Burness is considered one of the top influencers in the Canadian Thoroughbred industry. He has constantly worked for the betterment of the industry and has been a Director of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society of Ontario for many years, rising to the position of second Vice President of that organization from 2018-2022.

For almost 50 years, Ivan Dalos has been part of the Canadian Thoroughbred industry establishing himself as one of Canada’s most successful owner-breeders. After claiming his first racehorse in 1978, with a dream to become a breeder of champions, his Tall Oaks Farm was born. Learning everything he could about pedigrees and nicking, what was originally a handful of broodmares has grown to a band of several dozen mares, five stallions and close to 150 horses, all exclusively Tall Oaks Farm homebreds. Among his farm’s success stories are CHRHF inductees Victory Gallop and Channel Maker. In 2021, Dalos was awarded the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit for his many contributions to racing and breeding.

The late Phillip Kives, based in Manitoba, known worldwide as the owner of K-Tel and the inventor of the infomercial, became involved in Thoroughbred racing in 1977 with the launch of K-4 Stables (later changed to K-5 to recognize the addition of his son to the Kives family). His passion for racing continued for four decades until his passing in 2016. Kives owned and bred horses were winners of multiple stakes races at Winnipeg’s Assiniboia Downs as well as in Kentucky, Florida, New York, Ontario and Alberta.  As owner, Kives won every single stakes race at Assiniboia, not just once but multiple times each, including two Manitoba Derbies (best three-year-olds), eight Gold Cups (race for top older horses), three Winnipeg Futurities (best two-year-olds) and five Matrons (top fillies/mares).

Thoroughbred Female Horse finalists include Careless Jewel, Hard Not To Like and Marketing Mix.

Sired by Tapit, Careless Jewel reeled off five wins in her sophomore season for Alberta-based owner Donver Stables and CHRHF conditioner Josie Carroll. Her highlights that year included a 7-1/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks and an 11-length win in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga. Careless Jewel completed her win streak in the Grade 2 Fitz Dixon Cotillion Stakes at Philadelphia Park. She earned $1,013,346 with a race record of 5-0-1 from seven starts.

Bred in Ontario by Garland Williamson, well-travelled Hard Not To Like won at five of the eight tracks she visited during 22 starts over five years. She earned more than $1.2 million while accumulating eight victories. Her wins included the 2014 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland, the 2015 Diana Stakes at Saratoga and the 2015 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita for three Grade 1 turf scores at three different tracks. The striking grey filly by Hard Spun and out of the Tactical Cat mare, Like a Gem (herself a multiple graded stakes winner), was indeed bred for success.

Marketing Mix, an Ontario-bred Medaglia d’Oro filly bred by Sean Fitzhenry, was a $150,000 Keeneland yearling purchase in 2009. In her 21-race career for Glen Hill Farm of Ocala, Florida, under the tutelage of trainer Tom Proctor, she banked $2 million in earnings with 10 wins including stakes victories in the 2012 editions of the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes, Grade 2 Nassau, Grade 2 Dance Smartly and the 2013 edition of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes as well as second-place finishes in the 2012 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf and the 2013 Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes.

The ballot for Jockeys is comprised of Richard Dos Ramos, Emile Ramsammy and Perry Winters.

Richard Dos Ramos was the senior member of the Woodbine Jockeys' Room in terms of years of service when he retired in 2013. The classy veteran began his riding career in the spring of 1981 at Greenwood. He claimed the rider’s title at both the Woodbine and Greenwood autumn meets that same year, as well as being named top apprentice jockey for the first of two consecutive years. It was during the following decade that two of his finest riding accomplishments came for CHRHF owner Steve Stavro and his CHRHF trainer, Phil England. In 1992, he steered Benburb to a huge upset win over A.P. Indy in the Molson Export Million, as well as a stunning upset on Benburb in the Prince of Wales, beating 2022 CHRHF Veteran finalist Alydeed. In 1999, he guided longshot Thornfield to victory in the $1.5 million Grade 1 Canadian International. In 2002, Dos Ramos was honoured with the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award before winning the Canadian Oaks with Ginger Gold. His career statistics include 18,645 races with 2,159 wins, 2,242 seconds, 2,206 thirds and nearly $61 million in purse earnings.

Emile Ramsammy, considered a true gentleman and champion, began his career as a jockey in Trinidad in 1980. He achieved 500 wins and was named Caribbean Barbadian Champion jockey in 1986 and 1989, winning the Barbadian Gold Cup in 1985, 1987 and 1988. In 1990, Ramsammy started riding in Canada. He was awarded the Sovereign Award as Outstanding Jockey in 1996 and 1997 and received the Avelino Gomez Award in 2011. His resume includes Queen’s Plate victories with Victor Cooley in 1996 and Edenwold in 2006, and he achieved stakes success with Wake At Noon, One For Rose and many others. Hs career statistics include 18,805 starts, with a record of 2,283-2,284-2,250, and earnings of $89,102,028.

Born in Edmonton, Alta., jockey Perry Winters rode for 33 years, amassing career earnings of $22 million. His win total of 2,984 races ranks him second among Alberta born jockeys, only exceeded by CHRHF Member Gary Belanger. Seven times Alberta’s leading jockey, Winters’ best year was 1991 when he won 241 races with his mounts earning $1,249,568. Winters’ stats also include well over 100 stakes wins, including the Canadian Derby in 1983 with Cozy Grey. Winters started his Thoroughbred career in Lethbridge, Alta. in 1980. By 1984, he was riding with the “big boys” in Edmonton and Calgary on the province’s ‘A’ circuit. He had his first 100-win season in 1986 – a feat he would repeat the next 10 years in a row.

The 2025 Thoroughbred Male Horse ballot includes Fatal Bullet, Ghostzapper and Rahy’s Attorney.

Fatal Bullet, bred by Adena Springs, owned by Danny Dion's Bear Stables and trained by CHRHF trainer Reade Baker, was one of Canada’s fastest sprinters in recent decades. He was voted Canada's Horse of the Year in 2008 on the strength of being named Canada's Outstanding Sprinter that year. He captured 12 career races including five stakes and earned $1,377,256. Winning his first career start as a juvenile in 2007, his three-year-old year included three early season wins at Woodbine, track record performances at Woodbine in the Bold Venture Stakes, Presque Isle in the Tom Ridge Stakes and at Turfway Park, earning a trip to the Grade 1 Breeder’s Cup Sprint – where he placed second behind heavily favoured Midnight Lute.

Ghostzapper won at the highest level in 2004 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. In addition to being recognized as the Eclipse Award-winning Older Horse, he was also the Horse of the Year for 2004 and honoured as the world’s top-rated horse. His pedigree carries Canada’s best paternal influences through his sire, Awesome Again, his grand-sire, Deputy Minister, his great grand-sire, Vice Regent, as well as great-great grand-sire, Northern Dancer, all CHRHF Members. As a sire himself, Ghostzapper’s offspring include Canadian-bred Judy the Beauty and Shaman Ghost, both CHRHF Members, as well as Queen’s Plate-winning daughters Holy Helena and Moira.

Rahy’s Attorney was an underdog that just wouldn’t quit. The result of a $3,000 mating by a small Canadian breeder, Rahy’s Attorney defied all expectations and became one of the country’s most enduring fan favourites, all while earning $2,120,208 USD. In 2008, he landed a shocker of a victory in the $1 million Grade 1 Woodbine Mile over Kip Deville, a Breeders’ Cup champion and the continent’s best miler. That win contributed to Rahy’s Attorney being named Canada’s Champion Grass Horse of 2008. In 2009, he set a course record for 1-1/8 miles clocking in at 1:44.73 in the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes at Woodbine. He also won the Grade 2 Nijinsky Stakes and was a three-time winner of the Bunty Lawless Stakes.  In 41 starts, he won 14 races, with 10 seconds and four thirds.

The 2025 Thoroughbred Trainer category features Michael (Mike) Doyle, Dale Saunders and Laurie Silvera. 

Mike Doyle has trained dozens of stakes winners which contributed to the success of owners like Bo-Teek Farms, Eaton Hall Farms, Windhaven Farms, Stronach Stables, Dura Racing, Scott Abbott Racing Stable, and many exceptional local and international connections. Outstanding winners include champions Wavering Girl and Bessarabian, as well as Black Type stakes winners Wild Gale (third in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes), Canadian Silver, Ada Prospect, Tee Game and Blondeinamotel. Doyle’s training talent attracted the world-class Stronach Stables, which led to him being hired as their Racing Manager. Doyle’s training statistics include 19,039 starts, with a record of 1,172-1,260-1,209, and career earnings of $43,934,360.

Alberta-based Dale Saunders began his career as a Thoroughbred trainer in the mid-1960s, racking up 2,177 wins in 12,915 starts and purse earning of more than $17.5 million. Named the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit winner by the Jockey’s Club of Canada in 2022, Saunders has been Alberta’s leading trainer a total of eight times and was named that province’s Horseperson of the Year in 2012. Some of his victories came from many of the top Thoroughbreds in Alberta racing history, including Dark Hours, Shady Remark, Highland Leader, Fair March and Mandalero, to name a few.

The late Laurie Silvera began racing on the Ontario circuit after migrating to Canada from Jamaica, and continued training until his passing at age 89. He would eventually carve out a niche as a perennial leader at the Greenwood spring meet, topping the standings three years in a row. He also established himself as having a keen eye around a sales ring, purchasing yearlings that would prove to have a high earnings to purchase ratio. His skill at developing two-year-olds was admired in the industry. Career stats include more than 1,000 wins in Canada with his charges earning almost $26 million.  Among his stakes winners were Free At Last, November Snow, Ariana D, Solo Guy, Parisinthespring, Tusayan, Demaloot Demashoot and Hawk In Flight. Apart from training, Silvera contributed to the racing community by serving as an Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association Director in the 1990s.

In the Thoroughbred Veteran category, voters will select from Bessarabian, Andy Smithers and Storm Bird.

U.S.-bred and Canadian-based Bessarabian was purchased at a Two-Year-Old in Training Sale in Florida for $122,000 USD by Tom Webb for Eaton Hall Farm. As a two-year-old, she was the best filly in Canada easily beating local competition before going on to capture the Grade 1 Gardenia Stakes, earning herself a trip to run in the first Breeders' Cup for juvenile fillies. Her first-year stats include five wins in 10 starts. At three, she won seven of 12 starts including five stakes and placed in two others – one of those runner-up finishes was the prestigious Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. In 1986, Bessarabian won six of 15 starts including another five stakes and she was third in the Grade 2 Arlington Matron Handicap in Chicago. She capped her brilliant racing career under the tutelage of trainer Mike Doyle by being named Champion Older Mare. In 37 career starts, Bessarabian had 18 wins, five seconds and four thirds, earning $1,032,640.

After returning from duty in World War II, Andy Smithers started in the racing business under the tutelage of his father and soon branched out on his own at tracks all across Western Canada, including British Columbia, which became his home base. Smithers moved his operation to Woodbine in the early 1960s. His name first appeared on the Ontario circuit leading trainer list in 1963, a trend that would continue throughout the decade highlighted by a Canadian and career-best win total of 158 in 1967.  Smithers trained horses for many influential owners and breeders including Ernie Leiberman, John Smallman, Ryland H. New, Calvin Sturrock, and D. G. (Bud) Willmot, among others.  His stakes-winning horses included Coup Landing, Briartic, Laughing Bill, Galindo, Deep Star, Gauchesco and Norland.

Foaled in 1978 at E.P. Taylor’s Windfields Farm, Northern Dancer-sired Storm Bird was sold at the 1979 Keeneland July sale for $1 million. Trained in Ireland by Vincent O’Brien, Storm Bird’s two-year-old race season was unblemished over five starts, resulting in him being named the Champion Two-year Old Colt in England and Ireland.  Due to injury and illness, Storm Bird’s sophomore year was abbreviated before being retired to stallion service in Kentucky, siring 63 stakes winners, including notables Balanchine, Storm Cat and Summer Squall. In the 1999 Kentucky Derby, Storm Bird was responsible for the top three finishers – Charismatic, by Summer Squall; Menifee, by a Storm Cat son; and Cat Thief, by Storm Cat.  Storm Bird’s daughters produced over 100 stakes winners, including 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone.

(With files from Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame)