The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame (CHRHF) Induction Gala took place on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at the Mississauga Convention Centre, honouring the Class of 2025.
The CHRHF Class of 2025 included John Bax (Standardbred Trainer), Dave Briggs (Standardbred Communicator), Brad Grant (Standardbred Builder), Kent Oakes (Standardbred Builder), Muscle Mass (Standardbred Male Horse) and Yankee Paco (Standardbred Veteran), Ivan Dalos (Thoroughbred Builder), Mike Doyle (Thoroughbred Trainer), Perry Winters (Thoroughbred Jockey), Ghostzapper (Thoroughbred Male Horse), Marketing Mix (Thoroughbred Female Horse) and Storm Bird (Thoroughbred Veteran).
The gala event featured a cocktail reception, gourmet four-course dinner with wine, and induction ceremonies. The reception commenced at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner and the induction ceremony at 6:30 p.m.
A replay of the live stream of the induction ceremonies is available below.
The following is a closer look at the careers of the new Hall of Famers with reaction from Wednesday night's induction ceremonies to come.
Trotting specialist and 2001 Canadian Trainer of the Year, John Bax’s most prominent pupil is Hall of Fame gelding 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.
"Living on a farm of course means lots of chores, and without the support of your family, it's a hard thing to do. Our four children - Marshall, Matt, Wyatt, and Robyn - are a big part of our success, and I'd like to thank them," said Bax. "But without a doubt the person who played the biggest part in our success is my wife Vickie... Without her, I couldn't have got to where [I have]. This is her award as much as it is mine, and I appreciate all you've done for me dear."
Communicator inductee 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.
"Thank you to everyone that made this day possible. Because this humbling, mind-numbing honour has given me the gift of perspective, and the opportunity to really appreciate how I've been blessed beyond belief in two areas absolutely critical in horse racing: luck and family," said Briggs. "...In short, this incredible horse racing family has been incredibly good to my family, with my deepest gratitude."
Brad Grant is a significant player within today’s harness racing world, and a second generation CHRHF Honoured Member following in the tradition of his CHRHF Honoured Member father John Grant. Among the impressive list of Standardbreds owned by Brad Grant, 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 multiple times at Woodbine Entertainment tracks. 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. He was also inducted to the Milton Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. As a businessman, Grant is recognized as one of Canada's foremost trucking magnates.
"I'm a third generation horseman -- my grandfather Bernard Grant was the original. When I was young, we would visit the Lombardy farm, and he would teach me all the tricks. But it was my dad's influence and determination that helped me in my quest to try to have the best horses," said Grant. "I'm sure he didn't think I was listening along the way, but when I needed advice, I remembered what he said. I get to join him in the Hall of Fame - it was never a goal of mine, but it is an honour to share it with my father."
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.
"You just heard about all of our father's accomplishments, and there were lots of them," said Nicholas Oakes, Kent's son. "But as I said in the piece that I was so pleased to be asked to write for TROT Magazine: dad grew up on the side of the hill in North Wiltshire, P.E.I., population 150 people. Anyone will tell you dad was a leader in the industry -- not from above, but from within. He didn't want to manage the sport, he was simply a part of it. Besides his family, there was nothing -- and I mean nothing -- more important to him than the people and the horses in this business."
The 2025 Standardbred Male Horse inductee, 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).
"He's a very mellow horse; you wouldn't think he was a stallion. He's well-behaved and does his job. People talk about 'if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life,' and he's like that," said David Heffering, the owner of Tara Hills Stud, where Muscle Mass stands. "He doesn't roar, he meets everybody that comes through the barn - he's in the first stall - and he's a great horse to be around. Everybody really respects him. Some days are probably like Groundhog Day for most stallions, but I don't think it is for him -- he's pretty good."
The 2025 Veteran inductee, 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.
"From the head of the stretch, I remember the most. I know the horse that was following me tipped off my back, and I just said 'well, it's time to poop or get off the pot,'" said Ritchie of the 2000 Hambletonian. "So away we went, and about halfway through the lane - which seemed like an eternity at the time -- I said 'where the hell's the wire?' It was a long way to go yet... About 20 lengths before the wire I'm thinking to myself 'gee, we might have a chance to win this thing. And then, just as I got to the wire and won it, I said, 'holy frig, we just won the Hambo.' [What I said] wasn't quite like that, but it was close."
For almost 50 years, 2025 Thoroughbred Builder inductee 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.
Thoroughbred Trainer inductee Mike Doyle, trainer of dozens of stakes winners, contributed to the success of owners like Bo-Teek Farms, Eaton Hall Farms, Windhaven Farms, Dura Racing, Scott Abbott Racing Stable, and many other 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 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.
The 2025 Thoroughbred Jockey inductee is Edmonton, Alta. born Perry Winters, who started his 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. During a 33-year career, which concluded in 2012, he reached $22 million in purse earnings. His win total of 2,984 races ranks him second among Alberta-born jockeys, exceeded only 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. 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 inductee, Ghostzapper, reached North American racing’s highest level in 2004 winning 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.
Female Thoroughbred inductee Marketing Mix is an Ontario-bred Medaglia d’Oro filly bred by Sean Fitzhenry. A $150,000 Keeneland yearling purchase in 2009, her 21-race career for Glen Hill Farm of Ocala, Florida, under the tutelage of trainer Tom Proctor, includes stats of $2 million in earnings and 10 wins with 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 2025 Thoroughbred Veteran inductee, Storm Bird, was foaled in 1978 at E.P. Taylor’s Windfields Farm. The Northern Dancer-sired son 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, where he sired 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.
This year, CHRHF also reactivated the Legends category with two new inductees honoured. Roberta Marie “Bobbe” Huntress was inducted as a Standardbred Legend and Wilma Kennedy was inducted as a Thoroughbred Legend. Click here to read their full bios.
Additional information about the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame may be found at canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com.
(With files from Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame)