The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame held its Annual General Meeting and Board of Directors Meeting in the Munnings Room at Woodbine Racetrack in Rexdale, Ont. and several new officers have been elected
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The Canadian Hall of Fame is quite unique in that it represents both thoroughbreds and standardbreds.
In the election for 2010, John Stapleton has been elected to his first term as President, Jamie Martin, Vice President of Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing for Woodbine Entertainment Group, has been re-elected to a third term as Vice-President, with Pat Frazer and Catharine Winkler returning as Treasurer and Corporate Secretary, respectively.
Also elected to the Board of Directors of the Hall of Fame are:
• Jim Bannon – Racetracks of Canada
• Ian Fleming – Standardbred Canada
• Ken Hardy – Canadian Standardbred Horsemen’s Association
• Robbie King, Jr. – Jockey’s Benefit Association
• Sue Leslie – Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Assoc.
• Jamie Martin – Racetracks of Canada
• Bill O’Donnell – Canadian Standardbred Horsemen’s Assoc.
• Fran Okihiro – Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society
• R. Glenn Sikura – Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society
• Kathy Wade Vlaar – Standardbred Canada
Louis Cauz continues as the Managing Director of the Hall of Fame for 2010. Cauz presented a set of proposed amendments with respect to the Nomination and Election process. Listed below are the significant amendments by the By-Laws/Regulations that were approved at the Annual General Meeting.
- Effective with the 2010 elections, there will be five categories of inductees in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame from any era:
- (a) MALE HORSES: ‘Canadian-bred’ or horses ‘foreign-bred’ that have distinguished themselves while racing for Canadian interests and have raced at least once in Canada, or who have had an exceptional influence on Canadian horse breeding as sires.
- (b) FEMALE HORSES: ‘Canadian-bred’ or horses ‘foreign-bred’ who have distinguished themselves while racing for Canadian interests and have raced at least once in Canada, or who have had an exceptional influence on Canadian horse breeding as broodmares.
- (c) JOCKEYS, DRIVERS & TRAINERS: Jockeys, Drivers, Trainers who meet the eligibility requirements of Article Four – Sections 4 & 5 respectively of these Rules & Regulations.
- (d) BUILDERS: Persons who include, but not limited to Breeders, Owners, Media and others who meet the eligibility requirements of Article Four of these Rules & Regulations.
- (e) VETERANS: Veterans are horses, whether alive or deceased, whose careers concluded at least twenty (20) years prior to the year in which they are nominated.
- A maximum of three candidates shall be placed on the election ballot annually, in each of the five categories, by the Nominating Committee.
- The candidate(s) who receives eight votes in each of the five categories shall be declared elected.
- The Legends Committee has been reinstated and will annually review the names of people and horses whose careers ended prior to 1965 and recommend election to the Hall of Fame. These elections will be above and beyond those elected in the contemporary fashion of going through the Nomination and Election Committees. First inductees from the Legends Committee would take place in 2011.
The 2010 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner will be held on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at the Mississauga Convention Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. For further information, contact the 2010 Event Coordinator, Stacie Roberts at 416-230-5190 or [email protected], or Louis Cauz at 416-675-7223 (Ext. 2399) or [email protected].
(Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame)