X Men Racing, SF Bloodstock and Madaket Stables’ MOIRA, winner of the Queen’s Plate and Woodbine Oaks in 2022, was voted Canada’s Horse of the Year and honoured April 13 at the 48th Sovereign Awards, presented by the Jockey Club of Canada. The bay Ontario-bred daughter of Ghostzapper – Devine Aida by Unbridled’s Song, trained by Kevin Attard, was also crowned Champion 3-Year-Old Filly at the annual ceremony which was held at Universal Eventspace just north of Woodbine Racetrack. She was bred by Adena Springs.
Moira’s campaign of three wins from five starts and $819,267 in earnings was enough to sway the voters to vote for her over Charles Fipke’s LADY SPEIGHTSPEARE, who won two Sovereign Awards for Champion Older Mare Main Track and Champion Female Turf Horse. Lady Speightspeare won three graded stakes races and was third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1). Trained by Roger Attfield, Lady Speightspeare, by Speightstown, won three of eight starts and earned $486,766.
X Men Racing, a new ownership syndicate of Canadians, was started by Donato Lanni, a bloodstock agent who has brought new owners into the sport.
“I never would have thought when we put this group together we would have got a horse like this,” said Lanni. “I want to thank Peter the groom, Korina, who gallops her, our jock, Raffie and our trainer of the year, Kevin Attard. All the credit goes to Kevin, he did it all.”
David Anderson of Anderson Farms owns a share in X-Men Racing and was among the group which accepted the Sovereigns for Moira.
“As we all know, great horses make mediocre horsepeople look smart. But when you do it year in and year out like Donato Lanni, something’s right. This is the smartest guy in the business.”
The entire Sovereign Awards ceremony can be watched here:
The voting totals for Horse of the Year saw Moira collected 103 points over Lady Speightspeare’s 75. FILO DI ARIANNA (BRZ), by Drosselmeyer, was the third finalist for Horse of the Year with 24 points. Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutcsh’s gelding was named Champion Male Sprinter and Champion Male Turf Horse on the night. He won three of five races, earned $213,443, and is trained by Mark Casse.
Casse won his 12th straight Sovereign and 15th overall for Outstanding Trainer, but just barely. Casse had three more voting points than Kevin Attard, who also trains PHILIP MY DEAR, named Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. Owned by Raroma Stable, Philip My Dear, an Ontario-bred by Silent Name (Jpn) won the Cup & Saucer Stables and Soaring Free Stakes and earned $305,762. He was bred by Adena Springs.
BRUNO SCHICKEDANZ won his first Sovereign Award as he was named Outstanding Owner, edging X-Men Racing, SF Bloodstock and Madaket Stable by seven points. Second in the voting in this category in 2000, Bruno Schickedanz has been the leading owner at Woodbine racetrack by wins for nine consecutive years and the leading owner at Fort Erie in 2021 and 2022. Bruno has expanded his stable over the years and in 2022 his horses made over 400 starts in Canada, with his red-and-white striped silks crossing the finish in front 73 times and his horses earning just over $2 million. Bruno’s star horse of 2022 was the Irish-bred four-year old War Bomber, a finalist for Champion Older Main Track Male.
“Wow! This is exciting,” said Schickedanz. “I am deeply honoured to be standing here. Windfields’ E.P. Taylor, Frank Stronach, Sam-Son and Kinghaven, they have all stood here, I feel so lucky to be standing where they stood. This is a great sport and the people are great. I love you all.”
The closest finish of the night was for Outstanding Breeder which Frank and Frieda Stronach’s ADENA SPRINGS collected by one point over Sam-Son Farms. Stronach was in attendance to accept his 13th Sovereign for Outstanding Breeder. Adena Springs bred Moira and Philip My Dear, among others, in 2022.
KAZUSHI KIMURA‘s remarkable career continued in 2022 as he won his second straight riding title in just his fifth year of riding in Canada. Already a winner of two Sovereigns for Outstanding Apprentice and a trophy for 2021’s Outstanding Jockey, Kimura set personal bests for victories with 152 and purse earnings with over $6.8 million. One of his biggest wins of the year came aboard the Chad Brown-trained mare Rougir (FR), owned by Peter Brant; the two overcame some serious traffic trouble to take the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor Stakes against a stellar field.
The Sovereign Awards ceremony, hosted by Jeff Bratt and Dawn Lupul, began with the presentation of the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit to trainer DALE SAUNDERS. Through more than half a century of training horses, Dale is among an elite group of Canadian horsepeople, his 2,177 winners putting him sixth on the list of all-time leading trainers. Dale is only the second trainer to win more than 2,000 races while running exclusively in Alberta, along with Canadian Horse Racing Hall Fame of Fame inductee Ron ‘Red’; Smith.
There were several first-time Sovereign Award winners from the 2022 season. Keith Johns celebrated a championship with his filly HAZELBROOK, who was named Champion Female Sprinter. Trained by Lorne Richards, Hazelbrook and her regular rider Jason Hoyte won four of six races in 2022, three stakes including the Grade 3 Hendrie and Ontario Fashion. The daughter of Bayern was Johns’ first stakes winner at Woodbine. He races as True North Stable and is from Edmonton.
“Wow, what can I say. We weren’t expecting this,” said Johns, who accepted the Sovereign with his wife Cleta. “It’s an honour and a privilege to be standing up here. When you think of our competitors, Mark Casse, Roger Attfield, it’s crazy. The real star is the athlete. Hazelbrook has taken us on a journey that is incredible.”
Johns was joined by his Alberta trainer Craig Smith, who purchased Hazelbrook for $50,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November sale, and breeders Mike and Linda Bilbrey.
Rene and Darlene Hunderup and their son Jason Lamarche Hunderup celebrated the Champion 3-Year-Old Male Sovereign win by their homebred SIR FOR SURE (Sligo Bay (Ire)). The gelding, trained by Mark Casse, won the Breeders’ Stakes and Plate Trial and provided the family, who operated Norse Ridge Farms in King, ON with their first Sovereign.
“What an honour, especially when you breed the mare and then you breed such an exceptional creature,” said Rene Hunderup. “I have to thank my son, who saved him when Sir for Sure was castrated. The horse blew up and we had an incident that we had never seen in our life before. Then in the middle of it all, he scratched his eye. Mother [Darlene] foaled him and I just loved him.”
More winners!
Outstanding Apprentice Jockey: SLADE JONES
443 Starts; 61 Wins; 54 Seconds; 57 Thirds
Earnings $1,928,304
Slade Jones (140), N’Rico Prescod (56), Kimal Santo (34)
Champion Older Main Track Male: WHO’S THE STAR
Trainer: Mark E. Casse
Owner: M Racing Group, LLC
Breeder: Oscar Penn & John R. Penn
B. G. 4, by Tonalist – Shine Forth (Carson City)
2022: 11 Starts – 6 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds – $299,740
Winner: Autumn S. (G2), Durham Cup S. (G3), Valedictory S. (G3), Niagara S.,
ALW/OC, ALW/OC
Who’s the Star (136), War Bomber (IRE) (30), Soy Tapatio (24)
Champion Two-year Old Female: CAIRO CONSORT
Trainer: Nathan Squires
Owner: Maple Lane Farm LLC
Breeder: Frankfort Park Farm
GR./RO. F. 2, by Cairo Prince – Absolutely Awesome (Street Cry *Ire)
2022: 6 Starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 2 thirds – $266,149
Winner: Catch a Glimpse S., MSW
Stakes Placings: 2 nd Johnnie Walker Natalma S. (G1), 3 rd Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
Turf (G1)
Cairo Consort (118), Last Call (72), Renegade Rebel (22)
Outstanding Broodmare: COUNT TO THREE
B. M. 2002 by Red Ransom – Countus In (Dancing Count)
7 Starters, 5 Winners, 2 Graded Blacktype winners
Progeny earnings $2,114,389
Count to Three (74), Include Katherine (48), Cosa Rara (32)
Outstanding Writing: GEORGE WILLIAMS
Derby Winner has a Manitoba Mother
Published May 8, 2022 on WinnipegFreePress.com
Outstanding Photograph (tie):
ALLAN DE LA PLANTE
The Catch
Published December 27, 2022 on CanadianThoroughbred.com
JULIE WRIGHT
On Cloud Nine – 2022 E. P. Taylor Champions
Published December 12, 2022 on DRF.com
Outstanding Audio Visual/Digital Broadcast: WOODBINE ENTERTAINMENT
The Queen’s Plate
Aired on CTV/TSN on August 21, 2022
Outstanding Grooms:
AMBER HUTCHINSON
Amber Hutchinson was just 15 years old when she got her first job on the backstretch at Woodbine. Born in Barrie, Ontario, Amber was in love with horses from a young age. Her mother signed her up for riding camps as a child and one fateful day, when her daughter saw an ad for grooms wanted at Woodbine, she signed her daughter’s racing commission license, allowing her to work during the summers and on weekends. That first job at the track, with trainer Jim Hutchison and his daughter Julie, paved the way for Amber to be honoured as an Outstanding Groom at this evening’s Sovereign Awards ceremony. Amber worked her way up from hot-walker to groom, also doing some pony riding along the way when outrider Wayne Green was absent. She found her dream job some 17 years ago when she started working for 1984 Sovereign Award-winning trainer Mike Doyle, and has been there ever since.
RICARDO NICHALSON
Ricardo Nichalson has always been seeking a challenge. Hard work and being a team player come easily to the 41-year old who was honoured this evening with the Outstanding Groom award. He was nominated by his boss of almost 18 years, trainer
Ian Black, who hired Ricardo soon after opening a successful public stable. Ricardo and his family moved from Jamaica to Toronto when he was 11 and it would be some time before he even got close to a horse. Throughout school, “Ricky” concentrated on getting good grades and preparing for the workforce. After Grade 12, he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, an architect, and began working in construction for a local union. One day, some high school friends told him about jobs at Woodbine racetrack where they worked with horses, and, in his first visit to the barn area at the Etobicoke track, he was put right to work.
The Hazelbrook team includes jockey Jason Hoyte (far right), owners Keith Johns and (second from right) and wife Cleta (holding trophy). Trainer Lorne Richards is behind presenter David Anderson. (Mike Burns photo)
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