Toronto, ON – The Sovereign Awards were announced Friday night at the Westin Harbour Castle.
OUTSTANDING JOCKEY – Patrick Husbands
Canadian victories: 149
Canadian stakes: 21
Graded Canadian stakes wins: 4
– Patrick Husbands won races in bunches in 2007, leading all Canadian riders in total wins (149), total stakes (21) and total purse earnings ($8.8 million). Husbands won at a 20 per cent rate, an impressive figure considering he rode in over 700 races. Highlights of the season include a Triple Tiara sweep with Sealy Hill, a Coronation Futurity upset aboard Kesagami and an added-money double with rising star Officer Cherrie.
OUTSTANDING APPRENTICE JOCKEY – Tyler Pizarro
Canadian victories: 141
Canadian stakes: 0
– Tyler Pizarro dominated the Woodbine win column among apprentices. Scoring at a 13.9 per cent rate, Pizarro won 124 races at the Toronto oval, good enough for a share of third-place in the standings. His mounts earned over $5.2 million. He never connected in a stakes event, though he did guide Executive Flight to runner-up finishes in the Ballade, Victoriana and Classy n’Smart.
OUTSTANDING TRAINER – Mark Casse
Canadian victories: 84
Canadian stakes: 13
Canadian graded stakes wins: 2
– Mark Casse enjoyed a career year at Woodbine in 2007. His 84 tallies at the Toronto oval is 15 more than his previous high for a meet (69 in 2002). He finished with 24 tallies more than his nearest pursuer. He was just as dominant with his stakes runners, winning 13, including the Labatt Woodbine Oaks with Sealy Hill. This winter, he is racing at the Fair Grounds. The Indianapolis native is just 45 wins away from 1,000 during his career.
OUTSTANDING OWNER IN CANADA – Melnyk Racing Stables, Inc.
– Even though their Woodbine win total dipped from 22 to 15 in 2007, Melnyk Racing Stables led all owners at Woodbine with earnings of $2,030,805, a sharp increase of 31.9 per cent over 2006, when they were third. The key difference was a stellar season from Point Given filly Sealy Hill, who earned the lion’s share of her $958,389 in Canada, where she captured the Labatt Woodbine Oaks, swept the Triple Tiara and was a runner-up in the $1 million E.P. Taylor Stakes. Gouldings Green, Sterwins and Breeders’ Stakes hero Marchfield added Toronto stakes for Team Melnyk.
OUTSTANDING BROODMARE – Lover’s Talk
– If any dam is more due to be named Champion Broodmare, it is Lover’s Talk, a 23-year-old daughter of Vice Regent that was bred by none other than E.P. Taylor. The bay has produced four stakes winners, including 5-for-7 Love Grows, 11-time winner Barley Talk, speedy Wild Whiskey and triple stakes-winner Torrid Affair. Lover’s Talk qualified this year when Thunder Gulch filly Lyrically finished third to Bear Now in the Duchess.
OUTSTANDING BREEDER – Adena Springs
– A regular finalist in the Outstanding Breeder category, Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs produced nine different stakes winners in 2007 at its Aurora (Adena North) operation. From 148 starters, 82 Adena-breds successfully made it to the winner’s circle on a total of 132 occasions. At Woodbine, Awesome Action won the Ontario Jockey Club and Labeeb Stakes, Executive Choice captured the Steady Growth, Just Rushing scored in the Vigil and The Niagara Queen won the Flaming Page.
CHAMPION TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY – Kodiak Kowboy
2007 stats: 7-4-1-1 $549,991
Best Beyer (Daily Racing Form speed rating): 99 (sprint)
Kodiak Kowboy is a U.S.-based colt which ran at Woodbine twice, winning the Victoria Stakes, but is best known for his third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The Posse bay also won the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs and the Grade 2 Saratoga Special at Saratoga. The Kentucky-bred also finished second in the Grade 2 Futurity for trainer Steve Asmussen, and owners Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm.
CHAMPION TWO-YEAR-OLD MALE – Dancing Allstar
Dancing Allstar was excellent both at Woodbine and Hastings in 2007, winning stakes races out east and west. The Millennium Allstar chestnut won the My Dear Stakes at Woodbine on July 2 and was second, beaten a head-bob, to Bear Holiday, a two-year-old colt Sovereign Award contender in the Colin. Bob Cheema’s B.C.-bred was three-for-three in Hastings stakes, taking the CTHS Sales Stakes, the Jack Diamond Futurity and the Fantasy.
CHAMPION THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY – Sealy Hill
2007 stats: 8-4-3-0 $958,389
Best Beyer (Daily Racing Form speed rating): 99 (turf)
Sealy Hill won four stakes races in 2007 including all three legs of the Canadian Filly Triple Tiara, the Labatt Woodbine Oaks at Woodbine, the Labatt Bison City Stakes at Fort Erie (on DQ reversal) and the Wonder Where Stakes at Woodbine; the first filly to do so. The Ontario-bred, trained by Mark Casse for Melnyk Racing Stables Inc., also finished second in the Grade 2 Canadian and the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on turf. The Point Given dark bay also won the Grade 3 Bourbonette Breeders’ Cup at Turfway Park.
CHAMPION THREE-YEAR-OLD MALE – Alezzandro
2007 stats: 6-2-2-1 $551,550
Best Beyer (Daily Racing Form speed rating): 90 (route)
– Alezzandro competed in all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown, finishing second in the Queen’s Plate, but denying Mike Fox a chance at the Triple Crown with a win in the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie. The High Yield dark bay colt, trained by Kevin Attard for the Knob Hill Stable and the Estate of Steve Stavro, also finished second in the Plate Trial and the Ontario Derby.
CHAMPION OLDER FEMALE ON THE MAIN TRACK – Financingavailable
2007 stats: 7-5-2-0
Best Beyer: 101
– Arguably, K.K. Sangara’s most important acquisition ever, Financingavailable returned to her stakes-winning form, garnering four added-money titles, including three on Woodbine’s Polytrack. The daughter of Kiridashi retired to the breeding shed shortly after her Ontario Fashion victory with a record of 15 wins and seven seconds from 28 starts.
CHAMPION OLDER MALE HORSE ON THE MAIN TRACK – True Metropolitan
2007 stats: 10-7-1-1
Best Beyer: 102
– True Metropolitan is a Trans-Canada superstar. The son of Proud and True won multiple stakes at three different Canadian racetracks, Woodbine, Hastings and Northlands, where he won the Speed to Spare by 10 lengths at odds of 1-5. The Bob Cheema-owned gelding is about as prohibitive a favorite to retain his championship title in the category.
CHAMPION SPRINTER – Financingavailable
2007 stats: 7-5-2-0
Best Beyer: 101
– The Lorne Richard’s trainee had such a well-rounded season in 2007 that she made the finals in three different categories (Turf Mare, Older Dirt Mare and Sprinter). Five of the six-year-old’s seven starts came at sprint distances. All three of her sprint wins came traveling six furlongs (two on Polytrack and one on turf), including the Ballade and her career finale, the Ontario Fashion.
CHAMPION MALE TURF HORSE – Cloudy’s Knight
2007 stats: 9-3-3-1
Best Beyer: 105
– S J Stables homebred Cloudy’s Knight captured three graded stakes in 2007, two in Canada and one in the United States. The seven-year-old gelding was a hard-luck second to Last Answer in his first journey northward. The son of Lord Avie followed up with a one-length victory in the Grade 2 Sky Classic and a narrow score in the Grade 1 Pattison Canadian International.
CHAMPION FEMALE TURF HORSE – Sealy Hill
2007 stats: 8-4-3-0
Best Beyer: 99
– After strong performances in the opening two-thirds of the Triple Tiara (Series for Canadian-bred three-year-old fillies) Mark Casse trainee Sealy Hill made an effective transition to turf racing in July. The Point Given filly was a powerful winner of the Wonder Where, closing from more than a dozen lengths off the pace to win by daylight. The Melnyk Racing Stables homebred also ran second in the two premiere late-season turf events for older fillies and mares, the Canadian and the $1 million E.P. Taylor.
HORSE OF THE YEAR – Sealy Hill
OUTSTANDING PHOTOGRAPH – Michael Burns, Jr.,By Dawn’s Early Light, The Toronto Star
OUTSTANDING FILM/VIDEO/BROADCAST – Horse Racing Alberta & WhiteIron Productions The Alberta Derby CTV – Alberta
OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER STORY – Allan Besson, Graduation Day Celebration, The Winnipeg Free Press
OUTSTANDING FEATURE STORY – Paul Wiecek, Holding Life by the Reins, The Winnipeg Free Press
SPECIAL SOVEREIGN AWARD OF MERIT – Louis Romanet
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