For only the second time in the 37 years of the Sovereign Awards ceremony, a horse that was not based in Canada has been voted with the ultimate honour, the Horse of the Year. It happened two years ago with Juddmonte Farm’s European American transplant Champs Elysees, based mostly on his victory in the Grade I Canadian International.
Never Retreat, the 2011 Horse of the Year, made the required three starts in Canada to be eligible (she made four in fact) and was a major winner both at Woodbine and in important races in the U.S.
What Never Retreat has, however, that Champs Elysees did not, was a true-blue Canadian pedigree, branches of horses grown right in Ontario. In her first three generations, Never Retreat shows six Canadian-breds in the paternal or maternal line, starting with both Smart Strike, her sire, and Steady Growth, her broodmare sire.