I guess there’s no real humble way to put this. I was up for two Jockey Club of Canada Sovereign Awards Friday night and I lost one, won one. I got the “Award of Merit for Feature Story” for a piece called How Many Horses Can One Man Save, which ran in the August 8 issue of Down The Stretch. I had a pretty good idea I was on to something good when Alex Brown called me last summer. This is a man who has dedicated himself to stopping the horse slaughter industry in Canada. Thousands of horses, many of them thoroughbreds and standardbreds end up on the conveyor belt to the slaughter house when owners simply determine it’s financially inconvenient to keep them. Brown spent a year in Toronto, working as an exercise rider for the Steve Asmussen barn, all the while examining the process that allows forgotten horses to be sold for meat.
Anyway, it was a great moment at the Four Seasons, among all the tuxedoed and gowned horse people to hear my name called. And I won’t be distributing my thank-you speech. I had some kind of mental blackout and attack of nerves. I could barely say, “Thank-you!” Not very impressive for a guy who works permanently in radio. Had I not panicked, I might have pointed out that the other two candidates in the my category were, ironically, guys who had helped me with Down The Stretch during the year. Chris Lomon was nominated for a story he wrote for The Game and as part of the Woodbine Communications department, has taken my phone calls and e-mails countless times as I request racing forms, statistics, jockey interviews, facts, figures and betting vouchers. And Perry Lefko, author of many books, including a terrific one one on Sandy Hawley, was nominated for his story/eulogy on Ted Labanowich. Lefko was parked at the Down The Stretch table and has been a valuable source this year with stories, press releases and marketing ideas.
In the other category I was nominated in – best newspaper article – my name was not called. The winner was Beverley Smith of the Globe and Mail, which was not a surprise…her story on owner Gus Schickedanz was much better than the story I had submitted.
Some of the other awards were interesting. Patrick Husbands won a close vote to win as Jockey of the Year over Jim McAleney who brought his wife Kim, kids Cody and Caitlin and his Dad, Wilf to the fancy party.
Mark Casse scored his third straight Sovereign as leading trainer. Certainly well-deserved, since Casse led all trainers at Woodbine, but as Woodbine CEO David Willmot noted about the runner-up Roger Attfield, ” There are four races at Woodbine worth $Million or more and he won one and finished second in the other three.”
DannyDion has been in the horse business just six years, but he’s vaulted to the top in a hurry. Dion cashed four Sovereigns Friday night…for Four year-old Female Horse of the Year – Bear Now, top sprinter – Fatal Bullet, Horse of the Year – Fatal Bullet and for Outstanding Owner. The Fatal Bullet night was ripe for controversy. The speedball, who came second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, lost to Queen’s Plate Winner Not Bourbon in the Outstanding Three Year-Old Colt category, but won as Horse of the Year, a category that didn’t include Not Bourbon. Go figure…
What made the evening great for me was that I had an entire table populated with Down The Stretch people. Mila and Tony Kalloo, my dear friends who have bankrolled Down The Stretch were almost as thrilled as I was. My associate editor Eleanor LeBlanc looked gorgeous in a sleek blue dress. Art Director Gord Steventon looked like something out of a James Bond film in his tux and writer Keith McCalmont was busy collecting pictures and interviews for his excellent blog Triple Dead Heat. And, of course, Lefko gave a tongue-in-cheek play by play of the entire evening’s events.
I should also mention one of the neatest moments of the night was when 16 year-old Matt Waples won for Best Photograph. Matt is the youngest son of legendary harness driver Ron Waples who has also sired Randy Waples, a leading driver on the Woodbine cicrcuit. Matt is the youngest person to ever win a Sovereign. I missed the record by a mere 42 years.
You might want to look out for the next issue of Down The Stretch ( www.downthestretchnewspaper.com). We’re going to count down the Top 50 Horseracing Stories of 2008. Considering the pitched battles between myself and other contributors over what should be included, this list will, at least, be controversial.
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