One of the major drawbacks of writing this column is that by the time you read it, everything exciting has already happened! (I am writing this the last week of May and you are reading it sometime in July!) Who won the 2009 North America Cup? Is there another Somebeachsomewhere out there? At this point, all the good three-year-old colts are spread across North America and no one has really dominated yet.
Who won the Belmont on the thoroughbred side of the business? Even though there will be no Triple Crown winner this year, there has been a lot of excitement. The amazing filly Rachel Alexandra beat all the boys in the Preakness. Did jockey Calvin Borel ride all three Triple Crown winners? Did the once Canadian-owned gelding, Mine That Bird, win two-thirds of the Triple Crown and show all the studs you can have parts missing and still be a good horse?
On behalf of myself and all of the Standardbred Canada Directors, I would like to congratulate Keith Clark, Somebeachsomewhere and Rich N Elegant on their recent election to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. For the past 34 years, I have watched Keith operate his stable and racing business and I fully support his induction. Keith is one of the hardest working horsemen in the industry and he tries to stay a step ahead of his competition. Congratulations Keith!
Congratulations as well to the thoroughbred inductees: breeder, Gustav Schickedanz, the horses, Peteski and Alywow, and the mares, La Voyageuse and Maryfield.
It certainly makes for some shedrow conversation... if you have read any of my previous columns, you will know I am a huge fan of Somebeachsomewhere. There is no doubt this great colt deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but so soon? What if he has fertility problems? What if he doesn’t pass his talent along to his offspring? Why do other sports have waiting periods before their stars are eligible? Does it matter? Grab a coffee and ask your neighbor what they think!
Congratulations also to John Campbell on his induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and to those with some recent driving milestones worthy of mention -- Dave Palone (13,000), Mike Lachance (10,000) and Sylvain Filion (6,000).
Thanks to Brad Forward for being a great Canadian representative at the 2009 World Driving Championship in Norway. With modern technology at work, it was exciting to get updates from Brad himself as the event progressed. I wonder what Brad’s first meal was when he got back to Canada?
Don’t forget to check the Standardbred Canada webpage for the 2009 Trot Canada National Handicapping contest qualifying leg at a racetrack in your area.
Oh... and for those of you that read last month’s column, I just wanted to let you know that I did not have to walk to the airport in Windsor!
Until next month!