Canadian Hall of Fame | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fipke Among 2022 Canadian Hall of Fame Inductees

Owner/breeder Charles E. Fipke, a Canadian geologist and diamond prospector who has made an impact on the sport on both sides of the border, will be inducted as part of the 2022 class in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The other Thoroughbred inductees include jockey Eurico Rosa Da Silva, as well as horses Court Vision (Gulch) and Alydeed (Shadeed).

Fipke has been involved in Thoroughbreds for over 40 years. His Sovereign Award winners are all homebreds: Not Bourbon (Not Impossible {Ire}), Impossible Time (Not Impossible {Ire}), Perfect Soul (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), and Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown). He has also campaigned homebred Eclipse Award winner Forever Unbridled (Unbridled's Song) and a number of other Grade I winners. In 2020, Fipke was awarded the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit by the Stewards of the Jockey Club of Canada for his contributions to the Canadian Thoroughbred industry.

Da Silva, who has been honored with the Sovereign Award as Canada's Champion jockey seven times, moved to Canada after a successful riding career in Brazil. From 11,630 starts, Da Silva has 2,286 wins, earnings of $102,764,264, and has been partner to a number of top horses, including Canadian Horse of the Year and eight-time Sovereign winner Pink Lloyd (Old Forester).

Court Vision, winner of five Grade I races including the 2011 Breeders' Cup Mile, was bred in Kentucky by W. S. Farish and Kilroy Thoroughbred Partnership. Although his ownership and trainers changed a number of times, he won the final start of his career–the Breeders' Cup–for Spendthrift Farm and trainer Dale Romans.

Bred in Ontario by 2015 Canadian Hall of Fame inductee Anderson Farms, Alydeed was campaigned by David Willmot's Kinghaven Farms and trained by Roger Attfield. His biggest scores included the Queen's Plate and the GI Carter H. Alydeed was Canada's leading sire in 2001.

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was founded in 1976 and landed on a permanent site at Woodbine in Toronto in 1997. Induction ceremonies for the Class of 2022 will be held during the summer of 2023, along with those inducted as part of the Class of 2023, which will be announced in April.

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Canadian Hall Of Fame Jockey Hugo Dittfach, 85, Passes

Canadian Hall of Fame jockey Hugo Dittfach has died at age 85. A winner of over 4,000 races, “Hustlin' Hugo” Dittfach is remembered for his incredible work ethic and perseverance. Dittfach arrived in Canada following World War II, a refugee from East Germany that spent three-years in a Russian concentration camp in Poland.

While working at a restaurant in Calgary, Dittfach received a suggestion from a patron that he pursue horse racing due to his size. Launching his career in 1956, Dittfach was a leading rider in Western Canada before relocating to Ontario.

Dittfach would reach the pinnacle of Canadian racing in 1961, riding 20-1 longshot Blue Light to victory in the Queen's Plate, edging the world's leading race-winning jockey Johnny Longden and race-favorite Just Don't Shove in one of the closest finishes in race history.

Dittfach remained a fixture and leading rider at Woodbine, Greenwood and Fort Erie for many years, winning numerous stakes, including the Prince of Wales a record five-times. He retired from riding in 1989 to become a trainer.

“So many individuals in our racing industry, including myself, are lucky to have cherished memories of Hugo,” said Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment. “Hugo was a hard-working, earnest man, that gave his all every time he got on the back of a horse. Hugo rode regularly for Jim Dandy Stable and I fondly remember his ride on Ruthie's Run to win the Princess Elizabeth Stakes in 1974.

“A true gentleman, Hugo made an incredible contribution to our sport in Ontario and will be missed by all.”

“Hustlin' Hugo” won the Sovereign Award as Canada's Outstanding Jockey in 1975, was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1983 and received the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award in 1991 for his contributions to the sport.

Woodbine Entertainment extends sincere condolences to the family and friends of Hugo Dittfach.

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Canadian HOF Rider Don Seymour Dies

Canadian Hall of Fame jockey Don Seymour, who stamped himself one of the nation’s leading riders after riding two Triple Crown winners, died June 26 at his home in Barrie, Ontario. Surrounded by his family, including his mother Mary, at the time of his death, he reportedly had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease since earlier this year. He was 59.

Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Seymour was a leading rider in Alberta in the 1980s before relocating to ride at Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario. Best remembered for sweeping consecutive Triple Crowns in 1988-89 with Kinghaven Farm runners With Approval and Izvestia–both horses would go on to be named Horses of the Year–he also accompanied Canadian champion Play The King, who finished second behind U.S. Sprint Champion Gulch in the 1988 GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint en route to Canadian Horse of the Year honors.

Voted the Sovereign Award-winning rider in 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1990, he was honored with the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award in 1995 and was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1999. After an early retirement from the saddle in 1994 with 2,141 career wins, including 171 stakes wins, Seymour served as a placing judge and official clocker before leaving the track for good in 2002.

A private family service will be held followed by a public celebration of Seymour’s life at a later date. In his memory, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

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