Vicki Pappas, Heart To Heart Among 2021 Class Inducted Into Canadian Horse Racing Hall Of Fame

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to name three people and three horses to be inducted as the Class of 2021. As previously announced, the Board of Directors agreed to reduce the number of inductees for the Class of 2021 to three per breed. This will allow for the 2020 and 2021 inductees to be properly recognized together, once a gala event may be hosted.

The Hall determined additional inductees will be added in 2022 and 2023 to offset the smaller class of 2021.

The Thoroughbred Election Committee voted to induct Builder Vicki Pappas, Male Horse Heart to Heart, and in the Thoroughbred Veteran category, Not Too Shy.

Being recognized as a Thoroughbred Builder Inductee in 2021 is Montreal-born and Streetsville, Ontario resident Victoria (Vicki) Pappas, making her the third woman to be inducted to the CHRHF in as many years. Throughout a career spanning over 40 years, Pappas has been engaged in various elements of the Canadian Thoroughbred industry, starting first as a groom, she has also been a trainer, owner and breeder. In 2006 Edenwold, bred by Pappas along with her husband Bill Diamant and long-time friend Gail Wood, won the Queen's Plate.

As the face of the Woodbine Sales Company, Vicki was involved in all aspects of the sale. As one of the first on-camera hosts for Woodbine's expanded simulcast show, Vicki handicapped races on air. And as Woodbine's stakes coordinator, Vicki worked tirelessly to encourage some of the world's top horsepeople and horses to make the trip to Woodbine for major races.

Vicki may however be best known as the passionately dedicated and hands-on chairperson of LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society. Under Vicki's leadership, what began as a few people looking for ways to ensure Thoroughbred racehorses have a dignified and happy retirement, has grown into a registered charity, recognized as one of the continent's most respected horse retirement and adoption organizations and is also the first industry-funded adoption program in Canada. To date, LongRun has successfully retired and adopted over 1,000 racehorses, and continues to care for 50 horses on its farm in Hillsburgh, Ontario. Many of the farm's resident equines are 'lifers' who will comfortably live out their days under the care of LongRun.

Bred by Darrell Bauder's Alberta-based Red Hawk Ranch and foaled in Ontario, the 2021 Thoroughbred Male Horse Inductee Heart to Heart was a $25,000 purchase by Lethbridge, Alberta's Terry Hamilton at the CTHS yearling sale in 2012. That investment proved lucrative with the horse earning over $2 Million (US) in a high-profile seven-year racing career which included 15 wins and nearly $50,000 per start in 41 starts.

As a two-year-old, the son of English Channel out of the Silver Deputy daughter Ask the Question, made starts in both Canada and the U.S. His Canadian starts included a third-place finish in the Vandal Stakes as well as finishing fourth in both the Simcoe Stakes and Coronation Futurity. Following his sophomore year which included finishing third in the Toronto Cup Stakes as well as starts in the Queen's Plate and Marine Stakes, Heart to Heart was named the Sovereign Award Champion 3-Year-Old in 2014, on the merits of winning 4 of 8 races, including two Grade 3 scores at Churchill Downs.

Trained throughout his career by Brian Lynch, Heart to Heart won two Grade 1 races back-to-back in 2018 with a victory in the Gulfstream Park Turf in February of that year, followed by a decisive win in the Makers 46 Mile in April at Keeneland.

In total, Heart to Heart was victorious in 11 graded stakes at US tracks, including Belmont, Monmouth, Saratoga, and aforementioned Churchill Downs, Gulfstream Park, and Keeneland. During his seven-year career, this Canadian bred and owned horse had triple-digit (100+) Beyer speed figures 18 times with 10 of his stakes wins achieved in gate-to-wire fashion. Impressively, he also had at least one graded stakes win each year from age three through age seven.

Bred and owned by Conn Smythe (CHRHF Class of 1977), and trained by D. P. (Donnie) Walker, 2021 Thoroughbred Veteran Inductee Not Too Shy won just two races in her initial year of racing (1968) but, in the next three years, she would establish herself as one of the top stakes-winning fillies of her era. A 1966 daughter of Nearctic out of Twice Shy, she withstood a hard campaign in her sophomore year, going to the post 19 times.

Included in her accomplishments were victories in the Fury, Wonder Where, Maple Leaf, and Duchess Stakes, a race in which she defeated Kentucky Oaks winner, Hail to Patsy. Not Too Shy would lose the 1969 Canadian Oaks by a head to Kinghaven Farm's Cool Mood (inducted in 2014) after a long stretch duel. However, these two fillies would battle three more times with Not Too Shy prevailing in each of those meetings to avenge her Oaks' setback. Later that year, she took on the boys in the Breeders' Stakes, finishing in third place.

Often racing against older males, and equally adept on both dirt and turf, Not Too Shy's 4-yr-old season included 15 starts with wins in the Seaway, Canadian, Belle Mahone, Maple Leaf (again) and Tattling Handicap. Not Too Shy, described as a big, strapping bay filly, was named Canada's Champion Older Filly of 1970 for her efforts at age four.

At age five, she continued to race at a high level, earning 6 wins in 14 starts with victories in the Whimsical, repeating in the Seaway Stakes and a 4th-place finish against top fillies and mares in the Susquehanna Hcp at Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Not Too Shy retired with 11 stakes victories among her 23 wins. Her breeding career produced multiple stakes winner and 1978 Queen's Plate contender, Lucky Colonel S.

The Standardbred Election Committee inductee selections for 2021 include Builder Jim Bullock, Driver Randy Waples, and Female Horse Great Memories.

Erin, Ontario resident Jim Bullock has made immense contributions to the Canadian harness racing industry over the past 30 plus years as an owner, breeder, stallion syndicator, race track administrator, and organization leader. Following his purchase of Glengate Farms in 1992, he stood three stallions that are now members of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame — Balanced Image, Angus Hall and Apaches Fame, and each stallion has had an immeasurable impact on the Canadian harness racing landscape. While Bullock has suspended the stallion division of Glengate, he continues to be active as a breeder with a broodmare band of approximately 30 top quality, trotting-bred mares, built largely by retiring some of his most successful racehorses including Gramola, Juanitas Fury, Pepi Lavec, and Oaklea Odessa. Bullock's Glengate Farms can also lay claim to being co-breeder of double millionaire Art Official, world champion JL Cruze who went on to make over $1.6 million, and CHRHF inductee Odies Fame. It also seems rather fitting that Glengate Farms-bred Great Memories is also included in the CHRHF Class of 2021.

Jim has worked with leading organizations in the industry such as the Woodbine Entertainment Group as a director and the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association where he served as the organization's president for more than nine years. Jim also played a significant role in the SBOA New Owner Mentoring program, created to introduce and educate new owners to the industry. In 2013 he was recognized by the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association with the Van Bussel Award for exemplary service and the Lloyd Chisholm Achievement Award for meritorious service.

Although 2021 Driver Inductee Randy Waples was born with harness racing in his blood, he still needed to earn what he accomplished as a driver. After spending close to 10 years honing his craft at tracks throughout Ontario, the trajectory of his career changed in 1996 when he won 150 races in 1,197 starts in what would be the first of 22 consecutive years as a driver with earnings reaching into the millions. The three-time O'Brien Award as Canada's Driver of the Year, Waples also has a long list of stakes victories on his resume including the 2012 North America Cup with Thinking Out Loud, three Maple Leaf Trot wins with San Pail (CHRHF Class of 2016), as well as Breeders Crown Championship wins with San Pail and Dreamfair Eternal (CHRHF Class of 2014) and two wins in the Canadian Pacing Derby with Strong Clan (1997) and State Treasurer (2016). Other notable accomplishments include four Battle of Waterloo wins and leading driver in Ontario Sires Stakes earnings in 2001, 2002 and 2010.

In April 2018 when harness racing moved from Woodbine to permanently reside at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Waples was declared the all-time leader in wins at the Toronto facility with 2,605 victories. Nationally Waples is the all-time leading money-winning driver of races held in Canada, sporting more than 6,600 wins and $131 million in purse earnings. While the majority of Waples career has been spent on Canadian soil, his name was also added to U.S. record books when he won the Kentucky Sire Stakes Final at The Red Mile in 2000 with Real Desire, for trainer Blair Burgess (CHRHF Class of 2017), in a time of 1:50.4, a world record at the time for two-year-old pacing colts.

The 2021 Standardbred Female Horse Inductee Great Memories is a daughter of CHRHF 2000 Inductee Apaches Fame and out of Armbro Emerson daughter Save The Memories. Purchased as a yearling by Kenneth Fraser and Duane Marfisi, who also trained the filly, Great Memories' race career was cut short due to an injury at age three. Bred by fellow CHRHF Class of 2021 inductee Jim Bullock at his Glengate Farm in Campbellville, she now resides a few kilometres up the road in Rockwood and is owned by Ontario Standardbred nursery Warrawee Farm.

Among Great Memories' offspring are two world champions: Warrawee Needy and Warrawee Ubeaut.

A winner of 29 races and more than $1.25 million, Warrawee Needy was freakishly fast at two (1:49.4s), faster still at three (1:48.4s) and the fastest in the world at four (1:46.4) for trainer and CHRHF Inductee Carl Jamieson. Named the 2011 O'Brien Award winner for two-year-old pacing colts/geldings, Warrawee Needy was virtually unstoppable as a freshman, ending his nine-win rookie season by capturing the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final at Woodbine Racetrack. At age three, Warrawee Needy duplicated his stakes-winning and record-setting ways. After setting an OSS speed record of 1:49.4 at two, he also set the record for three-year-olds with a 1:48.4 performance as a sophomore. At four, he won an Aquarius Series leg, his US Pacing Championship elimination and his William Haughton Memorial elimination at the Meadowlands Racetrack in world record time.

In her first season on the racetrack in 2018, Warrawee Ubeaut won seven of 12 races and earned a division-leading $646,995 en route to divisional honours in the U.S. Her wins included the $600,000 Breeders Crown and $207,000 Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes. In addition, her 1:48.3 victory in a $61,250 division of the International Stallion Stakes at Red Mile made her the fastest two-year-old pacer (regardless of sex) in harness racing history. At age three Warrawee Ubeaut continued to impress matching her lifetime mark, again at Lexington, and winning 12 of 19 starts for earnings of $1,066,415, including an eight-race win streak. Notable wins included the Breeders Crown, the Jugette elimination and final and in doing so equalled the world record for a three-year-old pacing filly over a half-mile track. Her 2019 efforts were rewarded with a Dan Patch Award for her age category. As a four-year-old, Warrawee Ubeaut added the Roses Are Red title to her resume and lifted her earnings to nearly $2 million by season's end.

Great Memories' 10 racing age progeny have earned more than $4.2 million with four horses, Warrawee Needy, Warrawee Ubeaut, Warrawee Vital and Big Bay Point –breaking the 1:50 barrier and two surpassing the $1 million earnings mark.

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Heart To Heart, Charles Fipke Among Finalists For 2021 Canadian Horse Racing Hall Of Fame

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to announce its 2021 ballot. Due to Covid-19 restrictions resulting in the Hall not yet fully honouring the Class of 2020, the Board of Directors determined it best to reduce the number of inductees for the Class of 2021 to three per breed. This will allow for the 2020 and 2021 inductees to be properly recognized together, once public health guidelines permit.

The Board also decided additional inductees will be added in 2022 and 2023 to compensate for the smaller class of 2021.

A total of 18 people and horses comprised of nine Standardbred and nine Thoroughbred candidates have been selected to appear on the voting ballot. A 20-person Election Committee for each breed will determine the one individual to be inducted in each category, with the results to be announced on Tuesday, April 13th.

The three categories selected by the Thoroughbred Nominating Committee for the 2021 Thoroughbred ballot are Builder, Male Horse, and Veteran Horse. (Categories and finalist names in each are presented below in alphabetical order.)

A Thoroughbred Builder ballot comprised of Charles E. Fipke, Sam Lima, and Vicki Pappas, is offered for voter consideration.

Edmonton, Alberta-born Charles E. Fipke, a successful Canadian geologist and prospector who was involved in the discovery of the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, has been involved in the Canadian Thoroughbred Industry for close to forty years. Among his accomplishments, he bred and owned three Sovereign Award-winners including 2008 Champion Three-Year-Old Male and winner of the 2008 Queen's Plate, Not Bourbon; 2010 Champion Older Female, Impossible Time; and 2003 Champion Male Turf Horse Perfect Soul, who went on to become a successful sire. Also, Mr. Fipke bred and owned a number of other successful racehorses including winner of the 2011 Breeder's Cup Filly and Mare Turf (GI), Perfect Shirl. Charles Fipke is one of the most successful Canadians campaigning in major races in the United States. In addition to Perfect Soul and Perfect Shirl, Fipke's other Grade 1 winners there included; champion Forever Unbridled, Bee Jersey, Lemons Forever, Seeking the Soul, Jersey Town and Tale of Ekati. Fipke also enjoyed recent Grade 1 success at home when his Lady Speightspeare captured the 2020 Natalma.

The late Sam Lima's involvement in racing included many decades as an owner, a promoter of the sport and in the many positions he held with the HBPA, where he was a leader and advocate for the services and resources available to track workers, not only while they were in the industry, but following their time on the backstretch. Sam founded and was the driving force for nearly 60 years behind the highly popular Toronto Thoroughbred Racing Club which benefited thousands of racing fans by educating them about the finer details of the game through regular interaction with racing's many stars.

Sam was also the first Chairman of the Fort Erie Advisory Board from 1985-1994 and advocated diligently for the continuation of racing at Fort Erie. In 1992, Sam played an important role in establishing a simulcasting policy that still remains today. Mr. Lima, who passed away in 2019 was recognized in 2018 by the Jockey Club of Canada with a special Sovereign Award for his lifetime contributions.

Montreal-born Victoria (Vicki) Pappas, a longtime owner, breeder and trainer retired from her career at Woodbine that included a period of time spent as a simulcast broadcaster, so she could solely focus her time and energy on the development of the LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society (LTRS). Since its formation in 1999, LTRS has re-homed over 600 thoroughbred racehorses donated by owners and trainers who support the charity's mandate, policies and the vision of its founder. Seventeen years after being granted charitable status, LTRS opened the stable doors to its own facility in Hillsburgh, Ontario where retired thoroughbreds are prepared for adoption to their forever homes.

The 2021 Thoroughbred Male Horse ballot includes Fatal Bullet, Heart to Heart and Joshua Tree.

Fatal Bullet, Bred by Adena Springs, owned by Danny Dion's Bear Stables and trained by Reade Baker, was one of Canada's fastest sprinters in recent decades. He was voted Canada's Horse of the Year in 2008 on the strength of being named Canada's Outstanding Sprinter that year. He captured 12 career races including five stakes and earned $1,377,256.00 in total. Winning his first career start as a juvenile in 2007, his three-year-old year included three early-season wins at Woodbine, followed by track-record performances at Woodbine in the Bold Venture Stakes, Presque Isle in the Tom Ridge Stakes and at Turfway Park, earning a trip to the Grade 1 Breeder's Cup Sprint where he placed second behind heavily favoured Midnight Lute in the quickest running of the race to date in 1.07.08, which projects Fatal Bullet to having earned the second-fastest time in the history of the race.

Heart to Heart a $25,000 CTHS yearling sale purchase in 2012 by owner Terry Hamilton turned out to be a lucrative decision, with the horse earning over $2 million (US) in a high-profile seven-year racing career, the majority of which under the tutelage of Brian Lynch, with 15 wins, and racking upgraded stakes wins at ages 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. In 2014 he was named Sovereign Award Champion 3-Year-Old, winning 4 of 8 races, including two Grade 3 scores at Churchill Downs. While Heart to Heart never won in his homeland, he did score twice at the highest level in the United States capturing the Gr 1 Maker's 46 Mile Stakes and the Gr 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Stakes.

Irish-bred Joshua Tree's career statistics feature earnings of $3,851,594 in 37 starts (7-7-4). Three of those wins came at Woodbine in the Pattison Canadian International Stakes (G1) in 2010, 2011, and 2013, an unprecedented accomplishment. Other graded stakes wins for this world travelling son of Montjeu include the Qatar International Invitation Cup (G1) in 2011, the Judamonte Royal Lodge Stakes (G2) at Ascot in 2009 and the Darley Prix Kergorly (G2) in 2009.

In the Thoroughbred Veteran Category, voters will select from Formal Gold, Mt Sassafras and Not Too Shy

Ontario-bred Formal Gold remains the fastest Canadian-bred in terms of speed figures, even though his final year of racing occurred in 1997. Bred by Mr. & Mrs Rodes Kelly, trained by William W. Perry and owned by John D. Murphy, Sr., this son of Black Tie Affair, received an Equibase Rating of 136, one of the highest in history. Formal Gold was also ranked among the top handicap horses of 1997 with gate-to-wire efforts in two Grade 1 victories; the Woodward Stakes in September of that year after winning the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream in February, defeating HOY and US Hall of Fame horse Skip Away in both races. At stud, he ranked among the top 1% as sire of 2-yr-old winners from starters at 45% and sired progeny with global earnings of nearly $16 million (US), including 19 stakes winners.

Bred by Aubrey Minshall and owned throughout his career by Minshall Farms, Mt. Sassafras, was a winner of $1.3 million with a race record of 8-7-14 in 47 starts under the training of Barbara Minshall. The multiple graded stakes winner's victories included the Gulfstream Park Handicap (G1) in 1997, the Dominion Day (G2) in 1999 as well as the Eclipse Handicap (G3) in 1996. Mt. Sassafras was named the Sovereign Award Champion Older Horse and Horse of the Year in 1996. He is fondly remembered for his courageous pace-setting effort in the 1996 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Woodbine where he lost the lead only late to be a tight fourth behind the outstanding trio of Alphabet Soup, Louis Quatorze and Cigar. When Mt Sassafras won the 1997 Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap he defeated multiple champion Skip Away.

Nearctic daughter Not Too Shy was bred and owned by the late Conn Smythe. During a race career spanning from 1968-1971 that included 55 starts, 19 of which came in her sophomore year, she accumulated a total of 23 wins, 8 seconds and 10 thirds, establishing herself as one of the top stakes-winning fillies of her era. Her resume includes wins in the Fury, Wonder Where, Maple Leaf and Duchess Stakes. Three times Not Too Shy defeated CHRHF Honoured Member Cool Mood, to redeem herself following a hard-fought battle and close second-place finish in the 1969 Canadian Oaks.

The three categories selected by the Standardbred Nominating Committee to appear on the CHRHF 2021 Standardbred ballots are: Builder, Driver and Female Horse. Categories and finalist names in each are presented below in alphabetical order.

In the Standardbred Builder category, the candidates are Jim Bullock, Al Libfeld, and Dr. Lloyd McKibbin.

Erin, Ontario resident Jim Bullock has made major contributions to the Canadian harness racing industry as an owner, breeder, stallion syndicator, race track administrator and organization leader during a career spanning over 30 years. He purchased Glengate Farm in 1992 and stood three stallions who have since been inducted to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame by virtue of their immeasurable impact on the Canadian harness racing landscape – Balanced Image, Angus Hall and Apaches Fame. While Bullock has suspended the stallion division of Glengate, he continues to be active as a breeder with a broodmare band of approximately 30 top quality, trotting-bred mares while producing the likes of millionaires Art Official and JL Cruze. Bullock served as a director of Woodbine Entertainment Group, and was the President of the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association for nine years. Beyond racing, he served as Chair of the Board of Governors at Ryerson University.

Al Libfeld's first exposure to horse racing came through Marvin Katz and later on they would become business partners. Libfeld made his first foray into Standardbred ownership with the purchase of the Albatross yearling Keystone Hera in 1988 with Katz. From that point on, the successful homebuilder, whose Tribute Communities is one of the most prominent in Ontario, was hooked, focussing his efforts on breeding and owning primarily trotters. He considers his horses and racing a passion. In addition to his partnership with Marvin Katz, Libfeld has bred and owned a number of horses on his own including Define the World ($1,740,839; 1:51.4), 2008 O'Brien Award winner in the Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt/Gelding division; and his dam Venice Holiday.

The late Dr. Lloyd McKibbin is considered a pioneer in the advancement of Equine Veterinary Medicine. He was an innovator, teacher, and author as well as a very hands-on veterinarian. He focussed on Acupuncture, Cryosurgery and Laser Therapy, mentoring other veterinarians to follow in his path, many of whom went on to open their own successful practices with some who continue to work as veterinarians today. His books Horse Owners Handbook and Cryoanalgesia for Horses continue to be used as reference manuals. Horse owners travelled from far and wide to his small, unassuming clinic in Wheatley, Ont., for treatment using the ground-breaking methods he employed, all the while acting in the best interest of his equine patients. Among the numerous horses aided by Dr. McKibbin was CHRHF 2020 Inductee Rambling Willie who spent time under “Doc's” care. It was the relationship Willie's owners had with Dr. McKibbin that provided the opportunity for the much-lauded horse to appear at Dresden Raceway.

The 2021 Standardbred Driver ballot features Mary Clare “Clare” MacDonald, Ed Tracey and Randy Waples.

A native of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Mary Clare “Clare” MacDonald is Canada's winningest female harness driver in victories (1,498) and purse earnings ($4,769,982). Her stats, all achieved while racing in the Atlantic provinces, rank her second among female drivers in North America, behind US Hall of Fame member, the late Bea Farber-Erdman. A second-generation horseperson, MacDonald's driving career began at age 17 with 19 wins in her first year. Since that time, in a career spanning over 40 years, she has surpassed $100,000 in annual earnings as a driver 25 times. Horses driven and/or trained by MacDonald have set track records at five tracks, and she also holds the honour of being the first driver to complete a sub-2:00 trotting mile in Atlantic Canada. In addition to training and driving, MacDonald has served terms as a Standardbred Canada Director and was a member of the Rules Working Group for the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission.

Weyburn, Saskatchewan-born Ed Tracey received his driving license at age 15. After getting his start in three-heats-a-day race meets in his home province, his passion for harness racing took him to six Canadian provinces and numerous states in the U.S. Over a span of 55 years, Tracey had 3,168 driving victories and more than $7,500,000 in purse earnings. The pinnacle of his career came in 1978 when he won the ice racing championship on Ottawa's Rideau Canal. The late Ed Tracey was named Alberta Horseman of the Year in 1978 and in 1998 he was awarded the Dr. Clara Christie Award for his contribution to Alberta's harness racing industry.

Randy Waples' career took off in 1996 when he won 150 races in 1,197 starts and he hasn't looked back since. He is now the all-time leading money-winning driver of races held on Canadian soil, and sports more than 6,600 wins and $131 million in purse earnings. The three-time O'Brien Award Driver of the Year honouree is the all-time leader for wins at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. His stakes victories include the 2012 North America Cup with Thinking Out Loud, three Maple Leaf Trot wins with San Pail as well as Breeders Crown Championship wins with San Pail and Dreamfair Eternal, both members of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. He also has many other stakes victories on his resume including four Battle of Waterloo wins and was the leading driver in Ontario Sires Stakes earnings in 2001, 2002 and 2010.

The Standardbred Female Horse category features Great Memories, Pure Ivory and West Of LA

Great Memories, by Apaches Fame out of the Armbro Emerson mare Save The Memories, was bred by Glengate Farms and is now owned by Ontario Standardbred nursery Warrawee Farm. Among Great Memories' offspring are two World Champions: Warrawee Needy, and Warrawee Ubeaut. Warrawee Needy was a winner of 29 races and more than $1.25 million. He took a mark of 1:49.4 at age two, was faster still at three (1:48.4) and at four was the fastest in the world (1:46.4). Warrawee Ubeaut, won the 2018 Breeders Crown for two-year-old pacing fillies, has a lifetime mark of 1:48.3 and earned $646,995 in 12 starts in her first year on the track. At the age of three Warrawee Ubeaut continued her winning ways earning $1 million, matching her lifetime mark and winning 12 of 19 starts, including the Breeders Crown for three-year-old pacing fillies. Her win in the Jugette Final equalled the world record for a three-year-old pacing filly over a half mile track. In total, Great Memories' racing age progeny have earned over $4.2 million, with four offspring – Warrawee Needy, Warrawee Ubeaut, Warrawee Vital and Big Bay Point — breaking the 1:50 barrier.

Trotting mare Pure Ivory, by Striking Sahbra has been successful both on the track and as a broodmare. Bred by Diane Ingham and the late Harry Rutherford, and owned throughout her racing career by Jerry Van Boekel, Christina Maxwell, Steve Condren and Rutherford, Pure Ivory's stats include earnings of $1.44 million and a lifetime mark of 1:53.1. The two-time O'Brien Award recipient (2005 & 2006), trained by Bradley Maxwell won 22 stakes races during her career, including Ontario Sires Stakes Super Finals at age two and three, the Canadian Breeders Championship, and divisions of the Simcoe and Champlain Stakes. Currently owned by Steve Stewart of Paris, KY, as a broodmare, Pure Ivory produced the 2019 Hambletonian Champion Forbidden Trade, who was a divisional O'Brien Award winner at two and three, Canada's Horse of the Year in 2019, and amassed career earnings in excess of $1.48 million.

Following a race career at ages two and three, during which she earned $257,150, West Of LA became a top-performing broodmare. Bred and owned, in partnership by Robert McIntosh Stables, C S X Stables and Al McIntosh Holdings Inc., and trained by CHRHF Honoured Member Robert McIntosh, this daughter of Western Hanover, out of the Cam Fella mare Los Angeles, is the dam of horses with earnings in excess of $4.3 million, including two horses with earnings of more than $1.7 million each. Her Somebeachsomewhere son Somewhere In LA boasts $1.87 million in earnings with a lifetime mark of 1:48.4. Her daughter L A Delight, by Bettors Delight won the O'Brien Award for Two-Year-Old Pacing Fillies in 2015 and followed that up with an O'Brien in the Three-Year-Old Pacing Filly category in 2106. Her resume includes 26 wins in a 66 race career, a lifetime mark of 1:49.1 and earnings of $1.78 million.

Additional information about the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame may be found at www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com

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Man o’ War Named Legend Honoree By Canadian Horse Racing Hall Of Fame

In a special online event on Oct. 12, 2020, exactly 100 years to the day after Man o' War and Sir Barton competed in a match race at Windsor's Kenilworth Park, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame named Man o' War its 2020 Legend Honouree. The announcement was the culmination of a week-long social media campaign celebrating the original Big Red's monumental win which placed an emphatic exclamation mark on his remarkable career.

What some have called 'the greatest day in Canadian horse racing' the Kenilworth Gold Cup took place in Windsor, Ontario, Oct. 12, 1920, when the two biggest names of the day competed in a historic match race.

The immortal Man o' War, holder of more records than any other horse and the leading 3-year-old of 1920 was owned by Samuel D. Riddle of Philadelphia, and Sir Barton, the Canadian-owned champion of the older-horse division and America's first Triple Crown winner in 1919 owned by Commander J. K. L. Ross of Montreal faced off to settle the supremacy of the North American turf.

Man o' War, was the prohibitive 1-20 favorite, with bettors wagering a reported $220,000 on the race organized by the track's operator, Mr. Abe Orpen and considered a major coup in a time Canadian racing needed a boost following the government's wartime ban on betting in 1918 and 1919. It was a highly anticipated event that would become the first horse race filmed from wire to wire, with the footage later shown in movie theaters across the continent.

Originally proposed as a contest that might also feature a third great racehorse of the time, Exterminator, the terms of the race at 1 1/4 miles and a weight-for-age format was not to the liking of Exterminator's owners so he was not entered resulting in a match race between Man o' War and Sir Barton. The two competed for a $75,000, winner-take-all purse with accompanying Gold Cup, designed by Tiffany & Co and valued at $5,000. That same trophy was later donated to Saratoga Race Course by Mrs. Riddle, the wife of Man o' War's owner and is now known as the Man o' War Cup, presented each year to the winner of The Travers Stakes.

Following the race the Canadian Sportsman and Live Stock Journal carried a photo of Man o' War on the cover of its Oct.18, 1920 issue accompanied by a caption reading “MAN O' WAR – Winner of the $75,000 race at Windsor on Tuesday, Oct. 12, defeating Sir Barton in a most decisive manner and showing himself to be a wonder horse”.

Man o' War's race at Kenilworth Park was his final career start and win, something that was repeated by Exterminator and a later “Big Red”, Secretariat who also concluded their careers with wins at Canadian tracks.

The recognition bestowed on Man o' War exactly 100 years to the day after his win on Canadian soil became possible when the Directors of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame expanded eligibility to the Hall to include those who have significantly impacted Canadian racing.  Since that decision, such greats as Secretariat, Dahlia and the venerable Dan Patch have all been honoured by the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

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Upset Beat Man o’ War, But Did He Really Coin A New Sportswriting Phrase?

On Oct. 12, 1920, the race of the century took place at Kenilworth Park just outside Windsor, Ontario. It was between the first ever Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton and the incomparable 'Big Red' ­­– Man o' War. It was a match between two champions: a battle of titans.

It was also Man o' War's last race before he went off to stud. 'Big Red' won it easily by an impressive margin of seven lengths.

The race captured the imagination of a continent 100 years ago. There would be nothing like it until a grandson and son of Man o' War squared off 18 years later, in Maryland. The son was War Admiral and the grandson was Seabiscuit.

The 4-year-old Sir Barton was thought to be a worthy opponent for Man o' War. Even though Sir Barton took the first Triple Crown in 1919 and won more money than Man o' War that year, he lost seven races in 1920. Yet he had beaten Exterminator in the Saratoga Handicap, carrying 133 pounds, and set a world record for the classic distance of 1 3/16 miles in the Merchants and Citizens Stakes at the Spa on Aug. 20, 1920.

Those who seek perfection might find it unfortunate that the mystique of being undefeated evaded both horses. Man o' War had also tasted defeat.  It happened on Aug. 13, 1919, at the hoofs of an unlikely opponent whose name was Upset – a horse he had beaten easily on four other occasions.

He should have won.

Here is how Fred Van Ness of the New York Times chronicled Man o' War's only lifetime defeat in the Sanford Stakes:

“He was forced to bow to Harry Payne Whitney's Upset in a neck-and-neck finish in this six-furlong dash. Though defeated, Man o' War was not discredited. On the contrary, the manner in which he ran this race stamped him, in the opinion of horsemen, as the best of his division without question. Though failing to get his nose in front, he stood out as the best horse in the race by a large margin, for he had all the worst of the racing luck.” 

Did Upset's victory originate the term 'upset'?

The controversy surrounding Man o' War's unfair start against Upset is long over, but a minor controversy remains: Was Man o' War's loss to Upset the beginning of the term 'upset' in sports argot, used to denote an unlikely winner?

Lexicographer Ben Zimmer clarified the matter once and for all back in 2013:

“I surveyed New York Times articles that used the word upset, and it was clear that it was already in use in horse-racing and other sports like baseball before the famous 1919 race.”

I am fond of observing that “most famous quotes and coined terms get attributed to the most prominent person who used them.” (And if some well-known person repeats my little buzz phrase, it will doubtless be attributed to them, and not to me.)

The best example of this phenomenon is the celebrated admonition by John F. Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address:

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Certainly Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and such lesser presidents as Warren Harding spoke much the same lines decades before. In fact, many of Kennedy's most renowned phrases are characterized as fragmented misremembrances. Ralph Keyes noted this in The Washington Post in 2006:

“Even though JFK routinely garbled his quotations, it took us years to figure this out. Meanwhile, the young president launched any number of misworded, misattributed or completely mystifying quotations into the public conversation that have stuck around to this day.”

But who cares? The grainy film of that cold January day in 1961 and the magnificent delivery of those 17 words is what's important.  Our language has a long and well-recorded history. No line of speech will ever be completely original.

What does this all mean for that one little word 'upset'?

Many have viewed the horse named 'Upset' as being appropriately named. And many have inaccurately declared that Man o' War's defeat marks the origin of the term 'upset' to denote an unlikely winner.

But we overblow our need for originality in a term. Ben Zimmer went on to quote Washington Post sports columnist Bob Addie from 1962:  “The term 'upset' in sports gained considerable stature back in 1919 when a horse actually named Upset beat the wonder horse, Man o' War.”

“That may in fact be true,” writes Zimmer. “Certainly upset gained traction in sports reporting starting in the '20s, and Upset may have had something to do with that. So let's give some credit to the scrappy colt…”

And as for Man o' War, his legend only grew with his 14 consecutive victories following his 'upset by Upset'. As we get closer to the 100th anniversary of Big Red's monumental win against that first ever Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, let's remember that the origins of words and phrases are much less important than the memorable events and the heroes –  both human and equine – that bring focus and glory to their times and make a stamp on history.

2023 will mark an anniversary for another 'Big Red' – Secretariat. It will be the 50th anniversary of his last race, which he won in Canada by an identical seven lengths to Man o' War's win in his own last race, against Sir Barton. The celebration will be enhanced – not diminished – by the fact that the first Big Red won just as easily 100 years ago.

That's also true of Upset's historic race against Man o' War. The great tale is in no way diminished by the fact that Upset's name popularized, rather than originated, a sports term.

The origins of a term are an interesting thing to explore. But it's the heroes, equine and human, that we celebrate in racing history.

John Stapleton is an income security benefit designer in Toronto. Stapleton's work has appeared in the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star. He has owned racehorses for 37 years and is past president and current board member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of fame.

The post Upset Beat Man o’ War, But Did He Really Coin A New Sportswriting Phrase? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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