2024 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Inductions

The 2024 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Inductions

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame rings and trophies waiting to go to the inductees.

Date: 8/07/2024

On Wednesday night the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame welcomed its 2024 class at an induction ceremony and dinner held at the Mississauga Convention Centre with about 400 people in attendance. There were 12 new members voted into the Hall this year, three equine and nine human. This is the 48th anniversary of the Hall of Fame which was founded in 1976.

In past years the Hall of Fame would conduct a silent auction of donated memorabilia and other gifts, however, this was discontinued and instead they are auctioning off a number of racing experiences (some for 2024 most for 2025) online. You can view the experiences and place bids here, with all auctions closing on Monday August 12 at 8PM ET.

A tradition at the ceremony is to gather all the Hall of Fame’s Honoured Members present along with the new inductees and horse connections for a group photo. They posed for a group photo then toasted the new members. Current members are in front while the Class of 2024 are above, on the stage.

Ross “Cowboy” Curran was posthumously inducted in the Standardbred Driver (Veteran) category, after his passing in September 2020. Starting at the age of 13 under horsemen Sted Craig in Smiths Falls, Ontario, he was a top driver at Connaught Park, Mohawk, Greenwood, Garden City, Blue Bonnets, Richelieu Park, and Rideau Carleton competing against fellow Hall members Ron and Keith Waples, Bill Wellwood, and Ron Feagan. He drove 1,711 winners in 8,686 starts, with over $2.7 million in earnings, his best year being 1972 with 200 wins, and $275,000 in earnings. His career was cut short due to illness, but in 2009 the Ontario Harness Horse Association presented him with the Living Legend award. His son Chuck, daughter Ann, and two grandsons accepted his Hall of Fame ring.

Starship Jubilee was inducted in the Thoroughbred Female Horse category. Claimed for just $16,000 at Gulstream Park in 2017 (after earlier being sold as a yearling for just $6000) by trainer Kevin Attard and his father Tino, the Florida-bred would turn out to become one of the greatest claims in Canadian racing history. Sent to Woodbine, she racked up stakes wins including the Nassau, Dance Samrtly, Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf, Canadian Stakes, and the 2019 E.P. Taylor Stakes (photo at right). She was privately sold to Blue Heaven Farm who sent her back to Kevin Attard to campaign further. She would take the Suwanee River, Ballston Spa, and then upset males in the Woodbine Mile. After unseating her rider in her final start, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, she was retired to broodmare duty at Blue Heaven, with over $2 million in earnings. Current owners Bonnie Baskin and Adam Corndorf accepted her Hall of Fame plaque and trophy from her trainer Kevin Attard.

Ed Tracey was posthumously inducted in the Standardbred Driver category, after his passing in April 2019. The native of Weyburn, Saskatchewan won 3,168 races with purse earnings of over $7.5 million in a career that spanned 55 years. Starting in 3-heat racing in Weyburn, he moved up to 2-heat races at larger tracks, eventually getting to the major race meets in Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Calgary in the early 1960’s. “Steady Eddie” drove in races across Canada and the United States. He owned and bred many horses that he drove, including Skittles N Beer. In 1978, he won the Canadian Club Ice Racing Championship over the frozen Rideau Canal defeating many of the sport’s top reinsmen.

Glen Todd was posthumously inducted in the Thoroughbred Builder category, after his passing in March 2022. Todd was an owner, breeder, trainer, innovator, communicator, promoter, betting shop owner, and a mentor, clearly a titan in the British Columbia racing scene. As an exceptional businessman, he built his family’s Pacific Group of Companies into Pacific Custom Brokers in Surrey. In 2006 he set up his North American Thoroughbred Horse Company, eventually becoming a racing and breeding powerhouse in BC, including a Sovereign Award win (in a tie) for outstanding owner in 2011. He is also credited with kickstarting the career of jockey Mario Gutierrez, bringing him from Mexico to Vancouver to ride. His daughter Shelley, who manages Todd’s Manor Farm in Kentucky, accepted his Hall of Fame ring from Jim Bannon.

Sylvain Filion was inducted in the Standardbred Driver category, joining his father Yves and uncle Herve as inductees. The native of Angers, Quebec has won over 10,000 races (the first Canadian-based driver to reach that milestone) with more than $140 million in earnings, almost exclusively in Canada. He began driving in 1987, including behind Runnymede Lobell, who would go on to win the 1988 North America Cup with Yves in the sulky and Sylvain as the trainer. Runnymede Lobell was the first Quebec-owned and trained winner of Canada’s richest harness race. He won the 1999 World Driving Championship in Australia and won 4 O’Brien Awards as Driver of the Year. His other major winners include Wheeling N Dealing, Boomboom Ballykeel, Emoticon Hanover, Intimidate, Sandbetweenurtoes, Wrangler Magic, Beyond Delight, and Yaris Bayama.

Patrick Husbands was inducted in the Thoroughbred Jockey category. He is one of Canada’s all-time most successful and popular jockeys, having ridden for 30 years with no signs of retirement. The native of Barbados was at 16 the youngest winner of the Barbados Gold Cup, his country’s most prestigious race. Following his brother Anthony to Woodbine, he drew the attention of trainers Reade Baker and then Mark Casse. The highlight of his career so far was in 2003 when he rode Wando to a Canadian Triple Crown, the last horse to do so. Among his many stakes winners, he rode Exciting Story, Numerous Times, Sealy Hill, Lexie Lou, and Paramount Prince. In 2014 he earned the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award. Woodbine hosted Patrick Husbands Day earlier this year to celebrate his Hall of Fame career. After his acceptance speech, Husbands forgot his Hall of Fame ring on the podium!

Dr. Ian Moore was inducted in the Standardbred Trainer category. Born in Sheffield, England and raised on Prince Edward Island, he raced primarily in Ontario starting in 1971. Despite having an average stable of 10-15 horses, he trained over 700 winners with purse earnings of $23 million. His top horses include Astronomical, Tattoo Artist, State Treasurer, Shadow Play, Stockdale Seelster, Century Farroh, Percy Blue Chip, and Rockin in Heaven. His trophy case includes the Little Brown Jug, Adios, Eternal Camnation, Canadian Pacing Derby (twice), Molson Pace (thrice), Somebeachsomewhere, and Breeders Crown. he earned the O’Brien Award of Horsemanship twice over the past decade, and was the Trainer of the Year in 2023. Moore was presented with his Hall of Fame ring by his wife Nancy.

Richard Grubb was inducted in the Thoroughbred Jockey (Veteran) category. After taking out his jockey licence as a teenager, the Kitchener native competed against future Hall of Famers Sandy Hawley, Hugo Dittfach, Robin Platts, and Avelino Gomez, and deservedly joins them as inductees. In 1967 he led all Canadian riders with 230 wins, and won 7 straight races in an 8 race card at Woodbine, a feat that has not been repeated since. In 1981 he won the Canadian Oaks aboard 172-1 longshot Regent Miss, the biggest upset in the history of that race. After a career where he booted home over 1,600 winners over 20 years, he retired to become a steward for 24 years, including the 1996 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Woodbine. Grubb was presented with his Hall of Fame ring by fellow rider Robin Platts.

Bee A Magician was inducted in the Standardbred Female Horse category. The daughter of Kadabra raced exclusively in North America and retired as the richest trotter in harness history as well as the highest earning Canadian sired female. In her 72 starts she won 45 times with earnings of over $4.1 million. Trained by Richard “Nifty” Norman, she won the Peaceful Way, Delvin Miller, Breeders Crown, Hambletonian Oaks, Elegantimage, Moni Maker, Maple Leaf Trot, Armbro Flight, Yonkers Invitational, and Mack Lobell Elitlopp Playoff. Retired to the farm, her first foal was Muscle Hill colt Bee Forever, winner of $288,000 including the Valley Victory Stakes.

Channel Maker was inducted in the Thoroughbred Male Horse category. The Ivan Dalos homebred holds the record for most appearances by a horse in the Breeders’ Cup as the third-richest Canadian bred horse of all time with $3.9 million in purse earnings. Starting his career with fellow inductee Dan Vella, he won the Vandal Stakes and finished third in the Summer Stakes, drawing interest from Gary Barber and Adam Wachtel who purchased him and transferred him to the barn of Bill Mott. He proved to be a superior turf horse, winning the Breeders’ Stakes, Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, and the Bowling Green Stakes twice. On his retirement he was donated to Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky. Michael Blowen, founder and former president of Old Friends, accepted Channel Maker’s plaque and trophy from Tall Oaks Farm’s Colleen Dalos, daughter of Ivan.

Dan Vella was inducted in the Thoroughbred Trainer category. Best known as the trainer for Frank Stronach in the 1990s, he conditioned stakes winners Basqueian, Explosive Red, Hero’s Love, Blitzer, Mysteriously, Phantom Light, and Mark One, winning back to back Sovereign Awards as outstanding trainer in 1994 and 1995. After leaving Stronach Stables he returned to Woodbine to open a public stable, during which time he trained a very green 2-year-old named Channel Maker into a stakes winner, and fittingly, a fellow inductee this year. From the mid 1980’s to his 2022 retirement Vella had 869 wins in 5,740 starts with purse earning of over $40 million. Vella was presented with his Hall of Fame ring by Sue Leslie.

Dr. Moira Gunn was inducted in the Standardbred Builder category. The native of Ediburgh, Scotland became an equine veterinarian at the Royal Edinburgh School of Veterinary Studies before moving to North America as a postgraduate intern at the Ontario Veterinary College. After working under Dr. Carl Juul at Belmont Park she returned to Canada to work at the legendary Armbro Farms, eventually becoming its president in 2000. She pioneered embryo transfer in equines, producing eventual 2011 Hall of Famer Invitro. She and late husband Dr. Michael Colterjohn, inducted into the Hall in 2016, owned Paradox Farm which bred both Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds, including 2019 inductee Lexie Lou. She was also heavily involved in the creation of Standardbred Canada through the amalgamation of the Canadian Standardbred Horse Society and the Canadian Trotting Association.

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