Saturday’s O’Brien Awards also featured Marvin Katz winning a share of three trophies, Rick Zeron and Al Libfeld taking home two each and Sylvain Filion and Richard Moreau winning the driver and trainer of the year titles, respectively.

by Jeff Porchak / Standardbred Canada

Betting Line was named Canada’s 2016 Horse of the Year Saturday night (Jan. 28) in Mississauga, ON as Standardbred Canada handed out the O’Brien Awards honoring the best in the nation’s harness racing industry from the past year.

Owner Marvin Katz earned a share of three O’Brien Awards, including the Armstrong Breeder of the Year Award in partnership with Al Libfeld. The two also teamed up to win the two-year-old trotting filly of the year award with homebred sensation Ariana G and Katz is among the owners of Idyllic Beach, the top freshman pacing filly of 2016.

Rick Zeron of Oakville, ON took home the O’Brien Award of Horsemanship and his two-year-old trotting colt, Mass Production, was also honored with an O’Brien.

Meanwhile, driver Sylvain Filion of Milton, ON and trainer Richard Moreau of Puslinch, ON added to their trophy collections, both winning national honors in their respective categories for the fourth time in their careers.

Betting Line, trained by Casie Coleman of Cambridge, ON, who shares ownership with Ross Warriner, Christine Calhoun and Mac Nichol, took home two O’Briens – one in the three-year-old pacing colt category and one as Canada’s Horse of the Year.

Betting Line was almost perfect in 2016, finishing the season with 14 wins and a second in 15 races to go along with almost $1.7 million in earnings. The Bettors Delight—Heathers Western colt’s victories included the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup, the Battle of the Brandywine, the Milstein Memorial, the Little Brown Jug, the Simcoe Stakes, and a sweep of all of his Ontario Sires Stakes races, including his OSS Super Final.

For Katz and Libfeld, what started as a partnership that focused on buying yearlings and racing horses has evolved into one of harness racing’s most respected breeding enterprises. Horses bred by this duo won 29 races and purses in excess of $1.3 million in 2016. Their top horses were All The Time, O’Brien winner Ariana G, Princess Aurora and O Narutac Perfecto.

Ariana G won nine of 11 races and earned $804,245 during her rookie campaign. Stakes wins for the Muscle Hill—Cantab It All filly included the Breeders Crown, Jim Doherty Memorial, Peaceful Way elimination and final, and New Jersey Sire Stakes Championship.

Idyllic Beach hit the board in all of her 14 races, boasted eight wins and almost $730,000 in purse earnings. Major stakes wins for the Somebeachsomewhere—Idyllic filly included the Shes A Great Lady elimination and final at Mohawk, along with the Kentuckiana Stakes at Hoosier Park, and the International Stallion Stake at Red Mile.

Zeron continued to successfully compete as a trainer and driver on the Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) circuit. Last year, he drove 116 winners and horses to almost $2.6 million in purse earnings, while training 49 winners and horses to $1.7 million in earnings, including Mass Production. The Muscle Mass—All Time Favorite colt won five of nine races and more than $285,000 during his rookie campaign. His victories included four Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) wins highlighted by a season’s best 1:54.4 stakes record effort in the OSS Super Final.

Filion won Canada’s Driver of the Year title in 2012, 2013 and 2015 before collecting his fourth bronze for the 2016 season. In 2016, he drove 310 winners and led all Canadian drivers in the earnings column with more than $7.7 million, while joining the $100 million club for lifetime earnings. Filion was the regular driver for O’Brien champion, two-year-old pacing colt Beyond Delight. The Bettors Delight—Outtathisworld colt Beyond Delight won three of 11 races and more than $423,000 for his connections. His three wins were major ones as he swept the elimination and final of the Metro Pace and won a division of the Champlain Stakes, all at Mohawk Racetrack.

Moreau took home his fourth consecutive O’Brien trophy. He has been a regular on the WEG circuit for over 12 years, led all Canadian trainers in the wins column with 249 wins to his credit and trained the winners of nearly $4.0 million.

Louis-Philippe Roy was recognized as the Future Star winner. In 2016, the Mont-Joli, QC resident put together some phenomenal numbers, winning 233 races and driving horses to earnings of more than $1 million. Roy was the leading dash winning driver at Hippodrome 3R and Rideau Carleton.

L A Delight (Bettors Delight—West Of L A) picked up her second consecutive O’Brien trophy after putting together another stellar season as a sophomore, winning nine races in 19 starts and more than $787,000. The three-year-old pacing filly was perfect in the Ontario Sires Stakes events, sweeping six of six, including the season-ending Super Final. She posted a life’s best 1:49.1 in winning the Nadia Lobell at The Meadows.

Lady Shadow (Shadow Play—Lady Camella) also won her second consecutive O’Brien Award in the Older Pacing Mare category. She put together another profitable season with 12 victories and more than $945,000 in earnings. She was strong throughout the season, sweeping the elimination and final of the Roses Are Red, the Milton Stakes, and the elimination and final of the Breeders Crown before capping her year with a win in the TVG FFA at The Meadowlands.

Wiggle It Jiggleit (Mr Wiggles—Mozzi Hanvoer), the sport’s richest harness horse last season with $1.8 million bankrolled, was voted Canada’s Older Pacing Horse of the Year. He never finished worse than third in his 24 races, which included 15 wins and a mark of 1:47.2 posted in the Graduate Final at The Meadowlands. The multiple stakes winner captured Canada’s oldest stakes event, The Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk Racetrack and also secured runner-up finishes in the Confederation Cup and Prix d’Été on Canadian soil.

Caprice Hill (Kadabra—Bramasole) won her second consecutive O’Brien, after a profitable campaign in 2016 with eight wins in 15 starts and purses in excess of $630,000 for her connections. The Three-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year won three of four Ontario Sires Stakes events, the Casual Breeze, Simcoe Stakes and was runner-up in the Hambletonian Oaks.

Marion Marauder (Muscle Hill—Spellbound Hanover) took divisional honors as Canada’s Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year. He was a winner of 10 of 15 starts, became the ninth Trotting Triple Crown winner in 2016 –- and first since 2006 –- by sweeping the Hambletonian, Yonkers Trot, and Kentucky Futurity. The son of Muscle Hill won the Goodtimes Stakes and a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial en route to a season that amassed more than $1.5 million in purses, topping North American earnings for all trotters.

The incredible trotting mare Hannelore Hanover (Swan For All—High Sobriety) won 17 of 20 races and earned $1.1 million in purses, leading all female trotters in earnings and winning the O’Brien in her division. Her victories included the Breeders Crown Mare Trot and the Hambletonian Maturity, where she defeated male rivals. She also beat the boys in the Centaur Trotting Classic in addition to winning the Armbro Flight Stakes, TVG Series championship for female trotters, Fresh Yankee, Muscle Hill, and Miami Valley Distaff. Her mile time of 1:51 in winning the Armbro Flight equaled the world record for a four-year-old trotting mare.

Flanagan Memory (Kadabra—Classy Stacy) was recognized as Older Trotting Horse of the Year. The seven-year-old won six of 14 races including the Allerage, and the Breeders Crown Championship, and banked more than $663,000 last season. This was his second O’Brien Award as he won Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt honors in 2013.

The Media Excellence Awards and Outstanding Groom Award were also presented at the O’Brien Awards gala.

Teesha Symes, 27, of Cambridge, ON, was recognized with the Outstanding Groom Award for 2016. Symes has worked for O’Brien Award winner Dr. Ian Moore for the last decade, and full-time since 2012. The Springhill, NS native cared for State Treasurer, Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2015, throughout his racing career.

In addition to State Treasurer, Symes went on the road to care for Rockin In Heaven the past two years and also cared for many of the Moore Stables’ two-year-olds.

Keith McCalmont of Toronto won in the Outstanding Written Work category for his contribution to the ‘Remembering Those Lost’ feature, published in the February 2016 issue of TROT Magazine. McCalmont talked to some of the trainers and owners most affected by the tragic barn fire at Classy Lane Training Centre and asked them to share some memories of their beloved horses.

Woodbine Entertainment’s 2016 Pepsi North America Cup broadcast in HD won the Media Excellence Award in the Outstanding Video, Film or Broadcast category.

‘The Pepsi North America Cup’ aired across Canada on the TSN2 television network on Saturday, June 18, 2016 from 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. The 60-minute special broadcast of the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup aired in high definition and featured live race coverage of the main event as well as a feature on Emprize Hanover and her two foals.

Clive Cohen’s photo of October racing at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ont. was the winner in the Outstanding Photography category. This marked the third time that Cohen has won in this category. Cohen’s photo was taken on October 1, 2016, at Mohawk Racetrack and published later that night on the WEG Standardbred Instagram feed. Cohen is the resident track photographer for standardbred racing at Mohawk and Woodbine Racetracks.

This was the 28th edition of the O’Brien Awards, named in honor of the late Joe O’Brien, an outstanding horseman and member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Here is a complete list of winners and their respective owners:

HORSE OF THE YEAR

Betting Line

Trained by Casie Coleman

Owned by West Wins Stable, Cambridge, ON, Christine Calhoun, Chatham, ON and Mac Nichol, Burlington, ON

Bred by Fair Winds Farm Inc., Cream Ridge, NJ

PACERS

TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACER

Idyllic Beach

Trained by Jimmy Takter

Owned by Christina Takter, East Windsor, NJ – John Fielding, Toronto, ON – Brixton Medical Inc., Matawan, NJ and Marvin Katz, Toronto, ON

Bred by Steiner Stock Farm, Lima, OH

TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT PACER

Beyond Delight

Trained by Tony O’Sullivan

Owned by Jeffrey Snyder, Michael Snyder, New York, NY and Four Friends Racing Stable LLC, Moorestown, NJ

Bred by White Birch Farm, Allentown, NJ

THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY PACER

L A Delight

Trained by Bob McIntosh

Owned by Robert McIntosh Stables Inc., Windsor, ON – CSX Stables, Liberty Center, OH, and Al McIntosh Holdings, Inc., Leamington, ON

Bred by Robert McIntosh Stables Inc., Windsor, ON – CSX Stables, Liberty Center, OH, and Al McIntosh Holdings, Inc., Leamington, ON

THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT PACER

Betting Line

OLDER PACING MARE

Lady Shadow

Trained by Ron Adams

Owned by David Kryway, Amherstburg, ON, Carl Atley, Xenia, OH, Ed Gold, Phoenixville, PA and BFJ Stable, Philadelphia, PA

Bred by Winbak Farm, Chesapeake City, MD

OLDER PACING HORSE

Wiggle It Jiggleit

Trained by Clyde Francis

Owned by George Teague Jr Inc., Harrington DE – Teague Racing Partnership, Boynton Beach, FL

Bred by James Bernstein, Boynton Beach, FL, Theresa Bantle, Vernon, NY, Eric Felter, Vernon, NY and Vincent Tancredi, Herkimer, NY

TROTTERS

TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY TROTTER

Ariana G

Trained by Jimmy Takter

Owned by Marvin Katz, Toronto, ON & Al Libfeld, Pickering, ON

Bred by Marvin Katz, Toronto, ON & Al Libfeld, Pickering, ON

TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT TROTTER

Mass Production

Trained by Rick Zeron

Owned by Rick Zeron Stables, Oakville, ON- James Walker, Port Perry, ON- Bruno Dipoce, Wasaga Beach, ON and Rene Allard, Matamoras, PA

Bred by Stan Klemencic, Trenton, ON

THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY TROTTER

Caprice Hill

Trained by Tony Alagna

Owned by Tom Hill, Hamilton, ON

Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, Hanover, PA

THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT TROTTER

Marion Marauder

Trained by Mike Keeling and Paula Wellwood

Owned by Marion Jean Wellwood, Stratford, ON & Devin Keeling, Cambridge, ON

Bred by William Mulligan, New Hope, PA

OLDER TROTTING MARE

Hannelore Hanover

Trained by Ron Burke

Owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Fredericktown – Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Canonsburg, PA – Frank Baldachino, Clarksburg, NJ – J And T Silva Stables LLC, Long Beach, NY

Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, Hanover, PA

OLDER TROTTING HORSE

Flanagan Memory

Trained by Rene Dion

Owned by Liette Flanagan, Repentigny – Rene Dion, Saint-Lazare, QC

Bred by Michel Flanagan, Repentigny, QC

PEOPLE AWARDS

O’BRIEN AWARD OF HORSEMANSHIP

Rick Zeron, Oakville, ON

ARMSTRONG BREEDER OF THE YEAR

Marvin Katz, Toronto, ON / Al Libfeld, Pickering, ON

DRIVER OF THE YEAR

Sylvain Filion, Milton, ON

TRAINER OF THE YEAR

Richard Moreau, Puslinch, ON

FUTURE STAR AWARD

Louis Philippe Roy, Mont-Joli, QC

ADDITIONAL AWARDS PRESENTED

Outstanding Groom Award

Teesha Symes, Cambridge, ON

Standardbred Canada’s Media Excellence Awards

Written Work – Keith McCalmont

Broadcast – Woodbine Entertainment Group

Photography — Clive Cohen