The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame is pleased to announce its 2012 ballot. A total of 30 horses and people, including 15 thoroughbred racing candidates and 15 harness racing candidates have been selected to appear on the ballot.
The two 20-person Election Committees will declare the winners in the respective categories and they will be announced on Tuesday, April 10.
In the Standardbred Male Horse category, Astreos, Kadabra and Majestic Son are the candidates.
Astreos, a son of Artsplace, won several stakes events, including the Little Brown Jug, during his million dollar race career and took a record of 1:49.3. In his second career, as a stallion, he has produced winners of over $50 million to date, and many top performers including Zooka, Astronomical, To Helen Back and Voelz Hanover.
As a race horse, Kadabra enjoyed incredible success, winning 25 of 36 lifetime starts for earnings in excess of $2.1 million. In the years since his entrance to the breeding shed, he has sired the winners of more than $26.5 million including stars Poof Shes Gone and Daylon Magician, and in 2011 he was No. 1 in Canada for his progeny’s all-age earnings of $8,408,950.
Majestic Son’s three season racing career saw him claim victory in 22 starts and bank almost $2 million in purse money. The son of Angus Hall was at his best in his 2006 sophomore year when he won more than $1.3 million in purse money and was named Canada’s Horse of the Year. Today, he is the richest son of trotting sire Angus Hall.
The outstanding broodmares B Cor Tamara, J CS Nathalie and Mystic Mistress are nominated in the Female Horse category.
Before embarking on her second career as a broodmare, B Cor Tamara enjoyed a productive racing career, earning more than $185,000. As a broodmare, the brown daughter of Dream Of Glory was the dam of 19 foals, including star trotter B Cor Pete, and granddam of two champion juveniles, Banker Hall and Broadway Hall.
Her offspring have earned over $2.7 million -- an average of $151,303 per starter. B Cor Pete, a winner of $893,076, was her most successful, and she also produced B Cor Timgo, a winner of $666,267 and Clarice Marie, a winner of $313,408, among many others.
J Cs Nathalie, owned by John Lamers of Ingersoll, Ontario, has produced two millionaires as a broodmare -- pacing colt Dreamfair Vogel, and pacing mare Dreamfair Eternal. Dreamfair Vogel was a winner of 19 races and over $1.1 million with a mark of 1:49.3. Dreamfair Eternal, Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2010, has won 53 races and over $2.4 million to date in her racing career. In all, from 13 foals her progeny have averaged $381,826 in earnings per starter.
Mystic Mistress has also established herself as a top broodmare in the sport, producing the winners of more than $3.8 million, including Mystician, the 2010 Metro Pace Champion and a winner of over $1.6 million, and Camystic, a proven sire and a winner of over $779,000 on the track. Mystic Mistress, now owned by Warrawee Farm, received the Standardbred Breeder and Owners Association’s award as Broodmare of the Year for 2011.
The three candidates in the trainer-driver category are Wally Hennessey, Carl Jamieson and Dave Wall.
Wally Hennessey, 55, of Prince Edward Island, rewrote the history books in the Maritimes in the early stages of his driving career. To date, he has 8,026 victories to his name and has banked earnings in excess of $54 million.
In the late 1990s, he enjoyed success with the trotter Moni Maker, a winner of $5.5 million and numerous stakes including the Nat Ray in three different years, the Hambletonian Oaks and Breeders Crown. In the summer of 2007, Hennessey was inducted into the Living Hall of Fame in Goshen, New York.
Carl Jamieson, 61 of Princeton, Ontario and a native of Nova Scotia, has established a reputation for his ability in selecting and developing young horses. He’s enjoyed considerable success, having trained 940 winners and horses to earnings in excess of $22 million.
In 2011 Carl trained two Canadian champions – Up The Credit, Canada’s three year old pacing colt of the year and Warrawee Needy, Canada’s Two-Year-Old pacing colt of the year.
Dave Wall, 65, of Komoka, Ontario, and a former top ca