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On Monday, December 15, Standardbred Canada announced the finalists for the 2014 O’Brien Awards, which honour Canada’s best in harness racing over the past season.


The winners will be announced at the annual O’Brien Awards Black Tie Gala on Saturday, February 7, 2015, at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel and Conference Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.


This will be the 26th edition of the O’Brien Awards, named in honour of the late Joe O’Brien, an outstanding horseman and member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.


Eight past O’Brien Award winners are looking to add to their trophy collections and are either defending titles or are nominated in a new division. These past winners include: Anndrovette, Bee A Magician, Intimidate, Riveting Rosie, Chris Christoforou, Bill Davis, Richard Moreau, Al McIntosh Holdings Inc., & Robert McIntosh Stables Inc.


For Chris Christoforou, 2014 was a year of milestones. The 43-year-old resident of Campbellville, Ontario surpassed 6,000 career wins in early November and then in mid-November, eclipsed $100 million in earnings. These accomplishments, combined with his 237 wins and over $5.3 million in earnings, have earned him a nomination as Canada’s Driver of the Year. The three-time winner of Driver of the Year, who currently sits in second in the earnings standings for Canadian drivers, last won this award in 2003.


Trevor Henry, 43, of Arthur, Ontario, has earned a first time nomination as Canada’s Driver of the Year. With a reputation as being one of the “busiest” drivers in Ontario, 2014 was no different as the talented reinsman has driven in 1,913 races to date, guided horses to over $3.3 million in earnings, and made 454 trips to the winner’s circle -- topping the win charts for drivers in the country. Henry, who has dominated the Ontario “B” tracks for many years, made the decision to race full time on the Woodbine Circuit this past fall, and made an immediate impact when he recorded a grand slam with four victories on the fifth night of the meet.


Richard Moreau, 50, of Puslinch, Ontario, is back to defend his Trainer of the Year title against first-time finalist Jimmy Takter.


Moreau, who has been a mainstay on the WEG circuit for over 10 years, leads all Canadian trainers in the wins column and sits in second behind Takter in the earnings column. Moreau has trained 228 winners and horses to $2.5 million in earnings and operates a large stable of claiming and conditioned horses.


Takter, 54, of East Windsor, New Jersey, has trained 18 winners and horses to $2.6 million in earnings in Canada and competes primarily in stakes events. Takter trains Hambletonian Champion Trixton, who is a finalist in the Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt division.


Bill Davis, 53, of Langley, BC was the inaugural winner of the O’Brien Award of Horsemanship in 2003, and returns as a finalist in 2014 after putting together some incredible stats considering it was probably the most personally challenging year of his career. Davis and his partner Rick Mowles lost 20 horses in a horrific barn fire in early June. Despite this major setback, Davis has driven 130 winners to date and horses to $686,000 in earnings, and trained 103 winners and horses with $556,000 in purse earnings.


Dustin Jones, 53, of Waterdown, Ontario is a first time finalist in this category and enjoyed a very productive season, winning 26 races from 150 starts and $983,422 in earnings. His stable was led by his homebred, Dont Rush, a winner of almost $300,000 and an O’Brien Award finalist in the Two-Year-Old Trotting Colt category.


JK Shesalady and Sports Chic, the top two leading money winners in their division, are the finalists in the Two-Year-Old Pacing Filly category.


JK Shesalady, a daughter of Art Major was perfect in her juvenile season, scoring 12 victories and earning over $930,000 for her owner-breeders 3 Brothers Stables (Alan, Ronald and Steven Katz) of New York, N.Y. She picked up wins in the Tompkins-Geers, the Eternal Camnation, swept the Shes A Great Lady Stake at Mohawk, won stakes at Hoosier Park and Lexington, swept the Three Diamonds at Woodbine and then ended her invincible season with wins in the elimination and final of the Breeders Crown. She took a mark of 1:50.1 in winning the Shes A Great Lady final at Mohawk, her richest payday of the season, equaling the world record for a two-year-old pacing filly.


Sports Chic hit the board in eight of 10 season starts with five wins and over $240,000 to her credit. The daughter of Sportswriter posted a season’s mark of 1:54.2 in an Ontario Sires Stakes event at Georgian Downs and was four for six in OSS competition.