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Aurora, King and Caledon will see new representation in
the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame's Class of 2020. The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame selects ten
inductees each year to join a prestigious group of individuals and
thoroughbreds. King City native and thoroughbred horse “Play the King”
from Kinghaven Farms, standardbred horse McWicked, owned by the owner of SSG
Gloves in Aurora, Ed James, and Caledon resident Michael Keogh have been
announced as the inductees, according the Hall. Linda Rainey, Managing Director of the Canadian Horse
Racing Hall of Fame, says the induction process is quite extensive. “It's based on significant contributions to horse racing
in Canada,” she explains. “It's voted on two committees for an individual to be
inducted.” The nominating committee oversees all of the public
submissions. People within this committee have historical knowledge of the sport,
current racing knowledge, breeding and background knowledge. These votes
determine who proceeds to the ballot. Rainey believes there were 80 nominations per breed
presented to the Standardbred and Thoroughbred Nomination Committees this year.
Ballots are categorized and sent off to the final group
of voters who ultimately decide which inductees are named for the year -- all
of whom, of course, hold notable records to entice voters. Trained by Roger Attfield, Play the King has had an exceptional
four-year career. When the horse was only four years of age, victory at the
Toboggan Handicap (G3) in Aqueduct sparked a good run of form. Victories at
Jacques Cartier, Vigil Handicap, Toronto Budweiser Breeders' Cup at Woodbine,
Suffolk Sprint in Boston (G3) and Nearctic Stakes (G3) earned the horse the
1987 Sovereign Award champion as Canada's top, older male horse and champion
sprinter. In 1988, Play the King repeated as Sovereign Award
champion with another championship at Woodbine, Nearctic Stakes (G3), the
Breeder's Cup Sprint (G1) and Churchill Downs. The second horse nominated from the local areas is
McWicked from Aurora, owned by Ed James' SSG Stables. Recently retired from racing, McWicked earned $5.1
million during a race career that began in 2013 and included 40 wins in 110
starts while setting his lifetime mark of 1:46.2 at age 7. During his career McWicked won four O'Brien awards as
Canada's top Older Pacing Horse of the Year in 2018 and 2019 and overall Horse
of the Year in 2018. His 2018 bankroll of $1.662 million made him the oldest
horse to top North American harness racing's earnings standings at the age of
seven, and his $5.1 million in career earnings makes him the richest pacing
stallion in the history of the sport. Finally, Bolton resident Michael Keogh, former trainer
for the Hall of Fame builder Gus Schickedanz, has been racing since 1993. In 2,689 starts, Keogh has amassed 330 wins and earning
over $21.5 million. He is most famously known for winning the Queen's Plate twice
in 1999 with Woodcarver, and again in 2003 with Wando who went on to win the
Canadian Triple Crown. Other Keogh trained horses include Sovereign Award-winners
Mobil and Langfuhr. Early in his career Keogh was an assistant to Hall of Fame
trainer Roger Attfield from 1986-1993. During that time Keogh worked with one of his favourite
horses, Play the King who coincidently is also being inducted to the CHRHF in
2020. Since its establishment in 1976, the Canadian Horse
Racing Hall of Fame holds 500 inductees. It is open to the public at Woodbine
Racetrack in Etobicoke. Other 2020 Hall of Fame inductees representing
thoroughbreds include Builder Sue Leslie, Jockey Gary Boulanger and horse
Tepin. Standardbred Inductees include Driver Paul MacDonell, Trainer Ben Wallace, female horse Amour Angus and veteran horse Rambling Willie. By Robert Belardi
Post date: 2020-04-16 15:18:17
Post date GMT: 2020-04-16 19:18:17
Post modified date: 2020-04-16 15:18:22
Post modified date GMT: 2020-04-16 19:18:22
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