SEPTEMBER 2012 THE RIDER /45 Ten Enshrined Into Canadian Horse Racing Hall Of Fame


Standardbred stars Astreos, Kadabra and Mystic Mistress headlined this year’s class of inductees into Canada’s Horse Racing Hall of Fame tonight (Thursday) in a ceremony at the Mississauga Convention Centre in Mississauga, Ont.


The 2012 Standardbred Inductees are: Astreos - Male Horse Category; Kadabra - Male Horse Category; Mystic Mistress – Female Horse Cate- gory; Dave Wall - Trainer/Driv- er Category; Charles Juravinski – Builder Category.


and horses with over $2.4 mil- lion in earnings. Two outstand- ing horses that he drove were pacing filly Odies Fame, a win- ner of $1.4 million, and Hall of Fame trotter Goodtimes, a win- ner of more than $2.2 million. “I certainly never though much of it, but since it happened


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every day’s been a big moment...every day,” said Wall. “Makes you believe what you work for. It’s been a great life for me and a great ride.


Charles Juravinski, 82, of 6


“We will not give up hope on this industry,” Wall added. “It’s too great a thing.”


Dundas, Ontario, was involved in harness racing as a racetrack operator and owner-breeder. With no prior knowledge of racetracks or horse racing, Charles took a chance and turned a farmer’s field into Flamboro Downs, a multi-mil- lion dollar half-mile racetrack


Astreos, a son of Art- splace, won several stakes events, including the 2000 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 pro- duced winners of over $50 mil- lion to date, and many top per- formers including Zooka, Astro- nomical, To Helen Back and Voelz Hanover.


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“When you’re a young guy growing up in the standardbred business the Little Brown Jug is the race you want to win,” said driver Chris Christoforou, Jr. “To win that race with Astreos, I could never describe that feel- ing.


“Sadly we lost Astreos too early,” Christoforou added. “Our time with him was the greatest time of our life and we will never forget it. We are very happy he has been inducted into the Hall Of Fame and we are very grateful.”


As a race horse, Kadabra enjoyed incredible success, win- ning 25 of 36 lifetime starts for earnings in excess of $2.1 mil- lion. 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 Day- lon Magician; and in 2011 he was No. 1 in Canada for his progeny’s all-age earnings of $8,408,950.


“I think we should thank Pete [the late Peter Heffering],” said Apryll Heffering. “After flying to Chicago to see him, he just had to have him. Pete went with his gut. He contacted four of the best owners in the busi- ness and they were all willing to come on board.


“He didn’t disappoint on the track or in the breeding shed,” she added. Mystic Mistress has estab- lished herself as a top brood- mare in the sport, producing the winners of more than $3.8 mil- lion, 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, owned by Bru Mar Rich Stables & Ed Howard and managed by Warrawee Farm, received the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association’s award as Broodmare of the Year for 2011.


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which opened in 1975 and soon became one of Canada’s pre- mier racetracks and home to the Confederation Cup. He raced horses and ran the racetrack devotedly for the next 30 years until 2003. He also raced two world champion horses who are also members of the Hall of Fame – the top pacing mare Ellamony which he also bred, and pacing horse Matts Scooter. “Ladies and gentlemen, and other inductees current and past, it is an honour without a doubt,” said Juravinksi. “I want to thank the nominating com- mittee and the election commit- tee. Someone said it was a long- time coming, but I just think to myself how a kid growing up in Blaine, Saskatchewan ended up on this podium being inducted to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Just think of the impact of that on a somebody like myself. It’s unbelievable. Thank you.


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“I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for Bill Rowe,” he added. “He was also nomi- nated to the Hall Of Fame and I said to Kathy Wade Vlaar my vote is for Bill Rowe and not some Charles Juravinski guy. I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for Bill, my mentor. In the early stages I didn’t think you could make money in rac- ing and he convinced me. He opened his books, he let me see inside the operations and we revised our numbers. The rest is history. In our heyday, we had an on track handle of $325,000 per day with 3,325 people in attendance per day. I now won- der where all those people went. Having said that, I want to pay tribute to the staff at Flamboro Downs that stuck through thick and thin in the 80s and 90s.” Juravinski also shared the moment with a number of peo- ple who played a role in the suc- cess of a number of his star per- formers.


let Margaret near this mic. God bless you all. Keep the faith. I’ll tell you, this industry is not going to die.”


The five Thoroughbred representatives in Hall of Fame class of 2012 include: Jambal- aya – Male Horse Category; Arravale – Female Horse Cate- gory; L’Alezane – Veteran Horse Category; Russell Baze – Jockey/Trainer Category; Aubrey Minshall – Builder Cat- egory.


Elected in the Filly/Mare Category is Robert Costigan’s Arravale. This fine mare was winner of the prestigious E.P. Taylor Stakes (GR 1) against top female turf stars, and was Canada’s champion turf female in 2006. Trained by Hall of Famer Mac Benson, she won stakes at the highest level in both California and Canada. “Thank you to the commit- tee for the wonderful recogni- tion,” said Arravale’s owner, Robert Costigan. “As an owner you hope that you’ve have something to cheer coming around that bend. It took me four years to get my first win- ner. It’s been thrills and spills since. Arravale has been the highlight. It was a wonderful, wonderful ride.


“I think everybody has one thing in common: love and pas- sion of the horse,” he added. “It’s going to be reconnecting with the horse that helps us. We need to reconnect with people. Introduce people to a horse for five minutes and watch the soothing effect. Hastings Park had a connection to I’ll Have Another through the jockey and that’s what we need to bring back.”


“Horse racing is like a lot- tery with a variably-priced tick- et,” said Dr. Michael Wilson. “Mystic Mistress is like winning the lottery with a free ticket. “Thank you to the Hall of Fame for recognizing Mystic Mistress,” he added.


Dave Wall, 65, of Komo- ka, Ontario, and a former top campaigner on the Woodbine Entertainment Group circuit, has driven 7,117 winners and horses to earnings in excess of $59.6 million during his career. He has also dabbled in training, sending 518 winners postward


1/ Arravale – Presenter – Glenn Sikura (right), receiving trophy – Owner Robert J. Costigan, wife Nora (in red), son Robbie, daughter Carolyn (in black)


2/ Astreos – Presenter – Darryl Kaplan (left), receiving trophy – Charalambos Christoforou, Chris Christoforou Jr., Alvin Stein


3/ Aubrey Minshall – Jamie Martin, WEG and VP of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame presenting to Barbara Minshall on behalf of her late husband. 4/ Charles Juravinski – John Stapleton presents to Charles Juravinski 5/ Dave Wall - Ian Fleming presents to Dave Wall


7/ Kadabra – Kathy Wade Vlaar presents to Apryll & Taylor Heffering 8/ L’Alezane – Tom Cosgrove, (hall of fame and Woodbine Archivist) presents to Pierre Louis Levesque


9/ Mystic Mistress – Hall of Famer Bill O'Donnell presents to Dr. Michael Wilson for Mystic Mistress


10/ Russell Baze – Presented by Sandy Hawley, Hall of Fame Jockey to Russell Baze (L)


Photos by Iron Horse Photo - www.ironhorsephoto.ca Story by Standardbred Canada, www.standardbredcanada.ca


6/ Jambalaya – Lou Cauz (centre) presenting trophy to Catherine Day Phillips and family Todd Phillips (husband) sons Colton and Blake


“I want to pay tribute to the drivers and trainers,” he said. “Stephen Doyle, John Hayes and Mike Saftic. Hayes trained and drove a horse called Conquered in 1981 and I was happy to be partners with Mr. Hayes, Sr. John mentored me in the horse business and I am very appreciative. Doyle trained Ella- mony and Mike Saftic drove winning substantial races.” Juravinski also took a few moments to pay tribute to one of the sport’s greatest visionaries. “I could tell stories for days. I want to backtrack a little and tell you how slots came into effect. If it wasn’t for Mr. David Wilmott I question whether any of us would be in this room today. He is not here, but I would appreciate it if you put you hands together for him. “I’m done for the present time, he added.” But something I want to note is that all of you here tonight, you have gone out of your way to come out tonight and support the Hall of Fame and listen to a guy like me shoot my mouth off. So stand up and take a seventh inning stretch.” In closing, Juravinski gushed about his wife, Mar- garet, who later joined him on stage.


“Somebody always says behind a great man - and I don’t mean me - there is a great woman. I have my own Hall of Fame at home and I have my own executive director and I wish to present her with a Hall Of Fame ring. Margaret would you come up here? And I won’t


Elected in the Male Horse Category is Jambalaya, who fol- lows in the footsteps of his daddy Langfuhr as a Hall of Fame inductee. Jambalaya was an upset winner of the 2007 Arlington Million as well as the Gulfstream Park Breeders’ Cup Turf Stakes that same year for owner/trainer Catherine Day. “When looking at his rac- ing form, the Dr. Seuss book ‘Oh, The Places You Will Go’ comes to mind with his tremen- dous career of stakes victories,” said Day. “Throughout his seven years in training, he touched the lives of so many people.


“He’s now retired, lives at our farm and is turned out daily,” Day added.


Vancouver born Russell Baze who has won more races than any jockey in history, will take his place of honour in the Jockey/Trainer category. The 53-year-old Baze, is a member of the U.S. Hall of Fame and winner of over 11,500 races has campaigned mainly in the Unit- ed States and California. He was the leading rider in the U.S. on ten occasions and his awards include the Eclipse, George Woolf and Isaac Murphy. Dur- ing his prolific career, he won more than 400 races in a season eleven times


“I come from a large fami- ly,” said Baze. “They say there’s a Baze for every pine tree in Washington State. My father used to say that we came from a family of horse thieves which is why we can ride so well. He was only joking, at least I think he was joking. “You cannot get to the Hall Of Fame without passion and dedication,” Baze added.


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