NOVEMBER 2013 THE RIDER /3
In Memoriam: Korona (1992-2013)
OTTAWA, ON - Equine Canada regretfully reports that 21-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Korona, beloved partner of Canadian Equestrian Team dressage rider Shannon Dueck, was humanely euthanized on Saturday, September 21 as a result of age-related health issues. “Korona was a talented, powerful yet elegant international competitor, whose charisma in and out
of the competition ring was legendary,” said Equine Canada President Michael Gallagher. “Our heart- felt condolences are extended to the Dueck family and all of those who had the privilege of knowing this great horse.” Dueck and Korona had many domestic and international successes, including the 1999 Pan Ameri-
can Games in Winnipeg, where they proved extremely competitive and, in spectacular fashion, won the Freestyle competition and claimed the individual silver medal for Canada. “Korona (Kees) came to me as a wild three year old, and together we proudly represented Canada
at the 1999 Pan Am Games, the 2002 FEI World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, and the 2003 World Cup Final in Göteborg, Sweden,” said Dueck. “He was a very special spirit embodied in plain bay horse body. We had to make the wrenching decision to put him down - he was in a lot of pain from laminitis. I don’t know where great horses go when they die, but I know he is there and I know he is royalty.”
Eric Lamaze Engaged to Alexis Stein
Eric Lamaze surprised long-time girlfriend Alexis
Stein by finally popping the question. The 2008 Canadian Olympic Champion got down on bended knee and proposed on Sunday, October 20, in Wellington, Florida, with only their beloved Pomeranian dog, Gigi, as a witness. Alexis, a 24-year- old musician and equestrian from New York City, said “yes!” “She’s meant something to me for a long time, but it
took a while for me to realize what I really had,” said Eric. “I’ve known Alexis for many years, and it was time to act on my feelings.” Eric made the decision to propose following a long
discussion with his great friend and owner, Carlene Ziegler of Artisan Farms, who encouraged him to follow his heart. While wedding plans are still in the
works, Eric is very much looking forward to the future, saying, “I will support her in anything that she does, just as she will support me in everything that I do. She is truly an incredible person.” Story by Starting Gate Communications,
www.startinggate.ca
Horse Racing Continued from Page 1
The biggest takeaway from this “sustainabili- ty” plan is that the minimum funding levels likely aren’t enough to sustain the industry. Splitting $400 million over five years between three breeds isn’t going to cut it when the industry once received almost that much ($345 million) in one year alone under the dearly departed Slots at Racetracks Pro- gram.
version of the V75 or single sport betting or table games or some other gaming product rolled out in the early part of 2014. All the more reason to get horse racing products and promotion at every OLG retail outlet in the province. All the more reason to get those promised gaming centres humming at the tracks. All the more reason to get us off the direct taxpayer dime as soon as humanly pos- sible.
end all of that, if the industry doesn’t come to an end before it can be fully implemented.
decline. While none of this had to happen this way, for sure our greed, sense of entitlement and lack of transparency and accountability are as much to blame at government igno- rance and incompetence. This new partnership thankfully should
— that our industry’s future will be charted by the same government types that less than two years ago barely knew the province had a thriving horse racing industry or that it sup- ported some 30,000 full-time equivalent jobs. But what choice do we have? After all, we are complicit in our own
likely will be better off five or 10 years from now, even without a seat at the funding table. Clearly, I’m skeptical — cynical even
If that happens, the industry as a whole
voluntary donation to horse racing from those that chose to play slots at tracks to a manda- tory contribution to the tune of $400 million. Naturally, those that don’t give a whiff about horse racing — and that’s a lot of people, my friends — aren’t thrilled. The irony is that anything the Liberals hope to gain politically by trying to appease those in rural Ontario could be lost in urban ridings over support for horse racing. All the more reason to get that Ontario
pens the better, not just for the industry’s sake, but politically for the minority Liberals perpetually mired in scandal after repeatedly going on drunken spending sprees with our money in the hopes of securing seats and power (see gas plants, eHealth, Ornge, teach- ers, donations to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, sweet bonuses for Pan Am Games officials, etc.). As it stands, taxpayers have gone from a
revenue streams from some kind of “integra- tion” with our former adversaries at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming corporation (OLG). How that will happen, when it will happen, what it will be, exactly, and, most importantly, how much horse racing will get from that symbiosis are still huge question marks. The sooner that shotgun wedding hap-
The crucial catch is vague talk of new
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