Dec. 2015 Issue_ August 2013a 2015-11-23 4:45 PM Page 27 DECEMBER 2015 THE RIDER /27


Q.R.O.O.I: 11 Harwood Avenue South, Suite 202, Ajax, Ontario L1S 2B9 Telephone: (905) 426-7050 • Fax: (905) 426-7093 Email: qrooiheadoffice@gmail.com


www.qrooi.com


By: Jennifer Morrison The first time Rick


Kennedy sent out his horse Fiesty Icon for a serious piece of track work as a 2-year-old early in 2014, the gelding proved to be a difficult student. With jockey Carly Furlonger riding, Fiesty Icon bucked off his pilot and took off on his own.


feeling about the young- ster he had purchased pri- vately from the Picov Cat- tle Co. as a yearling. “I had his half-sister,


Chissled and Fiesty and she was a really honest runner,” said Kennedy, who owns a farm in Mount Albert, ON. “He looked like a neat kind of horse.” Two years later, that


“neat” horse was voted the Horse of the Year by the Quarter Racing Own- ers of Ontario Inc. Direc- tors at a ceremony and dinner in Ajax, ON on November 21, 2015. Over 120 attended the


But Kennedy had a


PRESIDENT


Bob Broadstock 18101 Cedardale Road, Nestleton, Ontario L0B 1L0 (905) 986-0044 email: bob_broadstock@hotmail.com


VICE-PRESIDENT


Erik Lehtinen RR #2,


Uxbridge, ON L9P 1R2


(905) 852-5245


Greg Watson 785 Hwy 7A,


Bethany, ON L0A 1A0 (705) 277-0248


Chantelle Bourgeois - 416-985-7046 Chantelle.Bourgeois@t4g.com


Ralph Pearson - 905-243-4501 ralphpearson@bellnet.ca


Dr. Gayle Sommer


P.O. Box 91, Leaskdale, ON L0C 1C0 (647) 999-6554


2015 QROOI Awards Night


Kennedy at his farm and at Woodbine racetrack with his string of Thor- oughbreds. Things started off a


bit unsettled for Fiesty Icon (Sugarman Perry – Fiesty Spirit by Special Effort) as he exited his season opener at Ajax Downs in May with a virus. He did not race again until Aug. 9 in a trial for the Picov Derby which he won at 6-1. The gelding finished


win,” said Bell, who won the title despite not win- ning a stakes race during the year. “I feel awesome, strong and better than ever.”


Point horses and humans from the QROOI for 2015:


a strong second to Embrace Extravagence in the Picov Derby final after a bumpy start and then romped in the Ontario Sires Stakes Derby trial in early Sept., posting a 95 Speed Index for a time of :17.760 for 350-yards. Fiesty Icon duplicat-


Horse of the Year – Fiesty Icon (28 pts.) High Point 3-Year Old Gelding – Fiesty Icon High Point 3-Year-Old Mare – Im Aquicktrick (28) (*tied for High Point 3-year-old) High Point 3-Year-Old Stallion – Obsessed- withbeduino (13)


entertaining Awards cere- mony which included din- ner and dancing and plen- ty of video images of the year’s stars. Although Kennedy


ed that effort on Sept. 28 when he won the OSS Derby “with authority” according to the Equibase chart, collecting $30,960 (Can.) and boosting sea- son earnings to over $63,000 from three wins in five starts. Fiesty Icon was tied


was a little surprised Fiesty Icon won the vote for the top award since the competition included older stakes winners Mr Victory Six, 2014 champi- on Mitford and the hot- shot filly Embrace Extrav- agence. But he also told Fur-


with the mare Im Aquick- trick, owned by Steve Hunter and trained by Janet Grice, for High Point 3-year-old in 2015 as both had 28 points. Kennedy said Fiesty


Icon will begin training again in February and point to the Alex Picov Championship in 2016. Brian Bell was the


longer earlier this year that she was riding the 2015 Horse of the Year. “Yep, he told me ear-


High Point Two-Year- Old Gelding – Panther Hero (27) High Point Two-Year- Old Filly – Ice Fishn (18) High Point Aded Gelding – Mitford (33) High Point Aged Mare – First Down The Track 23 High Point Aged Stallion – Sm Chicks In Garters 32


High


lier this season I was on the Horse of the Year,” said Furlonger, who, along with her husband Keith Dimech work for


year’s High Point Jockey with 394 points from a record of 42-31-27 in 173 mounts. Bell was coming off a serious injury when he suffered a broken leg on a training day in 2014. Bell has been the leading rider at Ajax Downs before, most recently in 2011.


I rode, I expected them to “I loved all the horses


Owner/Trainer – Dar- lene Ballis – Hunderup (138) - Runner-up - Erik Lehti- nen (66) High Point Owner – Christine Tavares (221) - Runner-up - Richard Wincikaby/DK Training High Point Ontario Breeder – Christine Tavares (196) - Runner-up - Picov Cat- tle Co. High Point Jockey – Brian Bell (296) - Runner-up – Tony Phillips High Point Trainer – Renee Wilson (374) - Runner-up Joe Tavares


George Egerton Memo- rial Award for an indi-


Point Here are the High


vidual who goes above and beyond the call to help all peo- ple at the track – Rodney Quinn


Ken Mucklestone Award – for a person who represents, promotes and upholds integrity of the sport - Nick Coukos


Reprinted with permission from www.ontariohorserac- ing.ca


Tavares, Wilson and Bell take Ajax titles


By Jennifer Morrison Jockey Brian Bell won


four races on the final day of racing for the 2015 season at Ajax Downs in Ajax, ON to put an exclamation mark on a superb season for the Ontario rider. Bell won 43 races during the meeting and collected 399 points through the Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario Inc. program to take the jockey’s title. His mounts earned over $420,000 (Can.). Tony Phillips, with 298


points and 25 wins during the season was second in the jock- ey’s standings. Renee Wilson kept her


title as leading trainer with 375 points and 38 wins, edging Joe Tavares who had 352 points and 28 wins. Wilson, the 2014 leading trainer, trains for the powerhouse stables of Rick Crispi and Don Salzsauler’s Ivy Lane Racing. Stephanie Keeble, in her first year train- ing for her father-in-law Greg Watson, won 29 races and had 315 points. “I got a late start but the


horses ran well,” said Wilson, who trains her stable at her 48- acre farm in Clare, Michigan and travels north each week for racing.


of 2015 was Mr Victory Six, winner of the $69,300 Ajax Bank of American Challenge with a 106 Speed index. “We had a lot of fun with


One of Wilsons top horses


points. On the breeders list, the Tavares-breds won 17 races while Picov Cattle Co. bred the winners of 12 races. Leading the equine ath-


letes by points was Mitford, the Hi-Point Aged Gelding, whose 33 points topped all runners during the season. Owned by John Wilson, Mitford, a multi- ple stakes winning son of Ivory James in previous years, won three of six starts as a 5-year- old in 2015 including a trial for the Picov Maturity. Trained by Scott Reid,


Mitford finished second in the Maturity final, won two allowance races and was moved up to third (through dis- qualification) in the Bank of America Ajax Challenge in early August. A close second in overall


was Obsessedwithbeduino, a grey son of Obsessed With Corona bred in Oklahoma and owned and trained by Renee Wilson. The colt won one of six starts in 2015 and earned 13points. Im Aquicktrick was the


Hi-Point Three-Year-Old Female with 28 points from a record of 8-3-2-0 in 2015 for owner Steve Hunter and trainer Janet Grice. The Ontario-bred grey filly by El Night Shift won a trial dash for the OSS Derby and was second to Fiesty Icon in the Derby final. The top 2-year-olds at


The top 3-year-old stallion


Don Salzsauler 10708 Third Line, Milton, ON 9T 2X9 (416) 579-7876


points for 2015 was the Hi- Point Aged Stallion Sm Chicks N Garters, the Picov Maturity winner owned by Rick Crispi. An Oklahoma-bred by Country Chicks Man, Sm Chicks N Garters was consistently good in 2015 with seven top-three placings in his eight starts. The 4-year-old colt wrapped up his season with an allowance win on the final day of racing. Renee Wilson trains. His sea- son earnings totalled $49,235. The Hi-Point Aged Female


him,” said Wilson who trains the Texas-bred for Ivy Lane. “I picked up Danielle Dibert to ride him this year and they did great together. She is a good friend of mine so that made it more special.” Christine Tavares, whose


horse was First Down the Track, owned by DK Training Centre and Richard Wincikaby. The Utah-bred mare by Corona Cartel won three races for trainer Kim Ito in 2015 and collected 23 QROOI points. Fiesty Icon was the top 3-


husband Joe trains the family’s horses, led all owners and breeders at Ajax in 2015. As owner, Tavares won 31 races and collected 221 QROOI


Ajax for 2015 were led by John Wilson’s Panther Hero who won the John Deere Bank of American Futurity in July and the Alex Picov Memorial Futu- rity in October. The Ontario- bred is by Valiant Hero and is trained by Scott Reid. The colt was bred by Carole Lampron and he earned $60,084 and col- lected 28 points. Stephanie Keeble’s Ice


Fishn was the Hi-Point Two- Year-Old Female with 18 points. The daughter of Iced N Oak was bred in Ontario by Full Circle Racing and her big win was in the OSS Futurity in August. Sugarmans Delight was


the Hi-Point Two-year-Old Stallion for Christine Tavares. The Ontario-bred is by the Tavares stallion Sugarman Perry and he won two of four races and collected 14 points. Horses and humans will be


year-old gelding with 28 points for owner and trainer Rick Kennedy. The Ontario-bred son of Sugarman Perry won three of five starts including the Ontario Sires Stakes Derby on Sept. 28. Bred by Picov Cattle Co., Fiesty Icon earned $47,605.


honoured at the QROOI 2015 Awards Banquet on Nov. 21 in Ajax, ON. The Horse of the Year will be announced at that event. Reprinted with permission


from www.ontariohorserac- ing.ca


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