NOVEMBER 2023 THE RIDER /23


Q.R.O.O.I.: 50 Alexander Crossing’s, Ajax, ON L0S 1T6 Telephone: (905) 426-7050 • Fax: (905) 426-7093 Email: qrooiheadoffice@gmail.com


www.qrooi.com


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


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


James Bogar JBogar@cameronsteel.com


Scott Reid sr_training@hotmail.com


Amanda McCormack amccormack.valmor@gmail.com


Hawkin the Straw Takes Futurity, Brian Bell Wins Leading Jockey and first Battle of the Breeds is a Hit!


Lehtinen of Uxbridge. ON. The Futurity win by Hawkin the Straw also solidified the jockey title for Brian Bell. Hawkin the Straw,


Erik and Joyce Lehtinen’s Hawkin the Straw rolls to vic- tory under Brian Bell in the Alex Picov Memorial Futu- rity - Clive Cohen photo


AJAX DOWNS, OCTO- BER 25, 2023 - The 25th and final day of the 2023 Quarter Horse season at Ajax Downs was packed with drama and excitement throughout the afternoon. The featured race, the


$76,680 Alex Picov Memo- rial Futurity for 2-year-olds, one of the richest Quarter Horse races in Canada, was won by the rising star HAWKIN THE STRAW, an Ontario bred owned and bred by Erik and Joyce


won one of two Trials for the Picov Futurity on Oct. 4 and was sent off as the 5 to 2 second choice to Eye Tempt You, winner of the slightly faster Trial. Trained by Jason Pascoe, Hawkin the Straw had the smoother beginning from post posi- tion 10 at the start of the 400-yard dash and led all the way to win by half a length in a time of 20.531 for an 83 speed index. A pair of 20 to 1 longshots, Willie Lump Lump and General Skywalker, finished second and third respectively. “He was really feeling


good before the race,” said Bell. “I had all the confi- dence in the world in him and once we broke from the gate, he was always in front. I was very impressed. He’s one to watch for next year.” Hawkin the Straw had


three starts in Indianapolis before he came to Ajax and


won a maiden race and his Trial. The son of Bf Farm Boss now has 3 wins from 6 races and over $45,000 in earnings. For Bell, 41, this was


the third consecutive year the Lindsay, ON resident has won the Picov Futurity from post position 10. The victory, Bell’s 26th of the meeting, clinched the rider’s title by wins, QROOI points (252) and purse earnings ($269,234 US). Bell, who is closing in on 800 career vic- tories, will spend the winter preparing young racehorses for training early in 2024. *Ajax Downs also


hosted its first-ever Battle of the Breeds dash, an 870- yard race around a turn for Quarter Horses versus Thor- oughbreds. The inaugural Battle of


the Breeds was won by Magen Finnessy’s AZURES ROYALTY, an Ontario bred Quarter Horse who battled on the lead with the Thor- oughbred Red Maple, trained by Joe Humber from Fort Erie, and another Quar-


ter Horse, Maryland Magic, before pulling away to a 1 3/4 length win. Ridden by Neil Husbands and trained by Brooke Sisson, Azures Royalty raced the distance in 47.07. Ajax Downs hopes to put on a couple of Battle of the Breeds races each month in 2024. * Jason Pascoe was


Ajax Downs’ leading trainer for the sixth consecutive year and won 37 races with Bob Broadstock second with 23 wins. Milena Kwiecien was the leading owner with 21 wins over James Bogar who had 17. The very good 3-year-


olds SNOW MOOSE and SOUR CANDY, both win- ners on the final day of the season, each won a meet- leading 5 races during the year and figure to be the top contenders for the Ajax Downs’ Horse of the Year when the awards are pre- sented in February. Ajax Downs’ General


Manager Emilio Trotta re- ported that wagering was up over 10 percent from a year


Sean Slater cusl8r@live.com


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


Into the stretch in the Battle of the Breeds. Azures Royalty (grey horse) was the winner. Clive Cohen photo


ago. “Our Sunday race days are always packed but now we are seeing our Wednes- days in the summer becom- ing more


crowded. Quarter Horse rac- ing is growing in popular- ity.”


The 2024 Ajax Downs


season is scheduled to kick off in May. The track’s ex-


Fitting End to 2023 Ajax Downs Quarter Horse season / Season Wrap


AJAX DOWNS, OCTOBER 31, 2023 - It was fitting that the final race of the 2023 Quarter Horse season at Ajax Downs was won by the remarkable old-timer SUGARMANS DELIGHT, who was taking his 17th career win at the spry age of 10. Sugarmans Delight is a son of one of Canada’s most influential Quar- ter Horse stallions, SUGAR- MAN PERRY, who was recently retired from stud duty by Joe and Christine Tavares of Enniskillen, ON.


Sugarmans Delight’s win on


October 25 was his third of the year for the Tavares family and boosted his career earnings to over $210,000 (US). The tall, sorrel-coloured gelding with a crooked white blaze was a stakes winner in 2022 at the age of nine, epitomizing the longevity of sons and daughters of Sugarman Perry.


“He’s been a godsend to us,’


said Joe Tavares. “We stood him at stud his entire career.” Through the last day of this year’s Ajax Downs season, off- spring of Sugarman Perry have earned over $2.58 million. Tavares purchased Sugar-


man Perry, a son of the top Amer-


A joyous team from the Joe and Christine Tavares barn surrounds Sugarmans Delight, who won the last race of the 2023 Ajax Downs season on Oct. 25. (Clive Cohen/New Image Media)


ican stallion Mr. Jess Perry, for $70,000 through a friend from breeder Bob Gaston in Texas. Sugarman Perry, a foal of 2002 won four races for Tavares at Picov Downs before he entered stud. From his first small crop in 2008 came stakes winner Sugar- nspicenotsonice and stakes placed Sugar Boy Barry. Fiesty Icon, bred by Picov


Cattle Company and raced by Rick Kennedy, came along in 2012 and was a two-time Horse of the Year at Ajax Downs and


earner of over nearly $400,000 while racing until the age of nine. There have been plenty of other top stakes winners in recent years for Sugarman Perry including All Outta Sugar, Hanover Hill Theresa, Night Fishn, and one of 2023’s top 2-year-old, Sugar N Pride, winner of the Ontario Sires Stakes Futurity. “His offspring are intelli-


gent, which makes them great,” said Tavares. *The 3-year-old division at


Ajax Downs in 2023 was flush


with top performers and may well produce the Horse of the Year for the season. Ontario breds SNOW MOOSE and SOUR CANDY each won five races (Snow Moose won two other races including the Alex Picov Championship but was dis- qualified from both) with Snow Moose garnering an impressive 45 QROOI points, just one point more than his rival. You have to go back to 2018


to find a horse who earned more QROOI points in a season when Country Boy 123 picked up 47 points. Snow Moose is owned and


bred by Milena Kwiecien of Burlington, and Sour Candy, the Picov Derby winner, is owned by Craig Spada and Rick Crispi. On the filly side, both Kwiecien’s VALIANT CHICK INSNOW, who dead-heated for the win in the Alex Picov Championship, and Carol and Jaime Robertson’s HAD TO BE IVY, the Princess Derby winner, each earned 33 points. *One of the biggest stories


of the 2023 season was that of young trainer LAUREN SPADA, 20, perhaps the youngest race- horse trainer in Canada. Spada, whose late grandfather Peter was


a successful owner, took over the training of the stable of horses from her father Craig and in her first full year won 20 races from 59 starts, a remarkable 34 per- cent. Lauren’s 20 wins put her third behind leading trainer Jason Pascoe (37) and runner-up Bob Broadstock (23). *The 2024 Ajax Downs


Quarter Horse season is tenta- tively scheduled to begin on May 7. Keep up-to-date on Ajax Downs simulcast room events and schedules at www.ajax- downs.com or on social media, @ajaxdowns.


Board of Directors Election - AGM Meeting On October 13th, 2023


nominations closed for the cur- rent President, Vice President and Director positions on the QROOI Board. Bob Broadstock and Chantelle Bourgeois agreed to stand for re-election and as no other nominations were received. We would like to congratulate them both on another 3 year term. Director Ralph Pearson has chosen not to run. We thank


Ralph for all his years of dedi- cated and passionate service on the Board. Corey Illman was nominated to run for Director. With no other nominations re- ceived, The QROOI would like to congratulate and welcome Corey for a three year term on the Board. Here is a list of your current


Board of Directors and their terms;


President - Bob Broadstock - 3 years Vice President - Chantelle Bour- geois - 3 years Director – Corey Illman - 3 years Director - Brooke Sisson - 1 year Director – Amanda McCormack - 2 years Director – Scott Reid - 2 years


and more


pansive simulcast room is open throughout the winter and spring for watching and wagering on tracks through- out


the world. Visit


www.ajaxdowns.com for special events during the winter.


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