The Quest For a New Three-Year-Plan for Alberta Racing
Written by Jonathan Huntington
An industry-wide committee led by CTHS President, Gordon Wilson, has been formed to determine a three-year-plan for racing all breeds in Alberta. According to Wilson, the goal of the group is "to establish a three-year-plan for racing and training for thoroughbreds, standardbreds and quarter horses across the province". The committee was formed at the end of a six hour Alberta racing strategy session held on January 20th 2010 at Northlands Park in Edmonton. The idea for the committee came after Wilson presented a new look potential calendar for the province starting next year. Wilson's committee has been charged with reporting to HRA and the rest of the racing industry by May with an action plan ready for June. The committee has representation from every corner: CTHS (Adrian Munro), ASHA (Sam Johnson and Fred Gillis), HBPA (John Stavropoulos), Northlands Park (Kevin Behm), Evergreen Park (Ed Welsh), Calgary Market (David Chalack) and Wilson as chairman. There will also be reps from Alberta Downs, Medicine Hat, Alberta quarter horse and RMTC.
To read the complete article, visit the Horse Racing Alberta at http://www.thehorses.com/ (Posted January 27, 2010)
Equine Welfare Projects (Jennifer Woods, HWAC)
Three new welfare related projects are scheduled for 2010, delivered by the Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada (HWAC). HWAC partners include all provincial horse councils, NAERIC, all provincial farm animal care groups, Canadian Quarter Horse Assoc., Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Bouvry Exports, SSPCA, J. Woods Livestock Services and Agri Food & Agri Canada. Read more... (Posted January 27)
The 28th Horse Breeders and Owners Conference took place on January 15 - 17, 2010 at the Capri Centre in Red Deer, Alberta. Over 60 businesses and organizations and 560 people participated in the conference sessions and exhibits. A number of sessions were highly relevant to the thoroughbred industry including the session given by Dr. Dennis Sigler from the Department of Animal Science at Texas A & M University. Dr. Sigler's session was named Conditioning the Equine Athlete Following A Lay-Off and was interesting to any person bringing a thoroughbred back into training after a period of lameness or bringing a young horse into training. Another session of interest to thoroughbred owners was Understanding Lameness presented by Dr. Terry Swanson. It addressed the issue of identifying lameness in an equine athlete as soon as possible by learning to identify subtle behavioural changes and abnormality of gait. Saturday night was the great night of the live races at the Capri Downs in which "jockeys" rode in a number of races including the Executive Pace, Veterinarian Stakes, Readers Derby, Aggie Sprint Classic, Trainer Stakes and Breeders Cup. CTHS Manager Jean Kruse represented the whole thoroughbred industry and with help from trainer Lindsay Ward won the Breeders Cup Classic against strong competition from other breeds. 
To view more information about the Owners and Breeders Conference, visit the Horse Industry Branch at www.albertahorseindustry.ca (Posted January 27)
The Alberta SPCA is holding a horse sale of thoroughbred type horses on Wednesday, January 27th at 1:00 PM at the Highwood Auction Mart in High River, Alberta. This sale includes 31 thoroughbred 'type' horses that were recently seized in Calgary. Please click on the following link to view the information sheet available from the SPCA list of horses:
The CTHS Alberta has added further information to the SPCA List based on tattoo numbers and marking information supplied to us by the SPCA. To the best of our knowledge, the following information is correct. No representative of the CTHS Alberta has actually seen these horses since they have been seized.
6 mares with lip tattoos -
Horse #7 - 1999 Chestnut mare Tattoo # C44971. Registered as Arnchew Gorgeous by Regal Intention out of Certain Exchange
Horse #9 on SPCA List - 2000 chestnut mare Tattoo#D05170. Registered as E.Z. Bree Z by Zuppardo's Future out of L'Ti Raise Pretzel
Horse #22 on SPCA List - Appears to be registered as 'Beautiful Dreamer' by Dixieland Brass out of She's Quite A Gal
2 geldings with lip tattoos
Horse # 5 - This gelding is Tattoo #I21555 - 2005 chestnut gelding registered as Kakwa by Mint out of Sweet on You.
Horse #17 - This gelding is Tattoo #H17668 - 2004 black gelding registered as Candid's Gem by Candid Cameron out of Emmy's Gem.
3 mares
8 geldings
5 - two year old or yearling fillies
4 - two year old or yearling colts
1 weanling filly
Ages are approximate and estimated but there is potential for further identification an a number of the horses.
For futher information, please contact the Strathmore SPCA at 403-934-5619.
Who Will Play Julie Krone?
Shooting for a film based on the life and times of Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone is set to begin in April, but who exactly will play the lead role has been kept a mystery.Katherine Brooks and Sophie Watts of Los Angeles-based Gravity Films, were so moved by Krone’s book "Riding For My Life" that they are turning Krone's life into a feature film set for a 2011 launch.
“I fell in love with Julie’s story, not so much for its inside take on horse racing, but because it was such a compelling example of a love affair about a woman and her job,” Watts, the film's producer, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s about a girl whose gender could have doomed her to failure, but she fought it and came out the other side as one of the nation’s greatest sporting heroes.”
Krone made headlines in harness racing with her famed 2000 Red Mile time trial aboard Moni Maker. The tandem set a new world record of 1:54.1 for a standardbred under saddle. Visit the attached link to view the video of the 2000 Red Mile time trial.
Who exactly will play that great character remains a well-guarded mystery.
“The actress playing Julie is not what people will expect,” Brooks said. “People will go into the movie with their preconceived notions of who this actress is because of tabloid gossip, but they will come out respecting her, because they will be reminded of how strong of an actress she is.”
With these cryptic words in mind, bloggers and discussion boards have speculated that Lindsay Lohan may be cast as Krone, while other names commonly mentioned are Drew Barrymore, Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Bell, Reese Witherspoon and Kristin Chenoweth. An update on the film's facebook page posted Monday stated that "it was nice to see her on the stage [Sunday] night at the Golden Globes *wink wink*."
(Posed January 20th, 2010)
Manager of Highfield Stock Farm Pursues New Dreams
It is with great sadness that Highfield announces the departure of its longtime manager Cal Britton. After 20 plus years in the Thoroughbred breeding industry, Cal is retiring to pursue new dreams. In the short term, Cal will continue to be involved in the Thoroughbred industry as the manager of Jim and Susan Hill’s farm just south of Calgary, but the breeding industry is no longer part of his life. Cal has successfully managed Highfield since its inception in December 2004 and under his tutelage, Highfield has enjoyed tremendous success as a breeding farm. Cal is solely responsible for the creation of the Highfield program and will be greatly missed.
He was and will always be considered part of our family. Cal - thank you for your patience and guidance.
Submitted by Adrian Munro of Highfield Stock Farm – Okotoks, Alberta (Posted January 20, 2010)
Settlement Reached in Magna Bankruptcy Case
Creditors of Magna Entertainment Corp. have apparently reached an agreement that will end the racetrack operating company’s bankruptcy case. According to a report by Bloomberg News, the settlement includes transfer of MEC assets, including three racetracks, to MI Developments, which is controlled by MEC chairman Frank Stronach. Bloomberg reported that unsecured creditors, who are owed as much as $260 million, would receive $96.5 million under the plan announced Jan. 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.The tracks MEC would keep are Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita Park in California, and Gulfstream Park in Florida. MEC also would keep its XpressBet.com advance deposit wagering system, currently based at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Pennsylvania. MEC earlier sold The Meadows, a harness track, to a casino company.
MID, which will take control of the tracks and XpressBet.com, will pay unsecured creditors $76.5 million, with the remainder of the settlement amount coming from the sale of tracks, Bloomberg reported. If the tracks bring an amount that would take the total beyond $96.5 million, the additional funds would also accrue to the unsecured creditors. Two MEC properties, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, are scheduled to be auctioned later in January. Kenneth Eckstein, a New York attorney representing the creditors, said it is a "fairly complicated plan, but it is one we think we have a general grasp on," according to Bloomberg. He said the agreement would be filed with the court by Feb. 12.
Posted January 12, 2010
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Fort Erie Racetrack will open for Live Horse Racing in 2010
Dear Horsepeople,
The Board of Directors of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario is pleased to announce that a plan is in place for the not-for-profit Fort Erie Thoroughbred Racing Consortia to run live horse racing at Fort Erie Racetrack commencing 1 January 2010 for three years. The deal is based upon a lease agreement with Nordic Gaming and a guarantee of funding from the Provincial Government which will include operations for some Quarter Horse Racing.
The Fort Erie Thoroughbred Racing Consortia is comprised of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario, the Town of Fort Erie and Fort Erie Economic Development & Tourism Corporation. As the Province of Ontario has guaranteed some of the funding during the three year term, business operations will be subject to stringent budget constraints and targets as set by the terms of the agreement with all stakeholders.
We wish to thank all of you for your patience and understanding during this time as well as the Honourable Dwight Duncan's office for assisting us with the plan. Congratulations horsepeople, we look forward to the return of Thoroughbred horseracing at Fort Erie Racetrack in 2010. On a personal note I would like to thank the real heroes, the horsepeople of Ontario for their support and encouragement over the past two years.
Warm regards,
Sue Leslie, President
Telephone: 416-213-0231 / Email: sueleslie@hbpa.on.ca (Posted January 6, 2010)
Canadian Equine Centre of Innovation
The official grand opening of the Canadian Equine Centre of Innovation at Olds College was held on Tuesday, December 8th. The national centre for innovation will utilize leading edge expertise, facilities, technology and applied research in meeting the labour needs of the growing equine industry in Alberta. Included in the construction was an Education Centre, a Demonstration Breeding Centre and a Performance and Rehabilitation Centre. The brand new riding arena is named after Horse Racing Alberta's Shirley McClellan and will be called the Shirley McClellan Riding Arena.
Just a reminder that the deadline for the naming of foals born in 2008 is February 1, 2010. (Updated January 6, 2010)
