Sovereign Award

Pietro Moran has been named the Eclipse Award winner for best Apprentice Jockey. After launching his career in Canada in 2023, the 20-year old was named a Sovereign Award finalist for Apprentice Jockey in 2024. His 2025 campaign included wins aboard Mansetti (Collected) in the King's Plate, becoming the third youngest jockey in history to win the race. He finished the year with a record of 863-140-117-139 and earnings of $6,083,835 and a winning percentage of 16%.

Six years after purchasing her at Keeneland November for $320,000 in 2019, Jonathan Green's D. J. Stable will return Tiffany Case (Uncle Mo) (hip 465) to the ring Monday in the opening session of this year's Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. The dam of Canadian champion 2-year-old filly and Eclipse Award finalist 3-year-old filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) has only continued to back up what Green initially saw in her as a then-unproven 6-year-old carrying her first foal, a Violence filly who became SW/MGSP Love to Shop. "We were...

Tenacity. The trait seems to be woven into the very fabric of every jockey. After all, they put their lives on the line every time they break out of a gate perched atop 1,000 pounds of heaving horseflesh. It is also the very thing that propels them to the finish line, driving them to win. Emma-Jayne Wilson is the embodiment of tenacity, the thing that has driven her to the pinnacle of racing and in more challenging times, has helped her overcome adversity. Wilson, who returned to the saddle this...

Trainer Brian Knippenberg knew there was something wrong with Mercante (Gun Runner), but didn't know what it was. He also knew that the horse had a ton of talent and maybe he could patch him up and he'd be a useful horse. Not many would have done so. It would have been easy to give up on a horse that was sidelined for 15 months after he finished third in a July 22, 2023 allowance race at Saratoga for trainer Bill Mott. Fast forward to the present and Mercante looks...

The Hill 'n' Dale consignment at Keeneland November this year will feature 2023 Canadian Champion Older Male Tyson (Tapit--Honouring, by Smart Strike) the farm announced Monday. A winner at first asking at Gulfstream Park for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, the homebred would go on to win a pair of graded races at Woodbine in the GIII Dominion Day Stakes and the GII Seagram Cup Stakes. He also ran third in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga en route to being named Champion Older Male in Canada....

Canadian champion sprinter Hazelbrook (Bayern), in foal to Triple Crown winner Justify, and multiple stakes winner Lucky Girl (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) highlight the inaugural Inglis Digital USA July Sale. "We are excited to feature these two impressive entries in our inaugural sale as Inglis Digital USA," said CEO Liza Hendriks. "The global demand for both buying and selling has been substantial, highlighting the international appeal of these two mares. They are the first of many high-quality listings to come, and we look forward to showcasing more in our...

My Boy Prince, Canada's champion 2-year-old colt of 2023 and a leading King's Plate fancy, returned to the winner's circle with an authoritative victory in the King Corrie S. at Woodbine Sunday. Second in last year's GI Summer S. and third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, the heavy favorite was returning to the synthetic surface for the first time since dominating in the Simcoe S. at Woodbine last August. He attended the pace of Maximus Magic (Maximus Mischief) through fractions of :24.38 and :47.82, took charge approaching the...

The Jockey Club of Canada will present Robert "Red" McKenzie with the Special Sovereign Award during the 49th annual awards ceremony on the evening of Thursday, Apr. 18 at Paramount Eventspace in Woodbridge, Ontario, the organization said in a press release Thursday afternoon. Selected unanimously by the Jockey Club of Canada's Stewards, the Special Sovereign Award recognizes a particular achievement within a given year. The honor is being bestowed upon McKenzie for becoming the oldest trainer to saddle a winner in Canada, doing so at the age of 96 on...

Kazushi Kimura earned his third consecutive riding title at Woodbine with 161 victories during the 2023 meeting which concluded Sunday, while Mark Casse was the track's leading trainer for the 15th time. "I am very grateful to all the trainers and owners who gave me an opportunity to ride so many great horses this year," Kimura said. "I'd like to thank the grooms, exercise riders, hot walkers, gate crew, outriders, and everyone who makes our sport so great. And I would like to thank all the horses, the stars of...

Sovereign Award and Queen's Plate-winning trainer Dan Vella has joined Woodbine as Horse People Liaison. Vella will be a point of contact for owners and trainers as it relates to opportunities and feedback regarding race conditions, track surface matters, backstretch maintenance, equine safety and race day logistics. "Dan is a highly regarded figure on our backstretch that has his finger on the pulse of our racing community," Jim Lawson, Woodbine Entertainment CEO, said. "Having the ability to add someone like Dan, who has spent over 50 years on our backstretch...

Eclipse and Sovereign Award winner Kazushi Kimura earned his second consecutive Woodbine jockey crown at the recently concluded Woodbine Thoroughbred meet with 152 wins. Overall his mounts earned $8.9 million (CDN). Born in Hokkaido, Japan, Kimura joined the Woodbine jockey colony as a 19-year-old apprentice in 2018. He finished his first Woodbine campaign sixth in the standings with 89 wins and his mounts totaled more than $2.3 million in earnings which earned him an Eclipse Award as North America's outstanding apprentice jockey. He also took home the Sovereign Award as...

Harvey Warner, the Manitoba Jockey Club (MJC) Board Chair, passed away recently, according to Assiniboia Downs. He was one of the original founders of the non-profit MJC in 1993 and played a large part in rescuing Assiniboia Downs and the Manitoba racing industry from bankruptcy. He was recognized in 2020 with a special Sovereign Award in honor of his contributions to the sport. A longtime owner, Warner was also a former president of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) of Manitoba. He is survived by his wife, Edie, and...