The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame announced its 2016 40th Anniversary inductees Tuesday, a class comprised of a total of 10 people and horses. Leading the way among the inductees from the Thoroughbred industry are trainer Mark Casse, a seven-time Sovereign Award winner as Canada's Outstanding Trainer, and two-time American Horse of the Year and two-time GI Woodbine Mile hero Wise Dan (Wiseman's Ferry).
Casse has won 10 Woodbine training titles in addition to his Canadian year-end honors. After beginning his career in Kentucky after taking over his father's operation, Casse won his first training title at Woodbine in 2002 and has gone on to train numerous Sovereign Award-winning horses, including Horses of the Year Sealy Hill (2007), Uncaptured (2012) and Lexie Lou (2014). 2015 was Casse's most successful year to date, garnering a total of $13.6 million in earnings with 159 winners, including a pair of Breeders' Cup wins with Tepin (Bernstein) and Catch a Glimpse (City Zip). He also serves as the director of the HBPA and a steward of the Jockey Club of Canada.
Morton Fink's Wise Dan notched 23 lifetime wins from 31 starts, amassing $7.5 million in earnings, augmented by scores in the Woodbine Mile in 2012 and 2013. In both years, the Charlie LoPresti trainee used his wins north of the border as a springboard to eventual success in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Wise Dan's 2013 victory in the Woodbine Mile set a course record of 1:31.75.
Also inducted into the Hall is the late Dr. Michael Colterjohn, who was influential in building Gardiner Farms into one of Canada's most prominent and well-regarded breeding operations after assuming the role of president in 1987. He later formed the Paradox Farm Inc. partnership while retaining much of the Gardiner Farm breeding stock after its dispersal in 2008, going on to breed Lexie Lou, among others.
The late Daryl Wells, Sr. joins Colterjohn as a new member of the Hall after a long career of race-calling at Ontario tracks, beginning in 1956. Wells is known for his calls of Northern Dancer's 1964 Queen's Plate victory, as well as Secretariat's final race at Woodbine in 1973.
Rounding out the five Thoroughbred industry inductees is the mare Dahlia, who began her career campaigning in France prior to making numerous trips across the Atlantic to capture prominent North American turf events, including Woodbine's Canadian International in 1974. In total, Dahlia won Group or Grade 1 stakes in five different countries and retired in 1976 with earnings in excess of $1.4 million.
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame 2016 Induction Ceremony will be hosted at the Mississauga Convention Centre on Wednesday, Aug. 3.
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