The Canadian Horse of the Year is a thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually since 1951 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is the most prestigious honour in Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. [1]
Part of the Sovereign Awards program since 1975, it is similar to the Eclipse Award for American Horse of the Year honours given in the United States.
The original eligibility rules stipulated that the winner be a Canadian-bred horse that did its "best running" in Canada. In 1964, the rule was altered for Northern Dancer, who was a Canadian-bred but whose most notable wins came in the United States when he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. [2] Eventually the requirement that the horse be a Canadian-bred was also dropped. The current rules simply require that the horse have raced at least three times in Canada during the given year (two times for two-year-olds). [3]
Most wins:
Most wins by a trainer:
Most wins by an owner:
Northern Dancer was a Thoroughbred that, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. After being retired from racing, he became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canadian icon and was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Induction into the Racing Hall of Fame in both Canada and the United States followed in 1976. As a competitor, The Blood-Horse ranked him as one of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred racehorses of the 20th century. As a sire of sires, his influence on the breed is still felt worldwide.
Dance Smartly (1988–2007) was a Champion Thoroughbred racemare who went undefeated in 1991 while winning the Canadian Triple Crown and becoming the first horse bred in Canada to win a Breeders' Cup race. She was inducted into both the Canadian and American Racing Halls of Fame.
The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing.
L'Enjoleur was a Canadian Thoroughbred race horse. Bred and owned by prominent Montreal businessman Jean-Louis Lévesque, L'Enjoleur was sired by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Buckpasser, a son of another Hall of Famer, Tom Fool. He was out of the racing mare Fanfreluche, a daughter of the 20th Century's most influential sire, Northern Dancer.
The Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honour. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top 3-Year-Old male Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada.
The Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honour. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top 2-Year-Old male Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada.
Deputy Minister was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred horse racing Champion. At age two, he won eight out of his nine starts and was voted both the Sovereign and Eclipse Awards for Champion 2-Year-Old in Canada and the United States respectively. He also received Canada's Sovereign Award for Horse of the Year. Although his three-year-old campaign was restricted by injury, Deputy Minister rebounded at age four with several major wins.
The Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top 2-Year-Old Filly Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada.
The Canadian Champion Older Male Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honour. Created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada, it is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top horse four years or older competing in Canada. The award was renamed to Champion Older Main Track Male before the 2019 Sovereign Awards.
The Canadian Champion Female Turf Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor that is part of the Sovereign Awards program awarded annually to the top female Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada in races on turf. Created in 1975, by the Jockey Club of Canada as a single award for Champion Turf Horse, it was first won by the filly Victorian Queen. In 1995, it was split into male and female categories.
The Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Filly is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honour created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top 3-Year-Old Filly Thoroughbred horse competing in Canada.
The Canadian Champion Older Female Horse is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honour created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is awarded annually to the top Thoroughbred Filly four years of age and older competing in Canada. The award was renamed to Champion Older Main Track Female before the 2019 Sovereign Awards.
The Sky Classic Stakes is a Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Raced in mid to late August on turf over a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles, it is open to horses three years of age and older. In recent years it has become a major prep race for local horses looking to go on to run against the best horses from around the world in Woodbine's $2 million Canadian International.
The Deputy Minister Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. An Ontario Sire Stakes, it is a restricted race for three-year-old horses sired by a stallion standing in the province of Ontario during the year of their birth. Run in mid July, it is contested over a distance of seven furlongs on Polytrack and currently carries a purse of $96,000 +.
Northernette was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. A Canadian champion at both ages two and three, she was also a Grade I stakes winner in the United States.
Robert Charles Landry is a Canadian Champion jockey in thoroughbred horse racing.
Natalma was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the dam (mother) of the most important sire, and sire of sires, of the late 20th Century, Northern Dancer. She also established a highly influential female family, which has produced other leading sires Machiavellian and Danehill, plus numerous other stakes winners. Natalma was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Sovereign Award for Outstanding Broodmare is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing honor created in 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada. It is part of the Sovereign Awards program and is a lifetime achievement award given annually to a top broodmare in Canada.
Classy 'n Smart was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm, she won five of nine career starts, including two legs of what would later be known as the Canadian Triple Tiara. Although she was voted the 1984 Canadian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, her primary legacy is as a champion broodmare.
South Ocean (1967–1989) was a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame mare raced by Charles Taylor. She was bred by Charles's father E. P. Taylor, Canada's preeminent name in Thoroughbred racing and in world breeding history.