The 2021 O’Brien Awards took place last night and Ontario Sires Stakes participants collected plenty of hardware. Horses sustained to the OSS won seven of the eight younger horse categories led by the 2021 Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year, Desperate Man.
Bred by Winbak Farms, Desperate Man won the O’Brien for three-year-old pacing colts. His stellar season was highlighted a personal best 1:49.3 to win the $1 million Pepsi North American Cup and a win in the OSS Gold Super Final.
Duly Resolved, another 2021 OSS star, won two-year-old trotting colt honours. Trained by John Bax, he earned over $630,000, winning three OSS Gold Legs, and finishing second in the Mohawk Million.
Millar Farms has Banner Night
Millar Farms – the second highest earning OSS breeder in 2021 – had a night to remember. The Stouffville, Ont., farm swept the two-year-old pacing categories and was named the Armstrong Breeder of the Year.
Prohibition Legal, a Big Jim filly, trained by Nick Galluci, went six for six in OSS Gold Races, including a Super Final win, to lead all horses in 2021 OSS earnings with $377,266. Betterhavemymoney, another Millar and Gallucci partnership hit the board four times in six OSS races, including two Gold Leg victories.
The remaining three-year-old categories were all won by OSS horses.
Up and Ready, a trotting filly bred by Diane Ingham and Harry Rutherford, took home the O’Brien on the strength of a Super Final win, and four additional top-three finishes in six Gold Series starts.
Scarlett Hanover won divisional honours for the second straight season. The pacing filly bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, won four of five OSS Gold starts, including a Super Final.
Rounding out the three-year-olds was trotting colt, Fashion Frenzie, bred by John Petrik. He won three OSS Gold starts and earned $524,910.
OSS Horsepeople Earn Honours as Well
2021 Lampman Cup winner, James MacDonald was named Keith Waples Driver of the Year. The Guelph, Ont., resident drove three of the eight winners at the OSS Super Finals, and led all drivers with 45 wins. This was the inaugural edition of the award.
Susie McNair, the wife of leading OSS trainer Gregg McNair, and daughter of the late Bud Fritz won the 2021 award for Outstanding Groom.
Richard Moreau, of Puslinch, Ont., secured his ninth straight Trainer of the Year award. He had 236 wins in 2021, including seven in 60 OSS starts.
Trainer Luc Blais added the 2021 O’Brien Award of Horsemanship to his trophy case. Blais trainees had 54 OSS starts in 2021 and finished in the top-three 23 times.
Veterans of the OSS fared well in the older horses categories as well. Perfetto, a two-time OSS Gold leg winner in 2017 and 2018, won the older trotting horse O’Brien for the second straight season.
For full details on the 2021 O’Brien Award winners, please click here.