June was another interesting month for ASHA members, staff and board of directors. Lots of great racing and mixed in with some industry accomplishments.
I had a meeting with Olds College’s Dean of Animal Science Dalin Bullock and Chair Mary Medinsky , along with CTHS’s Adrian Munroe and Jean Cruise. The topic was a discussion about the possibility of integrating some students into the breeding side of the Alberta Race Horse Industry. I believe it was a productive meeting but there are still some things to be worked out. We all agreed to continue these meetings and work towards a plan to move forward with.
We had our first two three year old ABSS Stakes and the connections of Roaring Home and Exit Smiling came out victorious in some highly completive events. Congrats!
June was both a very happy and sad month for ASHA. First, we have seen the race surface at Century Downs converted to limestone which makes it more consistent and weather proof. June also sadly marked the end of Mrs. Shirley McClellan’s tenure as C.E.O. of Horse Racing Alberta after a ten-year term. There aren’t enough words to describe the effort Shirley put in to keeping the Alberta Race Horse Industry alive through that period. I will just say thanks from all Members of ASHA on the supreme effort!
Century Downs & ASHA held the Regional Driving Championships in June with Kelly Hoerdt winning the competition and Jamie Gray closing fast to take second place. Both Drivers advance and will go to Grand River Raceway in September to show off their talents against six other drivers from across Canada. The winner of that event will join James McDonald in 2019 going to Sweden to compete for the World Driving Championship. Good luck Kelly and Jamie! I would like to thank all the trainers that supported this event by entering their horses and shame on the ones that didn’t. We may lose the event going forward if everyone doesn’t step up and enter as normal, eight races are a necessity to have a fair competition.
Don McDougall and I met with three Representatives from Cal Expo and Carla Robin from HRBC to discuss an aged Can/Am series in 2019. Chris Schick ( Management from Cal-Expo) is going to draft up potential dates and money so we all can take it to our Boards. We will update members as this process moves forward.
Best of luck to all in July!
Fred Gillis
Executive Director
Alberta Standardbred Horse Association
I had a meeting with Olds College’s Dean of Animal Science Dalin Bullock and Chair Mary Medinsky , along with CTHS’s Adrian Munroe and Jean Cruise. The topic was a discussion about the possibility of integrating some students into the breeding side of the Alberta Race Horse Industry. I believe it was a productive meeting but there are still some things to be worked out. We all agreed to continue these meetings and work towards a plan to move forward with.
We had our first two three year old ABSS Stakes and the connections of Roaring Home and Exit Smiling came out victorious in some highly completive events. Congrats!
June was both a very happy and sad month for ASHA. First, we have seen the race surface at Century Downs converted to limestone which makes it more consistent and weather proof. June also sadly marked the end of Mrs. Shirley McClellan’s tenure as C.E.O. of Horse Racing Alberta after a ten-year term. There aren’t enough words to describe the effort Shirley put in to keeping the Alberta Race Horse Industry alive through that period. I will just say thanks from all Members of ASHA on the supreme effort!
Century Downs & ASHA held the Regional Driving Championships in June with Kelly Hoerdt winning the competition and Jamie Gray closing fast to take second place. Both Drivers advance and will go to Grand River Raceway in September to show off their talents against six other drivers from across Canada. The winner of that event will join James McDonald in 2019 going to Sweden to compete for the World Driving Championship. Good luck Kelly and Jamie! I would like to thank all the trainers that supported this event by entering their horses and shame on the ones that didn’t. We may lose the event going forward if everyone doesn’t step up and enter as normal, eight races are a necessity to have a fair competition.
Don McDougall and I met with three Representatives from Cal Expo and Carla Robin from HRBC to discuss an aged Can/Am series in 2019. Chris Schick ( Management from Cal-Expo) is going to draft up potential dates and money so we all can take it to our Boards. We will update members as this process moves forward.
Best of luck to all in July!
Fred Gillis
Executive Director
Alberta Standardbred Horse Association