Lexie Lou honored as Canada’s Horse of the Year

Lexie Lou’s Queen’s Plate victory helped her become Canada’s Horse of the Year (WEG/Michael Burns Photography)

Queen’s Plate and Woodbine Oaks heroine Lexie Lou (Sligo Bay) was honored as
Canada’s Horse of the Year Friday evening at Woodbine as the Jockey Club of
Canada held its 40th annual Sovereign Awards in Toronto, Canada.

More than 300 guests were in attendance to celebrate with
the finalists and the newly crowned champions of Thoroughbred racing in Canada
for 2014.

Lexie Lou, who closed out her sophomore season with a second to U.S. Horse of
the Year California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) in the Hollywood Derby (G1), easily
beat out the other finalists in the Canadian Horse of the Year category,
garnering 156 votes to Calgary Cat’s (Cowtown Cat) 30 and Deceptive Vision’s (A.P.
Indy) 21. She was also honored as Canada’s champion turf female and champion
three-year-old filly.

Champion older male went to Lukes Alley (Flower Alley), who was
three-for-four in 2014 including scores in the Autumn S. (Can-G2) and Durham Cup
S. (Can-G3). Strut the Course (Strut the Stage) took home the title of champion
older female after a successful four-year-old campaign that saw her win the
Maple Leaf S. (Can-G3) and Classy ‘n Smart S. as well as place in the Victoriana
S. at Woodbine.

A Sovereign Award as champion turf male awaited Dynamic Sky (Sky Mesa)
following a 2014 season that began at Keeneland before shipping to Woodbine. At
the Toronto track he recorded placings in the Northern Dancer Turf (Can-G1),
Canadian International (Can-G1), Nijinsky S. (Can-G2) and Singspiel S. (Can-G3),
but returned to the United States for his four-year-old finale, a nice win in
the Red Smith H. (G3) at Aqueduct.

Conquest Typhoon and … (WEG/Michael Burns Photography)

Conquest Stables hit pay dirt when two of their campaigners — Conquest
Typhoon (Stormy Atlantic) and Conquest Harlanate (Harlan’s Holiday) — were
honored as Canada’s champion two-year-olds of 2014. The former took home the
title in the two-year-old male category after winning both the Summer S.
(Can-G2) at Woodbine and Cecil B. DeMile S. (G3) at Del Mar last year while
placing in the Grey S. (Can-G3) and Clarendon S., also in Toronto. Conquest
Harlanate prevailed in the two-year-old filly division when going 4-3-0-1 last
year while racking up scores in the Natalma S. (Can-G2) and Mazarine S. (Can-G3)
at Woodbine.

Eye of the Sphynx (Smart Strike) was nominated as outstanding broodmare in
2010, but was honored for 2014 instead. The mare hails
from the powerful breeding program of Sam-Son Farm and was Canada’s champion
three-year-old filly of 2004 after winning
the Woodbine Oaks, Selene S. (G2) and Fury S.

As a broodmare, Eye of the Sphynx has surpassed her racing
career as she has produced a champion, a graded stakes and another stakes winner
from just five foals to race. Her first foal was Eye of the Leopard (A.P. Indy),
who won the 2009 Queen’s Plate and was named Canada’s champion three-year-old
colt for that year. Her
next foal was dual stakes winner Hotep (A.P. Indy), and
in 2014, her daughter Deceptive Vision (A.P. Indy) was one of the year’s top grass mares,
winning the Canadian S. (G2).

…Conquest Harlanate swept the two-year-old categories for owner Conquest Stables (WEG/Michael Burns Photography)

Patrick Husbands was named outstanding jockey after winning his seventh Woodbine riding title in
2014, coming back from a serious ankle injury that caused him to miss four
months in 2013. Originally from Barbados, the Brampton, Ontario, resident, won 170
races from 676 mounts including 21 stakes races. His mounts collected more than $10.6
million in earnings, the second-highest total of Husbands’ Canadian career which
began in 1998.

The crowning moment of Husbands’ 2014 campaign came when he
guided Lexie Lou to win the Queen’s Plate. It was the first Plate win
for trainer Mark Casse, a longtime friend and client for Husbands.

Sheena Ryan was honored as outstanding apprentice jockey after being a two-time nominee in
the category. Ryan put up
more big numbers in 2014 before she graduated to journeyman jockey status. The
Saskatchewan-born rider had her first full season at Woodbine and won 37 races
from 320 mounts, a solid 12 percent win rate, before she lost her apprentice bug
on September 8. Ryan collected purse earnings of over $1.2 million.

In the media category, Cindy Pierson Dulay was honored with a Sovereign Award
for outstanding photo for her shot of Big Bazinga flipping in the paddock before
running off prior to last year’s Spiral S. (G3). David Briggs was awarded the
Sovereign for outstanding writer for his article “Ontario’s Cautionary Tale,”
and Scott Jagow garnered the outstanding audio/visual and broadcast Sovereign
Award for his four-part video series entitled “Woodbine Diaries.”