Opposing trainers may have laughed when Manitoba-bred Escape Clause came to Santa Anita to contest the La Canada stakes, but they weren’t laughing now.

Fifty years into the game, BC Hall-of-Famer Peter Redekop has stepped up to donate $100,000 to the purse of the 2019 British Columbia Derby he loves.

When injury ended his race career, the once highly sought after Thoroughbred Catch Twenty One, was rehomed and is now in training to become an eventer.

Ireland’s Niall Collum has settled at Woodbine as a trainer and is working at building up a small, successful stable complete with first-time horse owners.

Best known as the agent for leading jockey Patrick Husbands, Leroy Trotman has had a wealth of experience in the Thoroughbred racing game.

Janet Konyer was a new face on the grand prix dressage scene last year riding a horse born and raised on her Lookout Farm in Belwood, Ontario.

Dutch dressage rider Hans Peter Minderhoud is a team player whose ambition is to help lift his beloved compatriots back to the centre step of the podium.

Stephen Clarke, FEI 5* Judge General and busy clinician, travels the globe imparting his training theories and techniques to produce better dressage horses.

Canada’s reigning champion jockey, Eurico Rosa Da Silva, surpassed Mickey Walls’ long-standing record for wins at a Woodbine meeting in a remarkable season.

Joe Guerrieri (Joey Gee), the new owner of the former Gardiner Farms, cracked the top 10 in the Woodbine Thoroughbred owner rankings in 2018.

Saffiano, an Ontario bred Thoroughbred, caught the eye of exercise rider Katie Larsen, who later helped him find a new home and career with Meagan White.

In April, Gustav Schickedanz, a Canadian horse racing legend, will be honoured with the E.P. Taylor Award of Merit at the Sovereign Awards.

Woodbine’s new jockey, Leonardo Salles, came to Toronto via Brazil, Dubai, Macau, Hong Kong and the U.S. before setting his sights on Canada last fall.

Veteran thoroughbred breeder Larry Falloon is on the move again with new Manitoba stallion Nonios and an improved band of broodmares. He just can’t quit.

The twin sons of Belgian show jumping great, Ludo Philippaerts – Nicola and Olivier – have established themselves as bona fide members of the 5* community.