TRURO, N.S. – Standardbred Canada’s top horse award has been renamed in honour of world champion Somebeachsomewhere.
It was recently announced that the O’Brien Award for Horse of the Year will now be named the Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year Award.
“In light of his extraordinary success as a racehorse and stallion, and most importantly, the tremendous impact that Somebeachsomewhere has had on the Canadian harness racing industry, it was decided that we needed to do something to properly honour Beach,“ said Dan Gall, president and CEO of Standardbred Canada.
“We made the offer to the Schooner Stable and they graciously accepted this,” continued Gall. “This is a way that each year when we honour our champions, we’ll be reminded of the great impact that Beach had on the industry.”
Somebeachsomewhere was syndicated, but the six-member Schooner Stable of Truro – Brent MacGrath, Garry Pye, Stu Rath, Reg Petitpas, Pamela Dean and Jamie Bagnell – had retained majority ownership.
Petitpas, MacGrath and driver Paul MacDonell were on hand at the O’Brien Awards ceremony earlier this month in Mississauga, Ont., to make the inaugural presentation of the Somebeachsomewhere Horse of the Year Award to Jerry and Theresa Silva, owners of the exceptional trotting mare, Hannelore Hanover.
Following a short battle with cancer, Somebeachsomewhere was euthanized at Mid-Atlantic Veterinary Center in Ringoes, N.J., in January.
Driven by MacDonell and campaigned by MacGrath, Somebeachsomewhere won 20 of his 21races during a legendary career and earned $3,328,755 in purses.
His major victories as a freshman included the Battle of Waterloo, Metro Pace, Champlain Stakes and Nassagaweya. At three, his highlights included the Burlington (which was later renamed the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes), Pepsi North America Cup, Confederation Cup, Simcoe, Bluegrass, Tattersalls, Messenger, Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final and Breeders Crown.
The two-time Canadian Horse of the Year was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame nine months after he retired, at the time holding eight world records.
During his stud career, Somebeachsomewhere’s offspring earned more than $87million and he was the first sire in harness racing history to top $20 million in progeny earnings in a single season. Among his offspring are 13 millionaires, including Captaintreacherous ($3.2 million), Pure Country ($2.4 million), Downbytheseaside ($2.3 million), Huntsville ($1.8 million) and Check Six ($1.6 million).
