Patches O'Houlihan is named Canada's horse of the year

Patches O'Houlihan, already Canada's champion male sprinter of 2023, added Canada horse of the year honors as well as another sprint champion trophy in 2024.

Trained by Robert Tiller for owner-breeder Frank Di Giulio Jr., Patches O'Houlihan won four of his five starts in 2024. Those included three graded-stakes wins, including the Nearctic (G2). His only defeat came in the Kennedy Road (G2) where he missed by three-quarters of a length to Nobals, who had won the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint the year before.

Trainer Kevin Attard won his first-ever honors for Canada champion trainer by a single vote over Mark Casse, who had won the award 16 times, including 13 times in a row dating back to 2011. Attard's 11 stakes wins included six at the graded level, with two at the top level. Those included the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf with Moira and the E. P. Taylor (G1) with Full Count Felicia. Both Moira and Full Count Felicia are now racing in Australia.

Three of Attard's charges won equine Sovereign awards. Full Count Felicia was awarded female turf horse honors after wins in both the E. P. Taylor and the Canadian (G2). Moira, already an Eclipse Award winner for champion turf mare of 2024, was awarded a special Sovereign award for her season. Attard also trained Fashionably Fab, who earned the award for Canada's champion older main track female after wins in the Belle Mahone (G3), Ontario Matron (G3),and La Prevoyante, all at Woodbine.

Attard also won the King's Plate with Caitlinhergrtness, who earned Canada champion 3-year-old filly honors for her 2024 season. In addition to beating males in the King's Plate, she also finished third in the Queen Elizabeth II (G1) at Keeneland.

Canada's champion 3-year-old male honors went to Dresden Row. The Lorne Richards trainee won three times in 2024, including the Durham Cup (G3) and Ontario Derby (G3).

Josie Carroll trainee He's Not Joking earned 2-year-old male honors after winning the Grey Stakes (G3) and running third in the Display Stakes.

Though Mark Casse narrowly missed training honors, four of his horses won Sovereign awards.

Nitrogen was a maiden through her juvenile year, but the Mark Casse charge won Canada champion 2-year-old filly honors on the strength of third-place finishes in the Natalma (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Nitrogen is now a three-time stakes winner. She broke her maiden Jan. 4 in the Ginger Brew at Gulfstream, and followed that up with victories in the Florida Oaks (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs and the Appalachian (G2) at Keeneland.

Play the Music won female sprinter honors after victories in the Royal North (G3), Whimsical (G3), and the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Casse also trained Filo Di Arianna, whose wins in the Highlander (G2) and King Edward (G2) carried him to champion turf male honors. Filo Di Arianna also finished second in the Woodbine Mile (G1), 1 1/2 lengths behind stablemate Win for the Money. Paramount Prince was named Canada's top older main-track male after victories in both the Seagram Cup (G2) and Dominion Day (G3).

Platinum Steel, the dam of Platinum Prince, was named Canada's outstanding broodmare of 2024. In addition to Platinum Prince she also produced Souper Supreme, who won both the Muskoka Stakes and the Victorian Queen Stakes at Woodbine in 2024.

Sahin Civaci, who started riding at Hastings in 2014 and moved to Woodbine in 2019, earned champion jockey honors. He won 170 times in Canada in 2024 including 17 stakes wins. Those included six at the graded level, including the King Edward with Filo di Arianna and the Eclipse (G2) with Palazzi.

Sofia Vives, who won outstanding apprentice honors in Canada for 2023, repeated the feat in 2024. She won the 2024 Star Shoot Stakes with Sabatini, and on July 20 she won both the Connaught Cup (G2) with Cruden Bay and the Woodbine Oaks with Kin's Concerto. She did these while still an apprentice rider, only moving up to journeyman in late August.

Gary Barber, owner of multiple stakes winner and King's Plate runner-up My Boy Prince, was named Canada's outstanding owner of 2024. Adena Springs was named outstanding breeder.

Roger Attfield, already a hall of fame trainer in Canada and the U.S. for a traning career that dates back to 1972, was awarded the E. P. Taylor Award of Merit. Emma-Jayne Wilson, who eclipsed Julie Krone in 2024 for most all-time purse earnings by a female jockey, earned a special Sovereign award.

Victor James, who works for trainer Josie Carroll, was named outstanding groom. Ian Dick, who works with horses at Buttigieg Training Centre, was named outstanding off-track worker.

The media Sovereign award for outstanding writing was awarded to Mike McIntyre, for his Winnipeg Free Press piece "Resolve and Reinvention at a Gallop." Honors for outstanding photograph went to Mary Jane Sibbitt for "Right Way/Wrong Way," published at JockeysCanada.com. Horse Racing Alberta earned the award for outstanding audio visual-digital broadcast for "The Women in Thoroughbred Racing," which was publshed at TheHorses.com.