Voting by the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Thoroughbred and Standardbred election committees has been tallied and the CHRHF Class of 2024 is now confirmed.
Previously, the board of the CHRHF agreed the class of 2024 would be comprised of six inductees per breed and was also provided the option for a nomination committee to use only five categories, with two inductees selected in one category, in order to meet a total of six inductees per breed. The 20-person election committee for each breed voted on the list of finalists in the selected categories. The following people and horses are named to the CHRHF class of 2024, which will be formally inducted in a ceremony Aug. 7
Details about the induction ceremony, including ticket information, will be announced in early May. For additional information, contact admin@horseracinghalloffame.com.
In addition to a group of Standardbred inductees, Dr. Moira Gunn, Sylvain Filion, Ed Tracey, Bee A Magician, Dr. Ian Moore, and Ross “Cowboy” Curran, its Thoroughbred class of 2024 includes:
Glen Todd—Builder
Born Dec. 20, 1946, in British Columbia, the late Glen Todd began training horses at Hastings in the early 1970s and did so until 1985. In 2011, he won the Sovereign Award in a tie with Donver Stables for Canada’s outstanding owner. Throughout his life, he owned hundreds of racehorses. Behind the racing headlines, Todd worked tirelessly to promote and improve the British Columbia racing industry.
Starship Jubilee—Female Horse
Throughout her career Starship Jubilee was one of the top race mares in North America, despite her $6,500 yearling purchase price. The filly’s honors and accomplishments were numerous, including being named the 2019 Canadian Horse of the Year and the 2017, 2018, and 2019 champion female turf horse in Canada. She is the only horse ever to win the both E. P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) and the Woodbine Mile (G1T), winning in 2019 and 2020, respectively, the latter of which saw her defeat male horses. Starship Jubilee was also highly successful in the United States.
Starship Jubilee wins the 2020 Woodbine Mile at Woodbine
Patrick Husbands—Jockey
Patrick Husbands became one of the most popular and productive jockeys in Canadian racing history during his 30-plus years riding at Woodbine. Before emigrating to Canada in 1994 from his native Barbados, Husbands had already enjoyed considerable success in his country of birth as a champion rider and the youngest jockey to win the prestigious Barbados Gold Cup. He went on to capture eight Sovereign Awards as Canada’s champion jockey from 1999-2014. Throughout his spectacular career, Husbands has won 3,630 times, with his mounts earning US$178,477,012 through the end of 2023.
Channel Maker—Male Horse
Bred in Ontario by Ivan Dalos, Channel Maker became a fan favorite during his eight seasons of racing that began in 2016 in Ontario under the tutelage of trainer Danny Vella, also an inductee of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2024. Later trained by Bill Mott, Channel Maker was owned at various times throughout his career by a combination of ownership interests. He is the third-richest Canadian-bred racehorse of all time, earning more than $3.9 million. He raced an incredible eight years, from age 2-9, and set the record for the most Breeders’ Cup starts by any single horse with six starts. He won the 2017 Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion 3-year-old colt. In 2020, the durable gelding won the Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) to garner an Eclipse Award winner as champion turf male. Following his retirement from racing in 2023, Channel Maker was donated by his connections to Old Friends in Kentucky, where he now resides.
Danny Vella—Trainer
Conditioner Danny Vella was twice named Sovereign Award outstanding trainer (1994 and 1995) and has scored 135 career stakes wins. He won the coveted Queen’s Plate twice in his career, in 1994 with Basqueian and in 2012 with Strait of Dover . Vella began his winning ways in 1985 but his breakthrough came in 1991 when he started training for the stable of Frank Stronach. Vella’s statistics during a training career that concluded in 2022 include 869 wins from 5,740 starts and stable earnings of $39,438,727.
Richard Grubb—Veteran
Raised in Ridgeway, Ontario, veteran category inductee Richard Grubb began his riding career in 1966. At the age of 16, he won the first race he ever rode as a professional, followed by 1,606 more career trips to the winners’ circle, before concluding his riding career in 1989. In 1967 he was Canada’s leading jockey with 230 victories. That same year he won seven straight races on an eight-race card, a feat never duplicated. During his career, Grubb won more than 100 major races and was presented with the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award in 1997. Following his retirement from racing in 1989, he became a senior steward with the Ontario Racing Commission, a position in which he served for 24 years.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
