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Coady Photography
Coady Photography
Awards Banquet for IA HBPA and ITBOA The annual IA HBPA Awards Banquet held for the category winners of the 2012 racing meet was a huge success with an excellent turnout. The honored guest and keynote speaker for the banquet was Iowa Secretary 2012 Trainer of the Year: Chris Richard of Agriculture Bill From left, IA HBPA President Leroy Gessmann, Northey. Chris Richard and Secretary Bill Northey The awards banquet was once again held in combination with the ITBOA. This is the second year this has occurred and will continue this way for the foreseeable future. It was decided after the 2011 banquets for both organizations 2012 Appreciation Award Recipient: Scott Pope occurred less than From left, Scott Pope, IA HBPA President Leroy Gessmann and Secretary Bill Northey a week apart that a combination of the two would be easier for both groups and our representative members. The results have been a resounding success from all of the compliments that have been received following the banquet. 2012 Owner of the Year: Maggi Moss Maggi Moss From left, ITBOA President Deb Leech, IA HBPA President was the winner of Leroy Gessmann, Maggi Moss and Secretary Bill Northey Owner of the Year for both the IA HBPA and ITBOA. This is the second time Maggi has been awarded a combined award from both groups. Maggi has held the title of IA HBPA’s Owner of the Year for 10 years in a row. In 2012, her horses started 102 times, won 44 of those starts, finished second 27 times and third 15 times. Her stable’s earnings were more than $902,000, with nearly $500,000 of those earnings from Iowa-bred horses. Her Iowa-bred stakes winner He’s Not You accounted for $116,000 of that amount. The Appreciation Award for 2012 was presented to Scott Pope. He has put in countless hours of work for the IA HBPA, from doing the voiceover at the
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awards banquet to being a guest speaker at owners seminars. Scott’s talent in broadcasting and media has helped advance the racing industry in Iowa, and the IA HBPA was proud to present him with this year’s Appreciation Award. The 2012 Horse of the Year honors went to Alsvid, who started seven times during the year and won four of those starts, all of which were black-type. He won the Golden Circle and Prairie Mile Stakes at Prairie Meadows and then went on to win the David M. Vance Sprint and Remington Park Sprint Cup at Remington Park. In all, Alsvid had total earning in excess of $295,000 in 2012. The Claimer of the Year for 2012 is Veillit’, who loved to win at a distance. Her wins were from a mile to 1 ¼ miles. She was claimed three times at Prairie Meadows and is now owned by Joe Davis, who has since retired the mare to his farm. The 2012 Trainer of the Year went to Chris Richard. Chris began training in 2005 shortly after earning a master’s degree in equine nutrition and exercise physiology at Texas A&M University. Last year, he led the trainer standings with 231 starts, 76 wins, 46 seconds and 34 thirds. His stable earned $1,634,786 with a 33% win average. Once again congratulations to all IA HBPA award winners! Groom Elite 101 in Full Swing on Prairie Meadows Backside The Elite Program class Groom Elite 101 started strong this year with more than 20 people in attendance for the first couple of days. This year’s lineup of classes will be covered by farm manager Trista Vail, assistant trainer Hillary Hartman, equine nutrition consultant Kelly Graber B.Sc., P.A.S., trainer Betty Coatney, Dr. Stephanie White, farrier John Urich, trainer Thad Keller, trainer Dave Elemegreen and Dr. Keith Soring. This year it was decided to conduct a Groom Elite 101 class after a oneyear hiatus from it being offered on the Prairie Meadows backside. Last year, a follow-up to Basic Grooming 099 was offered that lasted for a total of four days with good participation, but students wanted more information that is available only in a 101 class. With that being the case, the IA HBPA opted to forgo the follow-up class to Basic Grooming 099 in 2012. The IA HBPA will now offer Basic Grooming 099 prior to the meet and either a GE 101 or GE 201 class for grooms during the running of the Prairie Meadows meet. At this time, the IA HBPA is considering holding a GE 201 class for 2014, as there are a number of individuals who have already expressed interest in the class being offered for next summer. The continued success of The Elite Program at Prairie Meadows is not in doubt as there are many grooms who want to learn more about the Thoroughbreds that they are charged with caring for on a daily basis. The IA HBPA thanks all the above mentioned individuals who will be teaching the material in the Groom Elite class. The IA HBPA also thanks Dr. Reid McLellan for his creation of The Elite Program and all the classes available through this outstanding husbandry educational curriculum. Newly Created IA-MN Challenge Races Off to a Steady Start The newly created restricted races for Iowa- and Minnesota-breds, called IA-MN Challenge Races, are being well-received at the beginning of the meet here at Prairie Meadows. This program was created as a result of the HBPAs at both Prairie Meadows and Canterbury Park working with their respective tracks and breed organizations. The goal of the discussions was to create a way to help foster the breeds in both states by offering more racing opportunities in restricted company outside of the individual states, thus resulting in the creation of the Challenge Races. The Challenge Races will be run at Prairie Meadows only when Canterbury is not running and then at Canterbury once Prairie Meadows is done for the year. www.nationalhbpa.com
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