Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Managing Director Linda Rainey / Terra Farm’s Mike Romeo / Woodbine Apprentice Jockey Rachel Slevinsky

Ann and  Larry  interview Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Managing Director Linda Rainey, who discusses the Induction Ceremony to be held  on August 9th for the Classes of 2022 and 2023 and outlines briefly who the Inductees are. She also talks about one of the 2023 members Irwin Driedger, who unfortunately passed away in May and how they will be doing something special for him posthumously on August 9th to celebrate his induction. Linda also describes the Hall of Fame which is located at Woodbine and why people should visit it if they have the opportunity and also talks about the voting process in order to have someone elected to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and how listeners can order tickets to this years Induction Ceremony. She also discusses the deadlines for voting for the Class of 2024. Terra Farm’s Mike Romeo, who is a third generation member of the Romeo family who have bred and raced Thoroughbreds at Woodbine for over 35 years and Mike discusses how the family is also involved in another form of ‘horsepower’,  that being the three automobile dealerships that they own in Vaughan and Brampton. He also talks about some of the many horses Terra has been involved with and in particular the story behind Queen’s Plate winner Big Red Mike, who the family raced and bred. He also  discusses how Terra Farm was awarded the initial  ‘Owners Spotlight’, at Woodbine  and talks about the history behind their three automobile dealerships and a horse growing up that helped him to become even more attracted to the sport of horse racing. Woodbine Apprentice  Jockey Rachel Slevinsky, who talks first about how she is a graduate of the Old’s College Professional Racetrack Exercise Rider Program and why she was so attracted to horses growing up. She also discusses how she was riding at Century Mile in Alberta and why she made the decision to move to Ontario and try to establish herself at Woodbine and what it felt like winning her first race at the Toronto track. She also discusses whether she has any goals moving forward, while riding here in Ontario and if there were any people growing up that were influential in her riding career. In our  feature, ‘In Case You Missed It’ A Look At The Way It Was In Horse Racing News, Larry  discusses todays stellar card at Woodbine for their Canada Day Racing Festival that includes five Graded stakes races and in particular, the $200,000 Grade 2 Nassau Stakes, which features reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Moira as one of the projected starters. Larry also  provides  his ‘Ponies Picks of the Day’ selections for several North American Racetracks today. 

Key Points: 

Linda discusses the August 9th Induction Ceremony for the Classes of 2022 and 2023 and outlines the Inductees and mentions  the reason why the two years have been combined once  again into one ceremony this year. Linda also mentions the fact that 2023 Inductee Irwin Driedger will be inducted posthumously and the fact that there will be many of his  family members present for the Ceremony itself. Linda also discusses the fact that  the actual Hall of Fame is at Woodbine and how that decision was made and describes some of the exhibits and then explains the process of nominating someone to the Hall. Linda also discusses how people can purchase tickes for the August 9th Induction Ceremony and what the event entails and then mentions some of the deadlines for nomination for the Class of 2024.

Mike , initially talks about the history of Terra Farms and how it orginally  began with his Grandfather and how he is a third generation participant in the horse racing industry. He also discusses how the Romeo Family is also involved in another form of ‘horsepower’ that being the auto industry with three dealerships in Brampton and Vaughan and their history and  also talks about some of the horses that Terra Farm has bred and raced. Mike mentions the horse Big Red Mike, who won the Queen’s Plate for Terra and the special siginificance in the horses name and also discusses how fulfilling winning the initial ‘Owners Spotlight’ award at Woodbine was. He also talks about a significant horse that when he was growing up helped him to become more  attracted to  horse racing.

Rachel initially talks about how she is a graduate of the Old’s College Professional Racetrack Exercise Program and why she chose this program initially . She also discusses the fact tha she was always in love with horses growing up and the reason why she packed up and moved from Alberta to ride full time  at Woodbine. She also talks about winning her first race at Woodbine and what it was like when she made her first start as a rider there. She also talks about some of the major differences beween riding at Century Mile in Alberta and here at Woodbine and during her riding career to date, who has been her major supporter. She also mentions some goals that she has as she continues to further her career  at Woodbine.