The Avelino Gomez Memorial Award is a Canadian

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

honour given annually to a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

who is Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or a regular in the country for more than five years, who has made significant contributions to the sport. The honour is named for the late Cuban-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and American Hall of Fame jockey

Avelino Gomez Avelino Gomez (1928 – June 21, 1980) was a Cuban-born Hall of Fame jockey in American and Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Born in Havana, Gomez began a career as a jockey at the urging of a family member. He won his first race in Mexic ...

who died in 1980 of complications from injuries sustained in a racing accident. Avelino Gomez Memorial Award honourees receive a replica of the life-size statue of Gomez sculpted by Siggy Puchta that stands at

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...

. In 2004,

Francine Villeneuve Francine Alicia Villeneuve (born July 22, 1964) is a Canadian retired thoroughbred jockey and racing pioneer. She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "The Queen of Fort Erie" because of a long affiliation with the border oval. With 1,001 ...

became the first female recipient of the award.

Award winners

* 2022 :

Slade Callaghan Slade Callaghan (born August 21, 1970 in Bridgetown, Barbados) is a jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. Considered tall for a jockey at 5' 8", Callaghan competed in his native Barbados where his success led him to relocate in 1994 to a base at W ...

* 2021 :

Eurico Rosa da Silva Eurico Rosa da Silva (born June 29, 1975, in Buri, São Paulo, Brazil) is a retired Thoroughbred racing jockey who raced for five years in his native Brazil and another four years in Macau before coming to Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. ...

* 2020 : ''no award given'' * 2019 :

Frank Barroby Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

* 2018 :

Emma-Jayne Wilson Emma-Jayne Wilson (born September 1, 1981) is a Sovereign and Eclipse Award-winning jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. She began taking riding lessons at age nine, and after finishing high school in Brampton, she studied equine management at ...

* 2017 :

Gary Boulanger Gary Dale Boulanger (born November 19, 1967) is a Canadian Hall of Fame jockey and trainer who competed in his native Canada and the United States. Born in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada, Boulanger began his career in 1987 at Tampa Bay Downs ...

* 2016 :

Gary Stahlbaum Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Uni ...

* 2015 :

Quincy Welch Quincy may refer to: People *Quincy (name), including a list of people with the name Quincy * Quincy political family, including members of the family Places and jurisdictions France *Quincy, Cher, a commune in the Cher département * A hamlet ...

* 2014 :

Patrick Husbands Patrick Husbands (born May 22, 1973) is a Barbadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. The son of a jockey, he began riding as a young boy, turning professional in his home country where he rode successfully until emigrating to Toronto, Ontari ...

* 2013 :

Mickey Walls Mickey K. Walls (born June 1, 1974 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a retired Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who was a Champion in both the United States and Canada. Early life Mickey Walls grew up in Langley, British Columbia, the son of T ...

* 2012 :

Steven Bahen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

* 2011 : Emile Ramsammy * 2010 : Stewart Elliott * 2007 : George HoSang * 2006 :

John LeBlanc John Glenn LeBlanc (born January 21, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played 83 games in the National Hockey League with the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets. He scored 26 goals and 13 ass ...

* 2005 :

Sam Krasner Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional ...

* 2004 :

* 2003 : Robert Landry * 2002 :

Richard Dos Ramos Richard Anthony Dos Ramos (born September 10, 1962 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Canadian jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He grew up in Malton, a neighbourhood in Mississauga, Ontario, where his family emigrated when he was youn ...

* 2001 :

Chris Loseth Chris Loseth (born 1955 in Banff, Alberta) is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. At age six, Loseth's family moved to Fort Nelson, British Columbia then in the year before he graduated high school they resettled in Grand Forks. As a boy h ...

* 2000 : James McKnight * 1999 : David Clark * 1998 :

Irwin Driedger Irwin may refer to: Places ;United States * Irwin, California * Irwin, Idaho * Irwin, Illinois * Irwin, Iowa * Irwin, Nebraska * Irwin, Ohio * Irwin, Pennsylvania * Irwin, South Carolina * Irwin County, Georgia * Irwin Township, Venango County, ...

* 1997 :

Richard Grubb Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

* 2009 : Robert King * 2008 : Jack Lauzon * 1996 : David A. Gall * 1995 :

Don Seymour Donald J. Seymour (1961 – 26 June 2020) was a Canadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who is the only jockey in history to win two Canadian Triple Crowns. Born in Hamilton, Ontario and raised in Etobicoke, Ontario, Don Seymour began his ...

* 1994 : ''no award given'' * 1993 :

Larry Attard Larry Attard (born December 31, 1951 in Malta) is a retired Hall of Fame Champion jockey and current horse trainer in Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing. Born into a Maltese family who emigrated to Canada, Attard has three older brothers who bec ...

* 1992 :

Robin Platts Robin Platts (born c. 1949 in Leicester, England) is a Canadian thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He began his jockey career at age 16 and went on to become the winner of the 1979 Sovereign Award for Outstanding Jockey, a record f ...

* 1991 :

Hugo Dittfach Hugo Dittfach (20 September 1936 – 1 November 2021) was a Canadian jockey. Dittfach survived three years as a boy in a Russian concentration camp during World War II and went on to become a National Champion Thoroughbred racing jockey in Cana ...

* 1990 :

Lloyd Duffy Lloyd Duffy (born December 8, 1944) is a Canadian retired Champion jockey in Thoroughbred flat horse racing who uniquely is also a licensed driver of harness racing horses. As a teenager, Duff began attending harness racing events at a racetrack ...

* 1989 :

Jeffrey Fell Jeffrey J. Fell (born June 20, 1956, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) is a retired jockey and a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee who was also a successful rider in the United States. On June 17, 1978, Jeffrey Fell rode Tiller (horse), Til ...

* 1988 : Chris Rogers * 1987 :

Don MacBeth Donald MacBeth (August 29, 1949 – March 1, 1987) was a Canadian Hall of Fame jockey in North American Thoroughbred racing. Born in Red Deer, Alberta, Macbeth rode horses at Alberta racetracks before going to race in the United States. Among ho ...

* 1986 :

Sandy Hawley Desmond Sandford "Sandy" Hawley, (born April 16, 1949 in Oshawa, Ontario) is a Canadian Hall of Fame jockey. Sandy Hawley decided to be a jockey when he was a 17-year-old boy, hotwalking, grooming and excise horses at a Woodbine racetrack in To ...

* 1985 :

Johnny Longden John Eric "Johnny" Longden (February 14, 1907 – February 14, 2003) was an American Hall of Fame and National Champion jockey and a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. His father emigrated to Can ...

* 1984 :

Ron Turcotte Ronald Joseph Morel "Ronnie" Turcotte, (born July 22, 1941) is a retired Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. Career Turcotte began his career in Toronto as a ...

References

External links

The 2008 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award at Fort Erie Racetrack
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The 2009 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award at The Bloodhorse.com
Canadian jockeys Canadian sports trophies and awards Horse racing awards Horse racing in Canada