Canadian Hall of Fame: Samuel-Balaz, Frostad, and Dancethruthedawn of Sam-Son inducted

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sam-Son Farm will be front and center at this year’s Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame gala with the late Tammy Samuel-Balaz, trainer Mark Frostad, and Dancethruthedawn among the inductees.

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall Fame, a dual-breed facility, is located at Woodbine and inductees in five Thoroughbred and five Standardbred categories were announced on Tuesday afternoon at an on-site press conference.

The organization’s annual induction ceremonies and fund-raising dinner will be held at the nearby Mississauga Convention Centre on Aug. 18.
The 20 members of the selection committee determined the inductees after voting from a list of three candidates in each category put forward by the Hall of Fame’s nominating committee.

Samuel-Balaz, who was inducted in the builder’s category, took over as the president and general manager of Sam-Son Farm following the death of her father, Ernie Samuel, in 2000.

Sam-Son continued its success under the stewardship of Samuel-Balaz, earning five consecutive Sovereign Awards as Canada’s outstanding breeder from 2000 through 2004 and four Sovereigns as outstanding owner.

Samuel-Balaz also served in several industry positions as she was a director of the Woodbine Entertainment Group and a member of both the Jockey Club of Canada and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. She died in 2008, at age 47, of breast cancer.

Frostad, inducted in the jockey/trainer category, took over as the private trainer for Sam-Son in 1994 and has continued to be a mainstay in the operation while adding more outside clients in recent years.

His portfolio includes Sovereign Awards as outstanding trainer in 1997, 1999, and 2000 and his numerous champions include Canadian horses of the year Chief Bearhart, Quiet Resolve, and Soaring Free. All raced for Sam-Son and Quiet Resolve and Soaring Free were homebreds.

Dancethruthedawn, a Sam-Son Farm homebred who was trained by Frostad, was inducted in the female horse category.

By Mr. Prospector out of the Sam-Son superstar Dance Smartly, Dancethruthedawn was Canada’s champion 3-year-old filly in 2001 after putting together a Woodbine Oaks-Queen’s Plate double.

Campaigning in the United States the following year, Dancethruthedawn became a Grade 1 winner in Saratoga’s Go for Wand, She retired that fall with a record of seven wins, two seconds, and three thirds for earnings of $1,609,643 from 16 starts.

This year’s other Thoroughbred inductees were Touch Gold, male horse, and Square Angel, veteran horse.

Touch Gold, a Kentucky-bred son of Deputy Minister, raced at Woodbine as a 2-year-old for trainer Danny Vella but staked his claims to fame the following year while campaigning in the United States with David Hofmans.

His most memorable hour came in the 1997 Belmont, which he won by three-quarters of a length to thwart a triple crown bid by Silver Charm, and he recorded a second straight Grade 1 score in Monmouth’s Haskell.

Touch Gold retired in 1998 with a record of 6-3-1 and earnings of $1,679,907 from 15 starts.

Square Angel, a foal of 1970, was a stakes winner as a 2-year-old but really came into her own at 3, winning three stakes, including the Woodbine Oaks, en route to a divisional title in the pre-Sovereign Award era.

Her success continued in the breeding shed as the dam and granddam of numerous stakes winners, including the Canadian champion Kamar, who in turn produced Grade 1 stakes winner Gorgeous.

* Also announced were the additions of Lily A. Livingston and Thomas Burns, via the veterans committee.

Livingston played a revolutionary role for women in Canadian horseracing as an owner and breeder in the first three decades of 1900s. Burns was a champion jockey in the late 1800s and early 1900s.