Day, Stavro among inductees

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Lauries Dancer, a Canadian champion who also made her mark racing south of the border, and Bold Ruckus, whose reputation stems mainly from the breeding shed, are among Thoroughbred racing's 2006 inductees to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday.

Jim Day, a four-time Sovereign Award winner as Canada's outstanding trainer, and the late Steve Stavro, a prominent owner, breeder, and industry representative, also were chosen by the Thoroughbred division's election committee.

The 16 members of the election committee were entitled to vote for a maximum of six nominees, three from a list of horses and three from a list of people, with a 75 percent majority required for induction.

The inductees will be honored at the Canadian Hall of Fame Awards ceremony on Aug. 24 at the nearby Mississauga Convention Centre.

Lauries Dancer was Canada's Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly in 1971 after winning the Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga, the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks, and the Canadian Oaks at Woodbine.

Owned by the late Helen Stollery and trained by the late Jim Bentley, Lauries Dancer won 13 of 35 career starts and was in the money 25 times.

Bold Ruckus was a stakes winner whose forte was speed.

Retired at age 20 in 1980, Bold Ruckus was Canada's leading sire from 1990 through 1999. His offspring included Grade 1 stakes winner Beau Genius and Canadian champions King Corrie, King Ruckus, and Bold Ruritana.

Bold Ruckus sired a total of 62 stakes winners and the dams of 54 stakes winners.

Day was the Sovereign Award-winning trainer in 1979, 1985, 1988, and 1991 as private trainer for Sam-Son Farm before opening a public stable in 1994.

Day trained four Canadian horses of the year, including Dance Smartly, who won the Breeders' Cup Distaff, the Canadian Triple Crown, and an Eclipse Award as outstanding 3-year-old filly in 1991. Day trained a second Eclipse Award winner in Sky Classic, the 1992 male turf champion.

He also trained 1995 Canadian Horse of the Year Peaks and Valleys and 2003 champion 3-year-old filly Too Late Now. Day. 59, remains active at Woodbine.

Stavro, who died in late April at age 78, raced more than 50 stakes winners, including Canada's 1992 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old Benburb and 1999 Horse of the Year Thornfield.

Racing and breeding under his nom du course Knob Hill Stable, Stavro also won individual awards in both of those categories in 1992.

Stavro also served on the board of trustees at Woodbine and was a member of The Jockey Club of Canada.

Another new member of the Thoroughbred side of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame is trainer David C. Cross Jr., 71, who sent out Sunny's Halo to win the 1983 Kentucky Derby for the late owner/breeder D.J. "Pud" Foster.

Cross, who was inducted by the organization's 12-member veterans committee, returned to Woodbine this year with a small stable and remains the only Canadian-born trainer to saddle a Kentucky Derby winner bred and owned in Canada.

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, a dual-breed facility located here at Woodbine, also announced the induction of six new Standardbred members.

Armbro Feather, As Promised, Run the Table, and driver/trainers Doug Brown and Jacques Hebert were elected. Armbro Emerson was inducted by the veterans committee.