Five to be inducted into Canadian Hall of Fame

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - L'Enjoleur and Jammed Lovely, who both won the Queen's Plate, and Natalma, who produced the incomparable Northern Dancer, are among this year's inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

The three horses, along with British Columbia-based jockey Chris Loseth and breeders Russ and Lois Bennett, will be honored Aug. 23 at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremonies at the nearby Mississauga Convention Centre.

The inductees were chosen from a list of four horses and four people presented by the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame's nominating committee to its 16-member election committee. Voters could make as many as three choices in each category and a 75 percent majority was required for induction.

L'Enjoleur, owned by Jean-Louis Levesque and trained by Yonnie Star, won the 1975 Queen's Plate and took home his second consecutive title as Canada's horse of the year.

Also voted Canada's champion 3-year-old male and champion 2-year-old male, L'Enjoleur's other stakes successes included the Prince of Wales, Quebec Derby, Manitoba Derby, Laurel Futurity, Coronation Futurity, Cup and Saucer, and Summer.

L'Enjoleur went on to enjoy a successful career at stud while based at Roy Kennedy's Gateway Farm in Florida, and was North America's leading freshman sire in 1979. He sired 33 stakes winners, including Canadian champions Avowal and Par Excellance.

Jammed Lovely, a filly owned by Conn Smythe and also trained by Starr, defeated males in the 1967 Queen's Plate after winning the Mazarine and Natalma as a 2-year-old.

In addition to Northern Dancer, who put Canadian racing on the world map as a racehorse and a stallion, Natalma produced stakes winners Native Victor, Regal Dancer, and Born A Lady.

Natalma also produced Arctic Dancer, who was the dam of La Prevoyante, an Eclipse Award winner and a Hall of Famer in both Canada and the United States.

Loseth earned Sovereign Awards as Canada's outstanding apprentice in 1976 and champion jockey in 1984. He retired in June 2005 with a career total of 3,665 victories and $32 million in purse money.

Russ and Lois Bennett of Flying Horse Farm in British Columbia have bred more than 50 stakes winners and won a record 20 breeding titles in that province.

Their homebred Traveling Victor was Canada's Horse of the Year in 1983 and Russ Bennett captured the Sovereign Award as outstanding breeder.

A sixth Thoroughbred inductee, Canadian Champ, enters the Hall via the veteran's committee. Canadian Champ won the Queen's Plate's first running at Woodbine, in 1956, and went on to be voted Canada's horse of the year.

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, located here at Woodbine, also includes Standardbred representatives. This year's honorees will be Bettors Delight, Cathedra, and breeder Jack McNiven.