Keogh, Boulanger, Tepin head 2020 Canadian Hall of Fame class

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mike Keogh, jockey Gary Boulanger, builder Sue Leslie, and champions Tepin and Play the King are the 2020 Thoroughbred inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

A native of Epsom, England, Keogh won the 1999 Queen’s Plate with Woodcarver and the 2003 Canadian Triple Crown with the popular Wando. Perhaps his most important victory came when Langfuhr captured the 1997 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont, which was one of three Grade 1 victories for the Gustav Schickedanz homebred. Schickedanz, Keogh’s longtime client, died last June.

Keogh also trained the hard-knocking millionaire Mobil, Grade 2 Monmouth Oaks winner Kathie’s Colleen, and last year’s Grade 2 Nearctic victor City Boy. He has won 330 races, including 60 stakes, for earnings of $21.5 million.

“It’s a big honor, and I’m very happy about it,” Keogh said. “I was lucky enough to have trained some really nice horses. Winning my first Plate with Woodcarver on my mom’s birthday was really special. She passed away the following year. Kathie’s Colleen in the Monmouth Oaks. Winning with City Boy after losing Gus. That was a great day.”

Alberta-born Boulanger won multiple riding titles at Longacres and Calder from 1989-95. He captured the 2001 Queen’s Plate and Woodbine Oaks on Dancethruthedawn and took the Grade 3 Maple Leaf Stakes twice, most recently on Moonlit Beauty in 2013. Through 2019, he had won 3,623 races, including 232 stakes, for earnings of $80 million.

Boulanger ranked 12th in the 2019 Woodbine rider standings with 31 wins, which included stakes scores on Silent Poet in the Grade 2 Play the King, Giovanna Blues in the Flaming Page, and Federal Law in the Queenston. In 2017, he became the 33rd recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, which is bestowed to jockeys who have made significant contributions to Canadian racing.

Builder Sue Leslie has dedicated the better part of her life to racing, as an owner, trainer, and breeder in Ontario for nearly 40 years. Positions she has held, both past and current, include president of the HBPA of Ontario, president of Ontario Horse Racing Industry Alliance, director of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Foundation, director of LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society, as well as being a member of the Jockey Club of Canada and the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society.

:: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Leslie was involved in establishing Ontario Racing, with which she is currently a director. Her years of experience and knowledge have proven vital in programs and initiatives to sustain the industry, ranging from assistance with government negotiations following the cancellation of the racetrack slots program, to ensuring the viability of racing at Fort Erie. In 2011, she was honored with a special Sovereign Award for her extensive work in the industry.

The Mark Casse-trained Tepin (female horse category) beat the boys in both the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile and the 2016 Woodbine Mile. A trip across the pond in June 2016 resulted in a gutsy score in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. She was the Eclipse Award-winning turf female in 2015 and 2016.

The late bloomer Play the King (male horse category) was arguably the greatest Canadian sprinter of all time. He was voted Canada’s Horse of the Year in 1988, after ending up second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill. Coincidentally, Keogh worked closely with the gelding when he was trainer Roger Attfield’s assistant.

“He was a wonderful horse,” Keogh recalled. “I used to gallop him, so he had a special place in my heart.”

The Standardbred inductees are driver Paul MacDonell and trainer Ben Wallace, along with the horses Amour Angus, McWicked, and Rambling Willie.

Details about the 2020 induction ceremony will be announced in the coming weeks.