Kutz family gathers at Canterbury

Members of the extended family of Dean Kutz, including eight of the late rider's 11 siblings, were on hand to watch Dean's sister Connie Kutz present the trophy following the victory of Dimple Pinch in the stakes race named for the former Canterbury Park leading rider.

Mac Robertson, who minutes before watched his charge Dimple Pinch canter home with ease, handed the trophy back to Connie, explaining that his father, trainer Hugh Robertson, once had been Dean Kutz's jockey agent and that he wanted the family to have the trophy as a memento. Following a quick vote by the members of the Kutz family, the trophy was given to the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame, where it will be displayed along with a helmet that was worn by Dean during his riding days at Canterbury.

Kutz, who rode 2,800 winners during his career, was found to have throat cancer in 1999 but returned to riding in 2001 despite having had his larynx removed and having to use a mechanical voice box to speak. He was voted the George Woolf Award in 2001 and the Mike Venezia Award in 2002. Kutz, who died in 2004 at age 48, was the first jockey elected to the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame.