Sikura, Driedger top 2023 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame class

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Glenn Sikura, Irwin Driedger, Pink Lloyd, and Formal Gold are the 2023 inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on the Thoroughbred side.

Sikura will be inducted in the Thoroughbred builder category. The owner and operator of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm Canada, Sikura was a past president of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society. He has served as the chief steward of The Jockey Club of Canada since 2018.

As owner of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms Sales Agency, Sikura has sold 148 stakes horses that earned more than $80 million. In Kentucky, top horses sold by Sikura included Grade 1 Arlington Million victor Jambalaya and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Maryfield. As an owner, Sikura campaigned a host of stakes winners at Woodbine, including Serenading and Handpainted.

Sikura, 63, becomes the third member of his family to be inducted to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, having been preceded by his father, John Sikura Jr., and brother John G. Sikura.

Driedger was among the leading riders in Ontario in the 1980s and was voted the Sovereign Award for outstanding jockey in 1981. He retired from the saddle in 1990 to become the secretary-manager of the Jockeys’ Benefit Association of Canada. Under his direction, Canadian jockeys became the first in North America to wear safety vests.

Driedger also was instrumental in helping to install safety rails at Woodbine. From 2006 to 2018, he held the position of director of Thoroughbred racing surfaces at Woodbine. In 2019, he returned the Jockeys’ Benefit Association of Canada to again assume the role of secretary-manager, a position he held until his retirement in 2021.

Driedger, 66, has been battling cancer, and his induction is sure to be an emotional one.

Pink Lloyd was a five-time champion sprinter and the 2017 Canadian Horse of the Year. Trained by Robert Tiller, Pink Lloyd was retired to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society in 2021 after winning 29 of 37 starts, for earnings of nearly $2.5 million.

Formal Gold is an overdue inductee into the Thoroughbred veteran category. A multiple Grade 1 winner in the United States in the 1990s, Formal Gold is the fastest Canadian-bred ever in terms of Beyer Speed Figures, earning a 126 when he lost the 1997 Whitney at Saratoga by a nose.

The inductees on the Standardbred side are Lloyd McKibbin, Chris Christoforou Jr., Pure Ivory, and the great Bulldog Hanover.

A 20-person election committee for each breed determined the Hall of Fame inductees. The classes of 2022 and 2023 will be formally inducted Aug. 9.