Woodbine owner-breeder Sapara dies

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Prominent Canadian owner and breeder Jim Sapara died last Thursday, trainer Josie Carroll said. The trainer didn’t know his age or cause of death.

“I’ve trained for him for 18 years,” she said. “He’s got a pretty big history in the game.”

A successful businessman in western Canada, Sapara and his wife, Alice, initially started Winsong Farms as a hobby in 1975. Carroll and the Saparas teamed up to win their first Queen’s Plate with Edenwold in 2006.

The Saparas started Winsong Farms in their home province of Alberta but expanded into Kentucky in the late 1990s. Their main base of operation was in Kentucky until 2001, when they dispersed most of their breeding stock after a fire destroyed one of Jim Sapara’s manufacturing businesses in Alberta.

Sapara rebuilt the business and got back into horse racing shortly thereafter, purchasing Edenwold out of the select session of the 2004 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (Ontario Division) Canadian-bred yearling sale for $100,000. Edenwold would go on to earn the Sovereign Award as the champion 2-year-old male of 2005 before his victory in the 2006 Queen’s Plate.

Other stakes winners owned by the Saparas include Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes winner Springside, Grade 3 Delaware Oaks winner Brushed Halory, former Ontario sire Vibank, and Serena’s Tune, who was purchased out of the 1999 Keeneland July yearling sale for $1 million.