I'll Have Another, with jockey Mario Gutierrez in the irons (C), wins the 138th Kentucky Derby ahead of Bodemeister (R) and Dullahan (L) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, May 5, 2012. (REUTERS/John Gress)
TORONTO - It was a year to remember in Canadian horse racing, ultimately for one horrifically wrong reason.
Never mind that the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner was owned by a Windsor, Ont., millionaire, Paul Reddam.
Or that a young harness driver and budding star on the Ontario scene, Scott Zeron, had a breakthrough moment by winning the fabled Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio.
Or that there was a wide variety of accomplishments from both breeds on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.
Trumping all in 2013, of course, was a potentially fatal blow dealt to the sport and industry from an Ontario Liberal government duped by provincial lottery officials into believing the slots at racetracks program was anything but a massive, guaranteed win for both parties.
