One prolific broodmare was all it took for small Ontario Thoroughbred breeder Ericka Rusnak to earn $114,427 in awards in 2024. Both that mare, Platinum Steel, and the money, has been a godsend.
Rusnak is one of many Ontario breeders that said the award money, which is part of Ontario Racing’s Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP), is used to reinvest in both their businesses and the Ontario economy. At a time when Ontarians are more conscious than ever about supporting Ontario businesses, the result is a churn that produces economic activity far in excess of the total value of the rewards, which in 2024 was nearly $6.4 million.
Standardbred breeders also reported that the
rewards they receive are put right back into the economy, making the entire initiative a benefit to the province of much more than the total investment of some $9 million.
In Rusnak’s case, she said the breeders’ awards she earned have specifically gone toward, “stud fees, veterinary expenses, the feed company, insurance. Equine insurance is very costly.
“Usually, I just pay off my debt. That's the first thing, of course, and just being able to breed to better stallions. The expenses to raise a horse are very high. I am fortunate that I had two really exceptional years that did help me get out of debt. Unfortunately, I had a lot of vet bills the last two years as well, unforeseen vet bills like colic surgery and a foal that had to go to [the Ontario Veterinary College hospital in] Guelph, as well. I would have had to take out a loan to be able to afford that otherwise.”
In the last two years combined, Rusnak has received nearly $225,000 in awards. Her 2024 awards of $114,427 – which ranked eighth overall – all came from the success of three of Platinum Steel’s offspring: 2023 King’s Plate winner Paramount Prince (
shown / Michael Burns photo), his brother Its Time to Shine and their sister Souper Supreme.
“She’s incredible,” Rusnak said of Platinum Steel. “I am very fortunate.”
Rusnak, the manager of Glen Sikura’s Hill ‘N’ Dale Farms in King City, ON, is also slowly growing her own operation, based in Stouffville, ON. She now has three broodmares and, for the first time in many years has kept a 2-year-old to race. That horse is Going Platinum, a daughter of Platinum Steel in training with Lorne Richards. Rusnak said she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the awards.
“Training a horse and sending it to the racetrack, the breeders’ awards are going to be gone,” she said.
DI GIULIO, JR. PUTS 100% OF THE MONEY BACK IN THE BUSINESS
Owner / breeder Frank Di Giulio, Jr. of Toronto said he, “can’t stress enough how important the breeders’ awards are to breeders, because it's another form of income.
“I take 100% of the money and put it back in the business. I've already pre-spent the money. So, it's a matter of trying to pay off a line of credit that was used to pay expenses. I've invested it before I even earned it, to be honest.”
In 2024, Di Giulio, Jr. ranked second in breeders’ awards with $177,604. He said most of the money came from Patches O’Houlihan, winner of three Graded Stakes in 2024, including the Nearctic Stakes (Grade 2) at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto.
“[Patches O’Houlihan is] the one that is carrying the load in more ways than one,” Di Giulio, Jr. said. “I don't take any of [the awards money] out. It's all just gets recycled. So, whether it's pre-spent or post-spent, it just gets recycled. So, for anyone thinking, ‘Is it good for the business?’ It absolutely is. And I think in most people's cases, it just gets reinvested in various ways, board bills, vet bills, trainer bills, stud fees, whatever it takes to run a horse stable, racing or breeding, and it's mostly in Ontario.
“[Awards] help grow the business and help keep people in business and maybe encourage people to come into the business because they see that they have a reasonable chance of recouping [their investment].
“And, it's merit based. It's not a handout. You have to breed a good horse. You have to breed a horse that's good enough to win races. Otherwise, you're not eligible to win the breeders’ awards. You have to earn them.
“It's one of the reasons you would foal a horse in Ontario, for sure, as opposed to someone else’s program.”
Bottom line, Di Giulio Jr. said encouraging the breeding of horses in Ontario helps keep the entire industry going.
“Without breeders, there's no horses, and without horses, there's no racing,” Di Giulio Jr. said.
LANDRY: BREEDERS’ AWARDS SUPPORT RURAL ONTARIO COMMUNITIES
Rob Landry, the farm manager for Chiefswood Stables Ltd., said the breeders’ awards the farm receives are spread through several communities. In 2024, Chiefswood ranked first in awards with $229,049.
“We have our own training centre,” Landry said. “We have our broodmare farm… [and] the costs of maintaining those facilities is very high. It’s lumber to fix the fences that comes from the local lumber yards, and it’s the gas stations. We’re supporting them… That money is all invested back into the business.
“Our broodmare farm is in Schomberg, and then we have the training center in Loretto. So, it's not just one town. You’ve got Loretto, Alliston, Simcoe, they're all supported… It’s the local feed mills and all that.”
Landry said the entire Chiefswood team takes pride in ranking first in awards, because, “it means you had a great year.
“The other thing is, we breed to race. It’s not like we're commercial breeders that sell the horses… They're all bred by ourselves, and they're all raised by ourselves. So that makes it that much better.”
Landry said breeders’ awards are, “great for Ontario. I think they really help keep a lot of people in the game… Our horse industry employs a lot of people.”
The most recent numbers show that some 30,000 people are employed in Ontario’s horse racing industry, with the number of full-time equivalent jobs at about 23,000.
ANDERSON SAYS AWARDS CREATE JOBS
David Anderson operates Anderson Farms in St. Thomas, ON. He is also an Ontario Racing director and chair of the TIP Committee that oversees breeders’ awards and other programs to improve the breed.
He said breeders’ awards, “create jobs in rural Ontario… I have my own farm, and all of my foals are raised at my farm. All of this money goes to supporting my farm and the local economy.”
Anderson Farms ranked fifth in 2024 breeders’ awards with $131,276.
“We're all waiting at the at the mailbox on the 15th of every month for our cheques,” Anderson said. “Whether it pays a feed bill or gas bill or buys a load of hay, it's beneficial.”
That’s especially true given a significant rise in inflation.
“Any help that we can get to sustain all of these rising costs that we're all facing helps,” Anderson said.
2025 BREEDERS AWARDS DETAILS
Ontario
Thoroughbred breeders’ awards are budgeted to be $5.87 million of the total 2025 TIP budget of $15.3 million. The amount budgeted for awards is down $490,000 from 2024, with the reduction coming from a change in the amount of breeders' awards allocated to claiming races. In 2025, awards will only be paid to the winning breeder in $25,000 claiming races and below.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that most of the TIP budget comes from Home Market Area (HMA) wagering, which declined by 6.3 per cent in the previous year. An increase in HMA wagering would also increase the amount available in breeders’ awards.
Awards are paid to the breeder of record – whether individual, partnership, syndicate or corporation – at the time of foaling of registered Ontario Breds and Ontario Sired horses.
While the amount in the awards program is down for this year, as Ontario breeders told us, the awards program remains significant and continues to provide a serious incentive for them to reinvest that money in the Ontario economy.
Some of the highlights of this year’s Thoroughbred awards program include total:
- Ontario Breeders Awards of $4.75 million.
- Stallion Awards of $320,000.
- Awards of $250,000 for the performance of Ontario Bred horses in Graded and Group stakes outside of Ontario.
Also, the popular
Mare Purchase Program will return in 2025. The current budget allocation is $400,000, but that number could change if HMA wagering exceeds expectations.
“The mare purchase program has been the most successful single program that TIP has ever had,” Anderson said. “The success stories speak for themselves, but it's allowed breeders, both big and small, to participate. I know very well that 90% of the buyers in that program would not have bought if that program wasn't there.”
In fact, Rusnak wouldn’t own Platinum Steel without the Mare Purchase Program. She first spotted the mare at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale in Kentucky. Rusnak purchased Platinum Steel from the sale for $25,000 USD and has said she was at the absolute limit of her budget even with the rebate funds from the Mare Purchase Program included. The program returns half of the purchase price in Canadian dollars for any in-foal mare that is brought to Ontario.
“I like to think that at the sale [Platinum Steel] picked me just as much as I picked her that day, because it was just out in the back ring that I saw her,” Rusnak said. “She’s the reason that I've been able to achieve what I have, just because of her and because of the [awards] program.”
Top 10 Ontario Thoroughbred Breeders Award recipients in 2024
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Chiefswood Stables Ltd. – $229,049*
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Frank Di Giulio Jr. – $177,604
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Adena Springs – $154,111
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Charles Fipke – $135,990
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Anderson Farms Ont. Inc. – $131,276
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Mark Dodson – $117,466
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Howard Walton – $116,613
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Ericka Rusnak – $114,427
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Tall Oaks Farm – $112,252
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Paul Buttigieg – $100,398
*includes awards from the Breeders Stakes and the Woodbine Oaks
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