2009 Woodbine Oaks Day Results and Photos

The Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, Canada's equivalent to the George Woolf Award in California and the Mike Venezia Award in New York, is a lifetime achievement award for a jockey, Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or a regular rider here for more than 5 years, who has made significant contributions to the sport. The 2009 award went to Robert King, Canada's top apprentice jockey in 1983 and 1984 and won 4 consecutive Ontario meet titles. King won 1,349 races, 37 stakes races, and also saddled 29 winners as a trainer. Currently he is the National Secretary-Manager of the Jockeys' Benefit Association of Canada.

Accepting the trophy, he said, "I would like to thank the Gomez family and the Award committee for presenting me with this trophy, named in honor of Avelino Gomez, Canada's most colorful jockey. I would like to thank all my agents for their guidance and insight, and my fellow jockeys for years of camaraderie. Particularly, I would like to thank all the unsung heroes in horse racing: grooms, hotwalkers, exercise riders, vets, valets, blacksmiths, racing officials and management, who pour their lives into this great game making it all possible, for they are not duly recognized for their hard work and dedication."