David Willmot, Chairman and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group and harness horse trainer Stew Firlotte are the people to be recognised for their careers and exceptional accomplishments.

The outstanding Standardbred trotters, Glorys Comet and Garland Lobell will also be inducted along with the accomplished Thoroughbreds Cool Reception and Norcliffe.

The Veteran's Committee unanimously elected Standardbred Armbro Omaha and Thoroughbred Anita's Son to complete the lineup of 2005 inductees.

David Willmot, owner of Kinghaven Farms, and the person considered to have had the greatest impact on horse racing in North America during the past 10 years will be recognised in the Builders' category.

Industry officials, representing both breeds, have lauded Willmot's influence in rescuing the financially troubled Ontario Jockey Club in the mid 1990s and making it the model for other racetracks.

The 55-Year-Old Chairman and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment and his father, D.G. Willmot, built Kinghaven Farms into one of Canada's premier breeding and racing stables.

Past champions include Izvestia, With Approval, Carotene, Alywow and Play The King. Willmot was the first Canadian to be president of Harness Tracks of America, and is co-owner of Standardbred champions Cabrini Hanover and Southwind Allaire.

Stew Firlotte, 64, and a native of Noranda, Quebec, has been involved in harness racing for over 30 years. He started out by grooming horses in 1970 and six years later opened his own public stable in Canada.

The initial $1,500 investment put up by him and his partners blossomed into a $4 million corporation including part ownership in the Triple Crown pacing champion, Ralph Hanover, a winner of over $1.8 million and a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Firlotte is best known for his mastery of one of the most challenging aspects of the sport, breaking and developing yearlings.

Firlotte campaigned the sensational filly Town Pro who retired at the end of 1992 with 40 lifetime wins and $1.2 million in earnings and was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year.

Some of Firlotte's other noteworthy performers over the years include Historic, His Mattjesty, Brees Brief, Strong Clan and Rare Review.

Garland Lobell, owned by the Garland Lobell Stable, had a respectable racing career, winning 14 races and over $345,000 but it was in the breeding shed where he truly excelled.

Following his racing career, the son of ABC Freight-Gamin Lobell distinguished himself as a top stallion in Quebec and the United States.

In Quebec, he helped to improve the trotting mare stock and produced many North American and European champions including double millionaire Cameron Hall, Hambo runner-up Angus Hall, World Trotting Derby champion Andover Hall and Conway Hall, North America's champion 2-Year-Old.

Angus Hall, now a stallion himself, led all Ontario sires last year with offspring netting $2.6 million in Ontario Sires Stakes events and continues his dominance this year.

To date, Garland Lobell's offspring have earned more than $46 million for an average of $75,770 per starter.

The outstanding accomplishments of Glorys Comet, marked by his longevity and success on the racetrack made him one of Canada's greatest trotters of all-time. His racing career spanned 10 years and included 56 wins and earnings of $2,057,695.

Trained by his owner-breeder George Peters, the gelded son of Balanced Image - Lou Macs Glory was the first Standardbred in Canadian history to trot a sub 1.54 mile, setting a Canadian trotting record of 1.53.4 at the time.

The multiple stakes winner and two-time O'Brien Award winner became the richest Canadian-bred Standardbred of all-time when he surpassed No Sex Please ($1,884,392) on October 23, 1999. On October 28, 2000, he became the first Canadian-bred and sired Standardbred to eclipse the $2 million marker in lifetime earnings.

Armbro Omaha inspired national pride with his superb performances in classic events.

When his racing career was replaced with a breeding career, he performed with the same impact he demonstrated on track and was a top sire, standing at Armstrong Bros. Farms in Inglewood, Ontario, until he retired in 1992.

The son of Airlines-Imperial Armbro dominated the 3-Year-Old ranks for owner Elgin Armstrong and trainer-driver Billy Haughton, winning 11 of 32 races and over $357,000 in earnings, collecting wins in the Little Brown Jug, the Messenger, the Adios and the Prix d',t, and was the first Standardbred to win five races worth $100,000.

As a sire, he left an indelible impact on Canadian pedigrees producing 588 winners from 884 foals with over $30 million in earnings, including 87 winners of $100,000 or more.

Norcliffe, an exceptionally talented racehorse during the 1970s at Woodbine with 14 victories and over $434,066 in earnings, added more lustre to his stature during an abbreviated but impressive stallion career that produced 33 stakes winners while standing at Gateway Farms, Hyllview and Crescent Farm.

Owned by Lt. Col. Charles Baker, trained by Roger Attfield and ridden by Jeff Fell, Norcliffe was Canada's Horse of the Year in 1976 following a tremendous season that included victories in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes.

He also won the richest races for Canadian-breds at ages two, three and four - the Coronation Futurity, Queen's Plate and Canadian Maturity.

Cool Reception, a son of Nearctic-Windy Answer is regarded as one of the top Canadian breds for his outstanding racing ability but more so for the courage he displayed in finishing second in the 1967 Belmont Stakes while running the last 200 yards of the race on a broken foreleg. Trained for much of his career by Hall of Famer Lou Cavalaris, he won seven races in a row including Canada's two richest events for two-year-olds, the Coronation Futurity and The Cup and Saucer Stakes.

Anita's Son, bred in Ireland but shipped to Canada as a weanling, was a winner of a record 16 stakes races on the Ontario Jockey Club circuit and finished second or third in nine other stakes for owner M.J. (Jim) Boylen's Lanson Farms in Malton, Ont. and Hall of Fame trainer Art Warner. He won races at various distances from six furlongs to 1 1/4 miles and competed on the dirt and the turf. The son of Krakatao and Anita was Canada's leading handicap horse in 1960 and 1961.

Hastings Park and Fraser Downs' veteran track announcer, Dan Jukich, will host the gala ceremony, commencing at 5:30 p.m. with a reception and silent auction. Dennis Hull, former NHL player with the Chicago Black Hawks and Canada's World Championship team is the featured guest speaker.

Courtesy Of Woodbine Entertainment