The streak ends at 25 for harness racing sensation St. Elmo Hero, who suffered his first career loss in a nail-biting photo finish at Woodbine Racecourse in Toronto last Saturday night.

The 4-year-old Indiana-bred gelding, who had aim on Bret Hanover’s record of 35 straight victories, was bidding for his 26th consecutive win in the $45,000 Open Pace at Woodbine.

St. Elmo Hero took the lead at the break and led the field to the half-mile pole, where he was tackled by Up Front Hoosierboy, who pressed him through three-quarters of a mile in 1:23.4.

The two horses engaged in a furious stretch battle, dueling head and head for the lead, but Art Professor came flying on the outside to nail Elmo at the wire. Art Professor, who ran the final quarter in 26.3, finished a nose in front of St. Elmo Hero, with Up Front Hoosierboy another nose back in third.

After the race it was discovered that St. Elmo Hero lost a shoe in the early stages of the race, and a “broken equipment” notation was added to his running line on the official racing chart by the Ontario Racing Commission.

TLAER Course Next Week

In the wake of last weekend’s devastating tornado, which killed 12 horses at a farm in Lee County, jittery horse owners might benefit from one of two training courses being offered by the Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue (TLAER) next week.

The Awareness Level Course, which is geared toward a general student group (owners, veterinarians, transporters, rescue groups), will be held in two sessions (April 25-26 and April 27-28), both at the North Chatham Volunteer Fire Department, in Pittsboro. No previous equine or livestock experience is required, but students must attend one day of each session (a total of 16 hours of training) to obtain certification.

The Operations Level Course is structured toward a specialized group (technical rescue teams, emergency service groups, veterinarians, etc.) and will offer more advanced/technical training. The course will be held April 29-May 1 at the Emergency Services Training Center at Central Carolina Community College, in Sanford. Students are required to attend all three days (24 hours of training) for certification.

Both courses are free to North Carolina Emergency Services workers (fire/rescue, EMS, law enforcement, animal control officers), and only $65 for civilians and out-of-state emergency services personnel.

To register for courses, or to obtain more information about either course, visit the website www.TLAER.org or contact Tori Miller at (910) 494-8210 or NCTLAER@aol.com.

O’Connor Recommended

The Eventing Eligible Athlete Committee and the Eventing High Performance Committee have unanimously recommended Olympic gold medalist David O’Connor to lead the U.S. Eventing team upon the retirement of Capt. Mark Phillips in 2013.

The recommendation will now be handed to the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) High Performance Working Group before being presented to the USEF Executive Committee. Nine applications were received for the Chef D’Equipe/Technical Advisor position; O’Connor and 2004 gold medalist Leslie Law were the two finalists.

Sandhills Spring Classic

Taking Entries

Entries are now being taken for the May 19-22 Sandhills Spring Classic hunter/jumper show at the Carolina Horse Park. Highlights of this USEF “A” rated event include the $2,500 National Hunter Derby, the $1,000 Junior/Amateur Owner Hunter Classic, the $500 Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic, and the $500 Pony Hunter Classic.

For more information, contact the show office at (910) 875-2074 or visit the park’s website at www.carolinahorsepark.com

Contact Stephanie Diaz at MediaPlan88@aol.com.