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For Immediate Release: January 3, 2013
Contact: Lynne Richmond
(609) 633-2954

(TRENTON) – New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher today announced the 2012 Governor’s Award for Horseperson of the Year and Secretary of Agriculture Awards for New Jersey Thoroughbred and Standardbred Horses of the Year.

The horseperson and horses were chosen by the New Jersey Equine Advisory Board.

Governor’s Trophy for New Jersey Horseperson of the Year:  Linda Toscano. Trainer of Standardbred Horse of the Year, Chapter Seven, Linda Toscano is one of harness racing’s most successful trainers, with 1,439 wins and $34 million in purses.  This year, she won a career best of $6.71 million.  Toscano, a Brooklyn-native, fell in love with horses as a child and got a summer job working at the stables at Roosevelt Raceway.  During her career, she has worked with veteran trainer Buddy Regan and Hall of Famers Buddy Gilmour and John Campbell.  The pinnacle of her career came in August when she became the first female trainer to win the prestigious Hambletonian with Jersey-bred Market Share.

New Jersey-bred Thoroughbred Horse of the Year: Javerre. Owned by Smith Farm & Stable and trained by Cal Lynch, Javerre was a winner of four of his seven starts this year.  He won his first three races of the year at Monmouth Park, quickly becoming one of the more talked about horses during the early portion of the 2012 Monmouth Park meet.  The son of Outflanker captured the $60,000 New Jersey Breeder’s Handicap on September 15 at Monmouth Park in his fifth start.  Bred in New Jersey by Gunsmith Stables, Javerre finished the year with $158,170 in earnings.  Javerre is the product of a New Jersey broodmare family bred by Gunsmith Stables that goes back to the multiple graded stakes winner, Avie’s Fancy.  Avie’s Fancy, the third dam of Javerre, earned $402,909 during her career.

New Jersey Standardbred Horse of the Year:  Chapter Seven.  The New Jersey-sired son of Windsong’s Legacy was bred in the Garden State by Richard Banca of Franklin Lakes.  The 4-year-old won eight of his 10 starts this year and tied the world record of 1:50.1 by winning the Nat Ray Invitational at the Meadowlands.  He also won the $600,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot. Chapter Seven is co-owned by Richard Gutnick, Southwind Farm and Jerry and Teresa Silva and was trained by Linda Toscano.  He earned $1.02 million in purses.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture will honor Javerre and Chapter Seven at the Equine Advisory Board’s 56th annual Breeders’ Luncheon on Sunday, January 27, 2013 at Charley’s Other Brother restaurant in Eastampton.  For tickets, contact Debra Moscatiello at 609-984-4389 or debra.moscatiello@ag.state.nj.us.

Also at the luncheon, Equestrian of the Year, Superior Achievement Awards, New Jersey Sire Stakes Awards, Standardbred Breeder & Owners Association of New Jersey Award for Breeder of the Year, Sara Dubinin Scholarship recipient and New Jersey Agricultural Achievement recipient will be announced.

The state’s equine industry is valued at $4 billion and generates $1.1 billion annually in positive impact to the state’s economy.  A Rutgers Equine Science Center study showed there are 7,200 equine facilities on 176,000 acres and 42,500 equine animals in New Jersey.