Photo Credit: Evergreen Park/Dan Gorman

By Shane Clausing

horse person of the year

Evergreen Park GM Dan Gorman presented ACTRA Horse Person of the Year award

Oct 6, 2021 | 6:28 AM

Evergreen Park General Manager Dan Gorman received some surprising news earlier this week.

On Monday, the Alberta Community Thoroughbred Racing Association (ACTRA) named Gorman their Horse Person of the Year for 2021.

The Horse Person of the Year award is presented annually to someone the ACRTA feels has done the most for the sport of horse racing in the province.

Gorman says the award came as a shock to him, as he didn’t even know he was nominated for it.

“I’m honoured to receive it, but I’ll graciously do it on behalf of all of (the team at Evergreen Park),” he said. “There’s so many people that helped make our racing at Evergreen Park go well, it was a very big surprise, but I was flattered and honoured as well.”

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While Alberta had announced that all COVID-19 restrictions would be lifted by the summer, Gorman says there were still lots of things they had to put in place in order to get horse racing off the ground both this year and last.

“We managed to get a good number of horses, trainers, and owners. We were able to get some from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan this year. Our online wagering was very strong as well throughout Canada and even throughout the United States,” he said, adding much collaboration with Alberta Health Services was needed to keep their weekly events safe for everyone..

“We are very fortunate that it’s an outdoor sport, so it’s easy to control and enforce all of those safety protocols, while still allowing the sport to continue and work in the industry. We are just grateful to be one of the pieces to let Alberta horse racing grow.”

Gorman received a framed picture and plaque for his achievement from the ACRTA.

The ACRTA says Gorman has been heavily involved with the sport as a board member with Horse Racing Alberta and through his role as GM at Evergreen Park.