Esteemed Friend

 Five wins and eight in the money finishes this year account for Esteemed Friend becoming a dual champion. Stakes wins in the William Almy and Rockingham Sprint earned the  Anthony Pyliotis owned and Dimitrios Synnefias trained five-year-old championships in Top Older Male and Sprinter divisions.

Tom Maior

The Monarch Farm color bearer shipped in from Florida in early July and has dominated turf racing since. With five wins in seven New England starts, including victories in The Sam McCracken and Bruce Smith Memorial stakes, Tom Maior was an easy pick for Top Male Grass Horse. The five-year-old Brazilian Bred is trained by John Rigattieri.

   Sword Princess

Dodie's beautiful  home bred gray mare was a dominating force in the Turf Mare division. Although she didn't win a stakes this year she put in a spectacular effort in The Rockingham Breeders Cup to finish second, ahead of Step With Style. Sword Princess tied a track record on the turf in her first start at The Rock in July. Sword Princess is owned by Dodie's father Joseph Duys.

African Princess

After winning The Mystery Jet Stakes easily in just her second start, African Princess came back to win the Helena Stakes against open company. Three wins and a second in six starts garnered Three-Year-Old Filly honors for the Timothy Kirby trained Mass Bred. African Princess is owned and bred by Tim's brother John and was ridden by Vernon Bush.

   Jini's Jet

The Jet was taking off last winter capturing five Mass Breeders races during the Suffolk winter and spring meets. Those wins coupled with an allowance victory in open company earned Jini's Jet the Top Mass Bred award for this year. Jini's Jet is owned by Anthony Spadea and Christine Wallace and is trained by Karl Grusmark. The four-year-old son of A.P.Jet has earned nearly $180,000 so far.

Tip The Scale

With eight wins and two seconds in twelve starts Tip The Scale was a model of consistency in 2002. A victory in The Highland Happening stakes was frosting on the cake for garnering honors in the Older Filly division. The five-year-old Wayne Marcoux trained filly was ridden to many of her victories by Jorge Vargas.

Sweet Samantha

An amazing 22 length victory at Saratoga in the slop, coupled with a easy win in The Concord Stakes earned this classy filly Two-Year-Old Filly honors and some time on the farm. Look forward to seeing her again next year.

Kimster

Four straight wins on the Turf, including an exciting victory when she caught Sword Princess on the soft Turf in the Kenneth Graf at The Rock, earned this three-year-old Preacherman filly a Special Achievement Award.

     Tejano Couture

Reaching the finish line first eleven times in 2002 is an amazing accomplishment  at any level of racing. The eight year old son of Tejano managed to do that this year in twenty-two starts. For his efforts Tejano Couture was awarded a special achievement award. Tejano Couture is trained by Michael Collins

Joe Hampshire

Joe is currently ranked seventh in the nation in wins. Coupled with riding titles at Suffolk Downs in the spring and Rockingham this summer Joe was once again a unanimous choice for The Eli Chiat Jockey Award again this year.

Chris McCarron

Chris, a Dorchester native, retired this year as the all-time money winning jockey in history. Although that record didn't stand for too long Chris' lifetime record and dedication to the sport earned him this year's Lou Smith Memorial Award. While Chris never rode regularly in New England, he was ever mindful of his roots. Whenever he returned he gave his faithful New England fans many thrills and is best remembered for his thrilling victory on Waquoit in the 1987 Massachusetts Handicap.

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