How Danny "Bear" Dion Got His Nickname - The Lighter Side of the Sovereigns

A big thank you to Peter Gross of Down The Stretch for providing Triple Dead Heat with the following photos from Friday night's Sovereign Awards:
Here is Woodbine's most energetic jock, Eurico Rosa Da Silva, with his wife Claudia.

Eurico's favourite football team is Corinthians. Perhaps next year we'll see Eurico celebrate his Woodbine wins football style.



Sandy Hawley and Jason Portuondo hosted and kept the show running smoothly.



Peter Gross (Down The Stretch) and Keith McCalmont (Triple Dead Heat) posing after a posh dinner of Asian Sea Bass. Peter refuses to stand for photos.



If you've read Sunday's post, then you'll have seen my proper interview with Danny "Bear" Dion of Bear Stables. Dion won four awards on the night and has his eye on the Kentucky Derby.



The following is an interview that didn't happen:

TDH: You have a lot of horses with the "Bear" name. There's Bear Now, Jimmymac Bear, Kentucky Bear...I've got a few ideas for your next crop.

BEAR: Okay, shoot.

TDH: Bear Naked?

BEAR: No.

TDH: Care Bear!

BEAR: No.

TDH: Fozzie Bear!

BEAR: It's been done...and they got in trouble and were forced to re-name the horse Bold Revenue.

TDH: Bear't Simpson?

BEAR: Not a chance.

TDH: Well, what about Triple Dead Heat Bear?

BEAR: Maybe...

TDH: Really?

BEAR: No. Definitely, not.

END.

Okay, so maybe that interview didn't happen, but here's a story that really did happen according to Dion's NTRA profile:

He named his racing stable after himself as he is nicknamed “Bear,” a moniker he picked up in Quebec. “When I was lifting the big logs out in the bush, I'd growl like a bear. To this day nobody calls me Danny,” he said … Many of his horses have names with "Bear," an animal he knows better than most persons. “Oh yeah, I've run into one before,” he said. “Back in Quebec, I was out in the bush growling like a bear, and guess I got this very large old guy pretty ticked off. He came right up to me growling back and attacked me. All I had was my saw and a little six-inch copper tree in my hand. I ran and that big bear started chasing me. I was very lucky that my boss was around and he had a rifle in the truck. So he shot him, we brought him back to camp, the Indians cooked him up, and I ate him!”

I know what I'm suggesting for dinner at next year's awards banquet!

Very big THANK YOU to the Down The Stretch crew for bringing me to the Sovereign Awards. From left to right, here is Editor, Peter Gross; Publishers, Tony and Mila Kalloo; and Associate Editor Eleanor LeBlanc who no doubt would have added more commas to this piece.



The Sovereign Awards edition of Down The Stretch will hit the shelves next week. The first 50 people to email me with their home address will receive a complimentary copy.