Courtney Ross put on a show, along with her first-call rider, Neville Stephenson, the last weekend of racing at Rocky Mountain Turf Club.

Courtney had five wins to pass veteran trainer, Nellie Pigeau, by one win during RMTC's fall meet. Pigeau seemed unbeatable heading into the final week, but Ross had everything going for her. Courtney is from Rose Valley, Saskatchewan, and grew up around horses all her life. She first went to Marquis Downs as a fifteen-year old and then by the time she was eighteen, she was training race horses at the track.

Now at the ripe old age of twenty-three, she has five years of training experience under her belt. Her primary client is Pink Cloud Racing, owned by Perry and Annette Pellerin, also from Saskatchewan. Pink Cloud also races horses in Phoenix, Minnesota and Winnipeg. Helping Courtney out was Saskatchewan jockey, Neville Stephenson, who was absolutely red hot the last weekend and actually just missed third leading rider by one win.

Trevor Simpson narrowly edged out Larris Allen for the leading rider award, while Blandford Stewart edged out Stephenson for third. The two-year-old Stakes race was a Courtney Ross exactor with, "Tucker Time", ridden by Stephenson, edging out Blandford Stewart aboard, "Lil Miss Mollie". Ross had an entry in the Amtote Derby and, "Spire", ridden by Blandford Stewart went gate-to-wire for the victory.

It was a very successful year at Rocky Mountain Turf Club with attendance and handle both on the rise. There were nine races a day the final weekend, with nearly full fields in every race. The future is bright for horse racing in Southern Alberta and everyone is already looking forward to May when we do it all again.