2024 – Standardbred Builder
For Dr. Moira Gunn, the road to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame started in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1982 when she graduated from Veterinary studies.
She became a trailblazer in the Canadian horse racing industry. Her impressive resume and credentials are a testament to the valuable work she has done as a veterinarian, breeder, breeding specialist and industry ambassador.
Dr. Gunn graduated from The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1982. She followed that with a postgraduate internship at Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph and a two-year large animal surgical residency. Her first job in the horse racing industry was at Belmont Racetrack in New York, with Dr. Carl Juul Neilson from July 1986 to November 1987.
That was followed by a lengthy tenure at Armbro Farms in Inglewood, Ontario, for many decades the leading Standardbred breeding operation in Canada. Dr. Gunn began in 1988 as the farm veterinarian before becoming the Manager, Vice President, and finally President from 2000 to 2004.
Dr. Gunn’s many accomplishments include the successful engineering of an embryo transfer in 2000 from mare Keystone Trinidad to a surrogate 10 days after conception by invitro fertilization to Camluck. Pacing filly Invitro was the resulting foal and would go on to have an impressive race career that included multiple stakes victories, more than $2.3 million in earnings and induction into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2011.
Many industry organizations benefited from Dr. Gunn’s support through volunteering Including as Director of the E.P. Taylor Equine Research Fund, Co-Chair of Equine Guelph Advisory Council, President of the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario, Director/Vice President of Canadian Standardbred Horse Society with multiple committee appointments, and Director of Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association and Standardbred Canada. She was heavily involved in the amalgamation of the Canadian Standardbred Horse Society and the Canadian Trotting Association to form Standardbred Canada, serving as a Director and on various committees. In 2009, Dr. Gunn was honoured with the Chris Van Bussel Memorial Award which is awarded to persons of integrity who have served the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association (SBOA) and the industry.
Dr. Gunn and her late husband, Dr. Michael Colterjohn owned and operated Paradox Farm, breeding both Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds, including Sovereign Award and Queen’s Plate winner Lexie Lou, Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame 2019 Inductee.
After her time at Armbro Farms, Dr. Gunn operated a private equine practice specializing in stallion management, embryo transfer and freezing, as well as the reproductive challenges of hard to breed mares.