It really came down to two distinct seasons as far as the jockeys with the Rocky Mountain Turf Club were concerned in 2009.

The spring belonged to Nate Smith. The youthful-looking father of two booted home an impressive 40 winners from May through June and then headed north to Grande Prairie. His luck ran out on the northern track however. He took a spill early in the July meet, fracturing his collarbone, an injury that still bothered him come September and a return to Whoop-Up Downs in Lethbridge.

That's when Brooke Mellish stepped forward. Brooke was in a tight battle with veteran Scott Sterr for the fall meet honours until early October when she turned on the afterburners and blasted into a large lead at the close of racing Oct. 25. She brought in 32 winners in the fall, a meet which saw two days canceled due to bad weather. Brooke wound up with 25 seconds and 18 thirds this fall and was 10 wins ahead of her nearest rival, Sean P. Evans and Sterr, who rode three winners the closing weekend, including Casino High in the $76,750 Alberta Bred Quarter Horse Futurity. Overall, including Quarter Horses, thoroughbreds and Paints, Smith came out on top with 60 victories, just edging out the fast-charging Mellish with 56 wins in the spring and fall combined. Nate was in the money 63% of the time - 30% of the time he rode the winner - with 40 seconds and 28 third place finishes. He also led in total purse earnings at $329,801.

Scott Sterr wound up third overall with 46 wins while Kym Espy had 34 and Sean Evans finished with 23 victories. Believe it or not, 26 different riders came out of the gate for the RMTC in 2009, but suspensions, injuries and riders brought in for just one or two races cut that figure to about 16 steady riders.

Ask any trainer and they'll tell you the jockey is only as good as his horse and in 2009, 121 different trainers supplied mounts for the jockeys at the RMTC. Trainers ranged from seasoned veterans like Stan Marks and Phil Wiest, and some former chuckwagon drivers, Norm Cuthbertson and Dennis Dorchester, to former jockeys like Calvin Strandquist, Elije Bourne, Ivan Clark, Terri Landaker and Angelle Carter, to name just a few.

In the end it was Tom Rycroft, who had a great fall meet, coming through as the number one trainer. He sent 105 horses to the starting gate, won 22, was second 18 times and third 14 times for a total purse intake of $90,155. Amanda Smith was second with 17 wins - in just 36 starts for a 47% winning average. She was in the money 72% of the time. Stan Webb was the top purse earner, at $123,132 and was third overall in wins with 17. Former leading trainer Pete Dubois was fourth with 15 wins while Cuthbertson, Marks, Ross Brigden and John Harris all had 14 wins each. Though they finished 25th in the overall standings, with six wins in 20 starts, Ed and Mary Kyler were second in total purse money with $104,323 - a big part of that came with their win in the Quarter Horse Futurity.

If you bet Mistress Bell to finish first every time out you would never have lost. The filly went to the post five times and won them all. There were 200 horses with the RMTC with at least two starts, and three of them Freedoms Calling, Opa Behr and Sweep's Cry were all four and one. Two horses, Shadow Rush and Six Pack of Corona, both went to the gate four times each and won all four of their races.

A guy needs these stats at the start of the season, not the end!

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