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ETHAN – Marlene Colvin shares her Ethan farm with Heliskier, a lone horse with a history of knee problems who is enjoying retirement.

But as a two-time champion sprinter and champion 3-year-old colt with nine career wins, two consecutive Horse of the Year wins and $279,000 in career winnings, thoroughbred Heliskier is not the typical small-farm horse, and on Saturday, he’ll be inducted into the Canterbury Park Hall of Fame.

Now 80 years old, Colvin is excited to make the trip to Shakopee, Minnesota, for the induction ceremony.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” she said. “I’ve got half the family coming along.”

Heliskier’s name came from Colvin’s desire to name a horse in honor of her nephew, William Hemminger, a veterinarian with the unique hobby of going to Canada to have a helicopter, rather than a ski lift, take him to the top of a mountain before skiing back down.

“I wanted to name one that we raised after him, and his passion is skiing and heliskiing,” Colvin said. “The sire of the horse is called Appealing Skier, so I just put the two together.”

When he began racing at 2 years old, Heliskier became an immediate standout, winning his first seven races and a slew of honors. In 2012 and 2013, Canterbury Park named him Horse of the Year, making him one of only two horses ever to be awarded the honor twice. He became so popular, Colvin said, that he eventually earned a fan club, and “Hell’s Bells” was played when he appeared on the track before a race.

After about five years, Heliskier’s racing career came to an end when, as is relatively common with racehorses, he began having problems with his knees. In 2016, Colvin retired him, and he had knee surgery and returned to the Ethan farm that same year.

At age 9, Heliskier is now the only horse left on that farm, and Colvin jokes that he’ll outlive her.

Colvin’s husband, Robert “Bun” Colvin, was the one who first broke Heliskier, who was bred and fouled in Minnesota. Beginning when they bought the farm 50 years ago, the Colvins usually had between 10 and 15 thoroughbred racehorses at any given time, totaling a lifetime of more horses than Marlene Colvin can count.

Those horses were raced around the country, and many, in addition to Heliskier, have been highly successful and valued. Prior to Heliskier being her only horse, Colvin sold her mare for about $200,000, and that mare’s colt recently sold for $100,000, a record-setting number of which Colvin is especially proud.

“We’ve raised them and raced them and trained them and broke them and did all the whole bit,” Marlene Colvin said.

Heliskier was the last colt Bun Colvin broke before dying suddenly of an aneurysm eight years ago. At that time, the Colvins had eight horses, and Marlene Colvin sold some, eventually getting down to four. Enlisting the help of a family friend who was a horse trainer, Colvin, then in her mid-70s, kept training and racing those horses at Canterbury Park, a tradition that had been important to both Colvins.

“We’ve raced our horses at Canterbury since 1985, when they first opened,” Colvin said. “We loved the summers up there, and we liked the races.”

Of Saturday’s four inductees, Heliskier is the only horse. The others set to be honored are jockey Dean Butler, racehorse owner and breeder Jack Walsh and quarter horse breeders Rodney and Sylvia Von Ohlen.