Attfield’s patient hand pays off handsomely

Hall of Fame conditioner Roger Attfield knows that good things, especially in the world of horse racing, come to those who wait.

“Patience is something that’s very valuable to have in this game, otherwise you’ll go insane, you know?” laughs Attfield over the phone from Payson Park in Florida.

Attfield aboard his pony Daddy Cool


The 72-year-old Englishman, in this instance, is speaking specifically about Check Your Soul, a four-year-old son of Perfect Soul-Unchecked, who was once the favourite for the Queen’s Plate.

After a series of setbacks, Check Your Soul was finally slated to make his return on New Year’s Eve at Gulfstream Park, but, much to Attfield’s chagrin, didn’t make it to the gate.

“He got colic the day before the race and we had to scratch him,” says Attfield. “While he was in the colic and rolling around the stall he hit his knee and bruised his knee. But he’s ready to go back in the entries now.”

Check Your Soul breezed an easy four furlongs over the Payson Park turf in :49.20 on February 17 and, knock on wood, will return to racing in a few weeks time.

Check Your Soul with his Woodbine groom, Keith


Patience is a virtue that Attfield has needed to have in abundance with his Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf champ, Perfect Shirl. The slight bay daughter of Perfect Soul-Lady Shirl, who will go to post as the lukewarm 3-1 morning line favourite in Saturday’s Grade 3 The Very One at Gulfstream, raced seven times in 2011 and she saved her lone victory for the biggest payday of all on November 4 at Churchill Downs.

Since the startling Breeders’ Cup score, at odds of 27-1, over a drying out turf course, Perfect Shirl was expected to start in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin and then the Group 1 Gran Premio Internacional Pellegrini in Buenos Aires, but paperwork issues grounded her eastern excursion and cancelled flights kept her from airing out to Argentina.

A playful Perfect Shirl with Teresa of Brooklyn Backstretch the morning after her BC score


There will, however, be no travel issues shipping into The Very One, which is setting up to be a very competitive 13-horse field, and something of a prep race for Perfect Shirl who is being pointed at the Dubai Sheema Classic on March 31.

“Her workouts have been very good,” says Attfield. “She’s been training very well. She’s not at her peak, for sure, but I need to get this race under her belt if we’re going to make the Dubai trip.”

However, with four workouts in the past month, including a Valentine’s Day bullet breeze of five panels in :59.20, handicappers will likely still rush to the windows on Saturday to back Attfield’s mare.

Perfect Shirl breaks her maiden at Woodbine


Attfield, not one to hype up his own horses, cautions that Perfect Shirl will carry 123lbs, two pounds more than both recent Grade 3 La Prevoyante winner Casablanca Smile and defending The Very One champ, and multiple graded winner, Keertana - - as well as six pounds to the rest of the field who will carry 117.

“She had a bit of disruption in her winter training because plans to go to Hong Kong and Argentina fell through,” says Attfield. “A little bit of disruption as far as her preparation for something like this. She’s going to give a lot of weight away.”

Perfect Shirl wins the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf


One thing Attfield isn’t concerned about, despite a smattering of rain expected in Hallandale, this time around, is if the grass will have a bit of give in it.

“Well, she did pretty well in the Breeders’ Cup, she made a liar out of me there,” laughs Attfield. “So, I’m not too concerned. I don’t think they’re calling for that much.”

While on the subject of patience, Attfield offered up some words of encouragement regarding Laertes, a strapping dark bay son of Shaekespeare-Violent Beauty, who broke his maiden at first asking over Woodbine’s E.P Taylor Turf Course last August, only to go on the shelf with a ligament issue.

“He’s coming along great,” says Attfield. “He’s right on target. I wanted to put one race into him at Gulfstream before Keeneland…or maybe just run him at Keeneland and then he’ll come up to Toronto.”

Laertes breaks his maiden at Woodbine


The Peachtree Stable colt, who has been nominated to the Queen’s Plate, has breezed three times at Payson in the past month after a long layoff.

“He just had a slight pull of a ligament in front,” explains Attfield. “He’s quite a big, straight colt and we just needed to give him a little chance to grow up.”

Attfield, who admits his barn is a little light on three-year-old colts as he chases what would be a record-breaking ninth Queen’s Plate score, will give Laertes every chance to prove himself a contender.

“He’s going to tell us,” admits Attfield. “He broke his maiden on the turf and we’ll have to proceed along and see how he goes on the Polytrack. He was working well on the Polytrack (before the injury). It’s a bit too early a time to say anything about the Queen’s Plate, but he will definitely be trained towards that until he tells us that’s not what he wants to do.”

Another ‘patient’ that tested Attfield’s patience who is now starting to come good is the five-year-old gelding Hollinger. The Black Minnalouse-Dynamite Cocktail grey was named Canada’s Champion Two-Year-Old Male in 2009 on the back of an undefeated season that included victories in the Cup & Saucer and Coronation Futurity.

Hollinger would race just twice as a three-year-old and, after significant time off, finally returned to the Woodbine winner’s circle last October. The gallant grey seems to have turned a corner following that score and has since hit the board in four-consecutive added-money events including the Labeeb (2nd), Grade 3 Tropical Turf Handicap (3rd), Grade 3 Ft. Lauderdale (2nd) and the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (2nd).

Hollinger gets a little attention in the Woodbine walking ring


“He had a number of setbacks as a three-year-old,” admits Attfield. “He had a bad back situation and eventually he just needed stopping on and given a lot of time to get over that. We brought him back very carefully and everything seems to have worked out okay that way. He’s developed into a very nice older horse and I’ve been very pleased with his races.”

Hollinger, who is expected to make his way back to Woodbine via Keeneland, has shown ability on the turf at a variety of distances as Attfield tries to put a finger on the grey’s best route.

“For quite a while, I thought that he was probably a miler but I’m not sure that I’m correct there,” says Attfield. “He’s run quite effectively at a mile and an eighth. He’s probably (capable of) a mile to a mile and a quarter.”

Hollinger heads to the track with Tyler Pizarro aboard


Fortunately, Hollinger shouldn’t feel too rushed to sort out his best route of ground as he develops as an older horse.

One look at his nurturing conditioner’s entries in Sunday’s Grade 2 Mac Diarmida at Gulfstream, which include the seven-year-old Simmard and 10-year-old Sovereign Award-nominated Musketier, is proof that Attfield knows he’d be crazy not to give his well-bred horses a chance to showcase their skill.

Musketier still firing at the age of ten

De Paulo ponders on 'Pender' and the Plate...

Mike De Paulo doesn’t mince words - - he just tells you how it is. And when I asked him how things were going down in Florida, his reply came as curt, and honest, as expected.

“The weather has been shitty,” he cursed. “It’s rained every day for the past five or six days. My wife was down here for a bit, and it rained every day.”

De Paulo and Pender Harbour during last year's Triple Crown run


But the man who conditioned Pender Harbour to capture two-thirds of the Canadian Triple Crown last year isn’t working under a dark cloud. He’s a realist, with an eye to finding the positives, and his keen eye nearly took Pender Harbour, a horse not expected to make the Queen’s Plate, to Triple Crown glory.

“'Pender’ had a chip taken out of his knee last December,” recalls De Paulo. “He spent all winter in Toronto. He was way behind (in his training).”

The Ontario-bred son of Philanthropist-Uproar, owned by Dennis Andrews, Sandra Lazaruk and Rob and Roberta Giffin, would make his first three-year-old start in May - - and it did not go well.

“First race he ran was a disaster going three-quarters,” says De Paulo of the tenth-place debacle. “Then I trained him up to try an Ontario-sired race, non-winners of three, and Mr. Andrews, he owns a big piece of Philanthropist said to me, ‘Mike, I’d like to try something else, how about finding a stake for him’?

What De Paulo found was a difficult, unrestricted, race. But he believed in his horse.

“The only stake that was lying around was the Victoria Park and I said we could use this race as a prep for the Plate,” grits De Paulo. “As soon as he heard that, his ears pricked and he said, ‘Wow, that sounds like a plan’.”

Pender Harbour broke alertly in the Victoria Park and was all-out down the rail to finish fourth, defeated less than three lengths by Kentucky-bred Moonshine Mullin who would finish second in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga later that summer.

“He ran a great race that day,” exclaims De Paulo. “I don’t remember if he had trouble or just didn’t get a clear path, but he didn’t get beat far and he ran a real good race.”

The effort convinced the connections that Pender Harbour, though lacking in race experience compared to the other contenders, had the heart required to try the Queen’s Plate.

The chestnut was sent to post at odds of 15-1 in the Queen’s Plate and raced from tenth position at the half, under jockey Chantal Sutherland, who urged the horse into fifth by the top of the lane to finish a game third behind the victorious filly Inglorious.

“He was really running,” says De Paulo of the Plate performance. “He was one of the few horses that really finished in it.”

Pender Harbour surges through the stretch in the Breeders'


Though it hurt to lose the race, the performance proved Pender Harbour’s immense talent.

With the winter raced Inglorious taking some much needed time off following her Woodbine Oaks-Queen’s Plate double, Pender Harbour would go on to win the next two legs of the Triple Crown, nosing out Bowman’s Causeway, in his first dirt attempt, in the Prince of Wales and then bounding home over a soggy turf course to nip Celtic Conviction in the Breeders’ Stakes.

“He’s like a war horse that horse,” says De Paulo. “To do what he did, run the hugest race of his life (the Plate) and come back in three weeks again (the Prince of Wales) and come back in three weeks again (the Breeders').”

Wins by a nose!


There’s no question De Paulo would love to see his horse have another shot at Inglorious.

“I’d love to have another chance,” he says. “I’m not taking anything away from Inglorious, but when she ran against us, our campaign was crazy. I told the owners not even to bother nominating him to the Plate because there’s no way we’re going to get there.”

Or to put it more succinctly, “they had trained all winter in New Orleans and had winter racing under her belt. We were in a snowy field.”

Pender Harbour earned his stripes last season


Following his Triple Crown run, Pender Harbour put in one poor performance after acting up in the gate in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby, but then bounced back with a pair of top efforts taking the Bunty Lawless in fine fettle over the E. P. Taylor Turf Course and charged home second in the Grade 2 Autumn against older horses.

But for now, a snowy field is where you’d find Pender Harbour as De Paulo contemplates upon what type of campaign his Sovereign Award-nominated fellow will embark.

Sovereign Award worthy attire


“He started the year last year at Gail Wood’s farm, Woodlands, in January and that’s what we’re doing this year,” he says. “We don’t have a real plan yet with ‘Pender’. We want to hit some of the better races. Obviously, he can turf. He’s a pretty amazing horse. Not that many horses can say they won on the dirt, the turf and the ‘Poly’.

De Paulo feels he has nothing but options for the omnisurface star.

“His races on the grass have been on super soft turf,” says De Paulo. “It poured both times he got to run on the grass. I don’t know if there is any limitation on him. If you look up his sire’s best Ragozin number, it was in the slop at Saratoga. So, we’ve been wondering how he can run in the mud. There’s hasn’t been much he hasn’t been able to do.”

Pender Harbour wins the Breeders' Stakes


While plans for Pender Harbour remain wide open, there are a number of potential Queen’s Plate contenders in De Paulo’s barn gearing up for a chance to win the one Canadian classic that has eluded the effusive trainer.

In fact, there are a pair of ‘Bear’s’ that broke their maiden in November, just like Pender Harbour did a year earlier, that could fit the bill.

“Bear and Rod, I think, is going to be a nice horse,” says De Paulo. “First time he ran, he got beat a nose and then he broke his maiden.”

Bear and Rod breaks his maiden


The One Way Love-Final Covenant gelding was a runaway four and a half-length winner in a six furlong main track sprint on November 6. The Bear Stables charge returned three weeks later to finish third in another six panel ‘Poly’ tilt, closing late under jockey Emile Ramsammy.

“Emile thought he might have let those horses get away from him and left him too much to do last time he ran,” says De Paulo. “I think that horse has a lot of quality. Whether he goes a mile and a quarter remains to be seen.”

De Paulo’s other ‘Bear’, Bear’s Message, a bay son of Cryptograph-Versionofthetruth, is one-for-one having closed from eighth, and last, into a slow pace, to win a mile and a sixteenth maiden special weight by a neck in 1:48.01.

“That horse is a tough son-of a gun,” spouts De Paulo. “His shins were bothering him and we did the best we could to get him there. He might not have run that fast, but I think he’s a pretty nice horse. I think that horse is going to love grass. We call him ‘Lurch.’ He’s a big, long-legged, son-of-a-gun.”

Bear's Message, aka 'Lurch' wins at first asking


However, De Paulo’s best Plate prospects are likely the Frank Romano-owned pair currently in training with him in Florida - - the Stephen Got Even-Galloping Ami bay, Campitello, and the Rockport Harbor-Northglen grey, Rocky Romano.

Campitello is still a maiden, but he has faced strong company through four starts. He debuted in a mile and seventy yard event, finishing third behind well-regarded King of England and a top WinStar Farm Kentucky-bred, Bluedacious.

In his next two starts, the colt would finish fourth in the Cup & Saucer and fifth in the Coronation Futurity. Given one last shot at breaking his maiden, he drew into another strong field when third behind Bluedacious and a John C. Oxley Kentucky-bred, Moon Traveler.

Campitello should have it easier next time out


The horse should be one for handicappers to play next out if given a chance in restricted company - - and, if he makes it to the Plate, the added distance won’t be a problem.

“He’s a Stephen Got Even out of a Victory Gallop mare,” says De Paulo. “I think he’s going to be a stayer that horse.”

Rocky Romano, also a maiden, started slow and came running too late in his seven furlong debut. He was sent to post as the 2-1 choice in his only other start, going two turns in a Polytrack route, but once again was sluggish leaving the gate and couldn’t reel in Peyton, settling for place, in a troubled trip that saw the colt blocked into the turn and lacking running room down the lane.

Rocky Romano on his way to the track


“The first time he ran a great race and the jock dropped his irons leaving the gate,” explains De Paulo. “The last time he ran, he got in a bit of trouble and finished second.”

Rocky Romano arrives late in his second start


De Paulo is reluctant to choose the best of his four Plate potentials at this point.

“Certainly the Cryptograph horse has to go a little faster,” admits De Paulo. “Campitello is going to improve. His pedigree says he’ll get better as he gets older.”

High five!


While a Queen’s Plate win remains a dream, the conditioner is keen to improve his stats in 2012.
“We’d love to win the Plate,” admits De Paulo. “But, I’d like to be a little better with our in-the-money percentage. That’s a number I’d like to improve.”

With a record of 30-24-30 from 237 starts, in-the-money at a modest 35 per cent clip, De Paulo is abundantly aware that the stats don’t matter quite as much as the $2,054,198 his horses banked last season.

“There’s only one number that really counts and that’s dollars because you can’t eat the numbers,” jokes De Paulo.

And then, with a laugh, shares the following words of wisdom gleaned from Hall of Fame trainer J.C. Meyer on the importance of stories like the one you’re currently reading.

“He’d say, ‘can you take that story to Longo’s? Because if you can’t make any money with it, there’s no point talking about it’,” says De Paulo, again with a laugh.

Call me crackers, but this blogger knows where you can get a dollar off Ritz

Can Carroll repeat Queen's Plate success?

I caught up with trainer Josie Carroll over the phone on Tuesday night and the conditioner of Woodbine Oaks and Queen’s Plate champion Inglorious was in good spirits.

Inglorious on the Saratoga backstretch last summer


The miles have been adding up for Carroll who has been very busy over the winter months racing horses at both Gulfstream and Fair Grounds, while also overseeing the development of a number of promising young horses at Palm Meadows.

“Air miles, car miles, every kind of miles,” she laughed. “It’s been a busy winter but I’m fortunate to have some very nice horses so it’s worth it.”

Inglorious romps in the Woodbine Oaks, presented by Budweiser


The Queen’s Plate winner Inglorious, who is owned by Donna and Vern Dubinsky’s Donver Stables, made her first appearance on the work tab in 2012 on February 6 breezing an easy four furlongs in :50.60 at Palm Meadows.

“It went exactly as planned. It was just a nice gallop along for her,” said Carroll.

Carroll is reluctant to lay out a schedule just yet for the now four-year-old daughter of Hennessy-Noble Strike, but indicated that Woodbine would be the home base and a try over the turf is more than likely in the cards.

“I’m hoping so for the most part (to race at Woodbine), but I don’t think exclusively,” she said. “There’s great racing at home.”

The prospect of a turf start for Inglorious was brought to the forefront following the rousing performance by her half-sister, Dixie Strike, to win Saturday’s Florida Oaks over the lawn at Tampa Bay Downs.

“I think turf is something we’ll explore somewhere in the future,” admitted Carroll.

Inglorious wins the 2011 Queen's Plate


Given that Carroll trained Noble Strike, the dam of Inglorious and Dixie Strike, it’s safe to say she is more than familiar with the Sovereign Award nominated broodmare’s abilities and how that talent might best be coaxed from her filly.

That said, Carroll was quick to point out the differences between dam and daughter.

“Different personality’s altogether,” she said. “I think Inglorious is a much easier horse to train. A much more settled horse to train. Noble Strike could be a bit of a handful.”

Noble Strike, a bay daughter of Smart Strike-Green Noble, made 18 starts, most of them at Woodbine, compiling a record of three wins, three seconds and three thirds. Her best result being a length and a half score in the 2002 edition of the Belle Geste, raced at a mile and an eighth on the turf.

At that time, Noble Strike was trained by Ronald Burke for Arosa Farms. However, after moving to Carroll’s care, the mare would find the winner’s circle again on the turf taking a seven and a half furlong allowance at the Fair Grounds.

Carroll is well aware of the turf potential, but will not be jumping hurdles to put her filly on the lawn.

“It’s all speculation,” she said. “All I can tell you is at some point I’m going to try her on it.”

In addition to planning out a four-year-old campaign for Inglorious, Carroll is also attempting to become the first conditioner since Mark Frostad to win the Queen’s Plate in successive seasons. Frostad accomplished the feat with Scatter The Gold and Dancethruthedawn in 2000-2001 - - and a number of prominent trainers including Roger Attfield (multiple times) and Gil Rowntree, to name a couple, have pulled off an historic repeat.

King of England reigns supreme in the Woodbine walking ring


Carroll's quest rests on a trio of top prospects including the U.S Triple Crown nominated Canadian Navy and King of England, who are owned by Earle Mack, as well as the Donver Stable’s Forgotten Vow.

Canadian Navy, a gelded son of Pulpit-Maholo, was bred in Ontario by William D. Graham. The chestnut debuted on December 4 at Woodbine in a five and a half furlong Polytrack sprint and rallied from off the pace to chase home the well-regarded Kinghaven Farms runner Incredicat.

“I think he’s a very promising horse,” said Carroll. “He’s a tremendous mover and I loved his first race because sprinting probably isn’t something he wants to do and yet he did it quite brilliantly.”

Canadian Navy finishes second to Incredicat


Canadian Navy put in his first breeze of 2012 on February 4 covering four furlongs in :49.14 at Palm Meadows.

“He had a month off at Fair Hill and is just starting back,” said Carroll. “I think the break did him good, he did some growing up.”

Big things are also expected of King of England who has yet to work in 2012. The dark bay son of Lemon Drop Kid-Snow Lady, bred in Ontario by Christine Hayden, has a misleading record of one win, a fourth and a fifth from three starts as a two-year-old.

He debuted on August 7 in a six furlong main track sprint and, after a slow start, closed along the rail to finish fourth, defeated less than five lengths by Breeders’ Cup bound Excaper.

King of England would be crowned in his second start travelling a mile and seventy yards in 1:43.99 to defeat a top John C. Oxley Triple Crown nominated fellow by the name of Bluedacious.

King of England breaks his maiden


In his third start, King of England finished fifth in a loaded Grade 3 Grey Stakes field that featured a trio of Kentucky-bred Oxley horses including Prospective, Lockout and Bluedacious, as well as Excaper.

Carroll is also excited about a third Plate prospect, a son of Broken Vow-Unforgettable Too.

“The Dubinsky’s have a horse called Forgotten Vow that was fourth in the race Canadian Navy was second in,” said Carroll. “He ran a very good race.”

It would be wonderful story should Carroll manage to return to the Queen’s Plate with a Donver-owned horse.

Luis Contreras claps for Inglorious as Vern Dubinsky looks on


With Inglorious nominated as Champion Three-Year-Old Filly and the potential of Horse of the Year honours, as well as Donver Stables being nominated for Outstanding Owner, the entire stable will be looking forward to the Sovereign Awards which will be held on April 5 at Woodbine, on the eve of opening day.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” admitted Vern Dubinsky, who is cautiously optimistic of their chances at being named Horse of the Year. “I guess she has a shot. We’d be thrilled to death if she did but there are some other pretty good horses in there too. We’re just thrilled that people recognize her as being a pretty good racehorse.”

Memories of Queen’s Plate success still make Dubinsky smile.

“When you beat the boys it’s pretty special and to win the Queen’s Plate, one of the biggest races in Canada…,” he said.

Donver Stable's Silver Silhouette with assistant trainer Lorie Allen


Another point of pride for Dubinsky is being one of three western Canadian connections nominated as Outstanding Owner along with Glen Todd and Patrick Kinsella, who recorded 58 wins at Hastings in Vancouver to capture the 2011 Leading Owners title for the fifth consecutive year; and Bear Stables Ltd, owned by Albertan Danny Dion, who won 33 races at Woodbine while banking $1,607,408 to finish second in the standings to fellow nominee Eugene Melnyk whose 29 winners banked $1,654,201.

“It’s flattering to have three from western Canadian connections nominated for owner of the year,” said Dubinsky. “Just to be mentioned in the same group as them in an honour for us.”

That he might reach a second Queen’s Plate before even having an entry in the Canadian Derby at Northlands Park in Edmonton is a source of amusement for Dubisnky.

“It’s nice to win races everywhere but to win a race in your home town would be special,” he said. “My wife and I have always wanted to win the Canadian Derby in our hometown of Edmonton here and we’ve never even had a horse in the race."

The flashy filly Silver Silhouette breaks her maiden at Woodbine


Although there are high hopes for Forgotten Vow, the potential Plate prospect, Dubinsky acknowledges that he dreams most about a big campaign from his Queen’s Plate winner.

“At home here, I don’t go by one day without somebody asking me about her,” he said. “It would be great if she could come back and be good as a four-year-old.”

Inglorious enjoying a leisurely gallop last summer at Woodbine

Photo Essay: A visit with Fifty Proof, Rahy's Attorney and Wollemi Pine at Kinghaven Farms

Skippy Bowen, assistant trainer to Ian Black, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse when he invited me up to Kinghaven Farms on Friday morning to watch their horses during a winter training session.

Not only was it a chance to eyeball Sovereign Award finalist Fifty Proof as he takes his first steps on the journey back to the races, it also meant I could bring a few treats to retired stars Rahy’s Attorney and Wollemi Pine.

Wollemi Pine remains the Woodbine track record holder at 1M70


Kinghaven Farms is nestled in a gorgeous tree-lined property in King City and I cursed the weatherman, who had predicted zero percent precipitation, for much of the drive from my home in Toronto as rain, then freezing rain and finally snow pelted my car.

Running up that hill...


However, it was well worth the white-knuckle drive upon arrival as the resulting photos look that much better with a little snow on the ground.

Stand up if you like snow!


I found Skippy standing under a heat lamp inside Kinghaven’s covered quarter-mile track, carefully watching a pair of young horses, including a little chestnut filly that seemed familiar to me in both colour and movement.

The little Lady Auchamore filly is named, I believe, Pied A Terre and she is a half-sister of Sovereign Award finalist Stormy Lord and the well-regarded Incredicat.

“She’s by City Zip,” says Bowen. “She’s built for speed and with the way her brother, Stormy Lord, and the now three-year-old Incredicat, have raced there’s high hopes for her. It’s a tough act to follow, but if she has a bit of filly fight in her, good things can happen.”

The little filly asks for a little love


Bowen is cautiously optimistic about the chestnut’s potential.

“She’s built more like Stormy Lord,” he says. “She’s a slender filly, very agile. She’s training well right now, but you never really know until you work them.”

The horse I was waiting to see train, however, was the immense Fifty Proof. As we made our way to the barn, a number of familiar faces poked their heads out of their stalls to say hello. Don’s Folly and Princess Niigon, who sports a long white brush along her nose, occupy stalls that flank the path leading from barn to track.

Looking to the end of shed row, I recognized the familiar long-eared noggin of multiple graded stakes winner Rahy’s Attorney. ‘The Champ’ was dapper in his shiny coat and blue blanket and happily crunched a few mints.

The handsome Rahy's Attorney


He was pleased with the attention, but the moment was interrupted when Skippy laughed, “Keith, you might want to turn around.”

Across the shed row, his neck fully extended out of his stall, was the massive cranium belonging to Fifty Proof. The Whiskey Wisdom gelding is tall, muscular and exudes the presence of a horse that won’t be denied a treat once asked.

Fifty Proof demands attention


As I fed a few mints to the huge-hoofed Grade 3 Eclipse Stakes champ, Bowen went over the details of Fifty Proof’s road to recovery after suffering an injury to his suspensory just prior to the Sky Classic Stakes in August.

“Recommended by Dr. Robert McMartin, we did stem cell and plasma injection,” explained Bowen. “We gave him the proper time off, did some ultrasounds and decided it would be beneficial to do some laser therapy on it.”

As we talk, Fifty Proof is led out of his stall to go for a jog with the filly May Island.

“At the beginning of the year we got the okay to start training him again and on January 16 we started him here again at Kinghaven,” says Bowen. “In a couple weeks he’ll head down to Payson Park to continue his training.”

Too dark in here for pictures!


Fifty Proof and May Island make for an odd, little and large, coupling as they made strides within the shadowy confines of the training track. May Island, sleek and athletic, glides over the surface. Fifty Proof moves with a purpose. His head is forward and he bulls his way through the workout.

He is a physical imposing specimen and the workout seems light, but the connections are being patient in re-building the foundation and fitness of their prized horse.

“The main thing is to get some weight on him and for him to do a lot of jogging,” explains Bowen. “Before he heads to Payson, he’ll have a couple weeks of galloping into him here at the farm and then he’ll go to Florida and be trained, more or less, like any other horse. Of course, we’ll keep a closer eye on him, but all systems are go right now and we’re just looking forward for the season to start.”

Stormy Lord hanging out in his Woodbine stall last summer


Fifty Proof, who won twice and placed twice in four starts in 2011, impressed enough to earn a Sovereign Award nomination in the Older Male category. Bowen is appreciative of the honour, but recalls a time when he thought the 2011 campaign might work out differently.

“It’s bittersweet,” he says. “At the beginning of last year, I really felt like we could have the three finalists for the turf. I felt that Rahy, Stormy and Fifty Proof could be the three finalists. And the little horse, Stormy Lord, is the only one who ends up in that category.”

Fifty Proof and May Island conclude their exercise and the big horse is stopped under a beam of light in the training centre so I can snap a photo.

In the photo, Fifty Proof’s exercise rider Matt Douglas is hidden behind the gelding’s massive frame - - but he offers an insight into the little chestnut filly he previously steered around the track.

“I went from riding the smallest horse to the biggest horse in the barn,” he laughs. “But I think her heart is the same size.”

Matt, somewhere up there, aboard Fifty Proof


If Fifty Proof maintains his current progress, he’ll find an allowance at Keeneland or Woodbine to make his comeback. Along with Stormy Lord, he’s expected to lead a promising stable for Ian Black in 2012 with the now three-year-old Incredicat, the chestnut filly and a two-year-old Pulpit-Lyrically colt named Apostolic.

The Canadian foaled Apostolic is currently in Payson with Black.

“He’s from Lyrically, a very nice mare for us,” says Bowen. “She’s from the Lover’s Talk family. That family means a lot to Kinghaven.”

Lover’s Talk won a Sovereign Award in 2007 as Outstanding Broodmare. The family includes stakes winners Love Grows, Barley Talk, Torrid Affair, Wild Whiskey and the stakes-place Lyrically.

“They’re down there right now at Payson with him (Apostolic) and we quite like him, otherwise he wouldn’t be down there,” says Bowen.

Incredicat, a Discreet Cat-Lady Auchamore chestnut (of course), is the barn’s Queen’s Plate hopeful for 2012. There was a fair bit of backstretch buzz last year about Incredicat who was slated to make his start in the Clarendon, but bucked shins in training, and instead debuted with a sharp victory going five and a half furlongs in December.

“Incredicat was such a physically amazing thoroughbred right from the get go,” offers Bowen. “He was a big, strong, gorgeous two-year-old. He looked like a three year old, really.”

Incredicat breaks his maiden at Woodbine


Distance is the main concern regarding Incredicat’s chances of succeeding on the Queen’s Plate trail. However, Black was impressed with the relaxed manner in which Luis Contreras engineered the debut victory.

Baby it's cold outside


“I thought he ran big because he broke really sharp and Luis was able to settle him and take him back off that,” says Black. “At five and a half furlongs a lot of people would have sent him, but I thought Luis rode him really well.”

Incredicat has continued his racing education at Payson over the winter and Bowen is hopeful the horse will outrun expectations.

“Discreet Cat was a two turn horse,” he offers. “Incredicat will get every chance to prove that he belongs in the Plate.”

While the barn is looking forward to seeing these future stars race, their former war horses are far from forgotten.

Rahy’s Attorney, who earned in excess of $2.2-million in a storied career highlighted by a victory in the 2008 Woodbine Mile, is expected to make it back to Woodbine as a stable pony.

“He’s doing great,” says Bowen of the 11-time stakes winner. “But he hates not having a job. The game plan with him is to eventually make him into our stable pony so he can be at the track, stand at the wire, and back up with the two-year-olds.”

Those who know Rahy’s Attorney will recall how much the horse enjoyed his little moments standing at the finish line in the morning watching the horses go by. The barn is hopeful he can lend his experience to younger horses making their first nervous steps on the Polytrack.

“To have a horse that will back up the younger horses and stand at the wire with them, and if a loose horse runs by and for that older horse not to be afraid really helps a two-year-old,” says Bowen.

Snow kiss!


With my morning visit winding down, there was one more horse I wanted to visit before braving the icy road home - - the speedy, pale-as-pale-can-be, mint-munching, tongue-wagging eight-year-old gelding Wollemi Pine.

We found him in a paddock shared with four other horses including Knightly Attire, Get Down, Colonel Kleeter and a jumper named Al.

I visited Wollemi Pine often during his racetrack days and I’d like to think he remembered me as I walked to the paddock fence. But, truth be told, his pink nose likely caught hold of the minty scent of my outstretched hand as he ambled up for a treat.

Get Down peers between the trees


As I ventured into the paddock, I was swarmed by the grey grifters Wollemi Pine and Get Down. The devilish duo ran an elaborate con, eating the offered treats as a form of distraction, while their paddock mates attempted to pick my pocket and make off with the sweet stash.

Pickpocket!!


With the snow flurries increasing, I bid my goodbyes to the lovable lugs and gave Wollemi Pine one last hug. As I drove my car down the winding farm road away from the paddock, I stopped and took one last look up the hill where the veterans continued to play in the snow.

Three heads are better than one


Knightly Attire, his four legs pointed straight up in the air, was wriggling horse-shaped snow angels in the snow as Wollemi Pine observed. With silent snow falling from the heavens, Wollemi Pine lifted his head in the air, exhaled, and decided this was a game worth playing.