Lynne MacLennan

By Nicholas Oakes

The Atlantic Sires Stakes claims to be the greatest show in maritime harness racing and Lynne MacLennan can’t help but agree.
MacLennan grew up in Port Hood, N.S. (A coastal town on Cape Breton Island). Her father – Phonsie MacEachern – is a longtime horse owner and exposed MacLennan to the sport as a young girl.
After going through college and several administrative jobs, MacLennan wanted to settle down with her husband – John – and three daughters (aged 11, nine, and five).
Slightly over a year ago MacLennan walked into the job as executive director of the Atlantic Sires Stakes program after taking over from longtime director Jack Ferguson who passed on the role. MacLennan says it’s been a perfect fit for her as she gets to work right from her home in Port Hood, N.S.
“The nice thing about this (job) is that I’m home in the morning when the kids get on the school bus and I’m here when the kids get off the school bus,” MacLennan says. “We usually work around their schedule so that’s the joy of a position like this for me.”
The job has her dealing with the day-to-day operations of the organization, with a great deal of administrative work to be done.
“It’s very time consuming. You would think it’s only a seasonal thing but it is a 12 month thing with all these things always coming up. Like in January we have the stallion registrations and then there’s the duties with the financial year end. There’s always something coming up in the organization.”
Under MacLennan’s guidance, the organization has introduced a new website to help owners of Atlantic sired horses.
“It’s a work in progress but it’s a spot now where people can go and get all the information about our program and the points standing is certainly what people are going to be looking at on a regular basis. Of course points determine eligibility for the breeders crown at the end of the year and now people can go check it out themselves. I think there is a lot of interest around a program like this where it is point based. There is a lot of excitement about where your horse is in terms of the standing and it gives you something to strive for in terms of wanting to get into the championship at the end of the year.”
She is a supporter of how the program sees events at all eight tracks across the maritime provinces and of the high quality product offered.
“We have very talented horses performing, we bring out great crowds when there is an event at the track, and as I said before, we offer very substantial purses.”
MacLennan believes she can make headway into the masses that hardly see a horse (let alone a horse race) through promotions.
“It’s doing our media releases, talking to the media and exposing people to the program. I would like to see more people exposed to the Atlantic Sires Stakes program and harness racing in general.”
Harness racing right now – in MacLennan’s eyes – is an affordable form of entertainment. The key in her mind is to promote that fact more and get more families and young people out to the track and work with industry groups to promote ownership.
“I think there is so many opportunities for industry groups to work together to promote the sport across Atlantic Canada,” she says. “For example last summer John and I took some friends of ours to the track with all their children – the first time they had ever been to the track. I just think that if more people involved in the industry did that – exposed more families, and individuals – it’s the type of sport that people can become quite caught up in because it’s exciting.”
The Atlantic Sires stakes program is an essential part of harness racing in the region, says MacLennan.
“The value of the Atlantic sires stakes is the purses we go for. We go for substantial purses in the sires stakes program and I think it adds value to the sport and gives owners and breeders a greater return on their investment. The Atlantic sires stakes program showcases the best two and three-year-old colts and filles in Atlantic Canada and it’s a great form of entertainment.”
Currently the organization is funded primarily by the three maritime provinces and also receives funding from Atlantic Lotto. In the past the ASBA received funding from Woodbine Entertainment, but at time of writing it was yet to be determined if they would continue.
Due to outside funding the industry is currently stable but MacLennan sees it as having potential to grow.
“I think people need to realize the tremendous spin-off from the industry in terms of tourism, in terms of the restaurants and accommodations, when there is an Atlantic Sires stakes event in the area. I think the industry is very important to Atlantic Canada.”
The Atlantic sires is a purely not for profit organization, she says.
“We pay out what we take in. The money is just being regenerated, it’s getting put right back out there.”
In distributing that money, MacLennan personally has to send out over 900 purse cheques a year. So through all the work, what keep her coming back to do it all over again each day?
“It’s probably the people,” MacLennan says. “I’ve met some really good people in this position in the last year and a half. I’ve gotten a lot of support from the ASBA board of directors in terms of contacting them about various issues and what not and I know that they’re there with advice and guidance.”
One such member is ASBA vice-president for P.E.I., Eldred Nicholson, who thought MacLennan was the right fit for the job.
“She had a personality that would appeal to you and she had a family background,” Nicholson explains.
He says she’s accessible and easy to talk to.
“She’s not afraid to ask questions to some of us old fellas that have been around a while,” he laughs. “We thought she was the best person for the job and we have certainly been pleased with our choice.”
As good as she may be, MacLennan stresses the summer just isn’t long enough for her to make it to every sires stakes event.
“No it’s not possible to go to every event and get all the work done. I wouldn’t be able to get any of the purse cheques mailed because all I’d be doing is travelling,” she ponders with a laugh.
One change under MacLennan is that news releases are being sent out before each sires stakes event.
“From what I’ve been told the news releases have been being picked up quite regularly across the three provinces. Every little bit helps, it spreads the word and gets people out to the track hopefully.”
Just like anything, there are still things on her to do list.
“One of the things I would like to do is work with the other stakes organizations to establish consistency in the stakes programs. We all have things that are different but I think we could work together to make things a little easier for owners in terms of how we write our conditions. Maybe at the end of our conditions we can each write where we’re slightly different.”
A common problem has been date scheduling where in the past. For example, two-year-old pacing fillies would race in Inverness, N.S. the same day as three-year-old pacing colts and fillies in Fredericton, N.B., with trainers racing at both tracks and 7-8 hours travel between the two tracks. MacLennan hopes to work towards fixing that.
“I’m hoping next year we can work out something that will be beneficial to the participants, that being the horses, as well as the owners and trainers. With the travel costs and what not involved there has to be a better way to schedule so it works in everyone’s benefit. The easier we can make things for owners, the better.”

The Waiting game: Ian Smith

By Nicholas Oakes

Ian Smith wouldn’t have known Dale Pinkney if he tripped over him while the pair were jumping in a motor home full of Maritimers bound for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the fall of 1985. But the duo got talking and ended up picking out a yearling colt by Tyler B for $12,500 and taking him back to Nova Scotia with them. They didn’t realize they had just picked out a world champion – or that over 20 years later their astute purchases would still be propelling them to life in the fast lane.
Smith, 62, is, was, and no doubt always will be a Prince Edward Island boy at heart – as he grew up in the small community of Pownal outside Charlottetown. His family had work horses but never race horses – though they regularly attended the races in Charlottetown.
He went to Agriculture College in Truro, N.S., where he took business, then started to ply his trade as a real estate developer back on P.E.I.
“I was interested in real estate and building,” Smith says. “I built a lot of apartments in my younger years.”
In 1968 (at just 21 years of age), horses came into the picture as Smith decided to take the plunge into the ownership ranks – getting himself involved in the sport he grew up watching as a young boy.
“I guess I was a little adventurous and always looking for a winner,” he smiles.
His first horses weren’t barn burners by any means but Smith was enjoying himself. One of his first was a trotter named Pequoig Warrior who went on to have great success racing in Cape Breton after he sold him to Bernard Peck – then the father of a young Greg Peck (trainer of this year’s Hambletonian winner Muscle Hill).
“I don’t know if Greg Peck learned how to hang out a trotter off (Pequoig Warrior) or not,” Smith ponders with a laugh.
Success started coming his way in the late 70’s with Atlantic Sires Stakes champion and maritime Free-For-Aller Maple Leaf Robbie.
“He was a winner in his day. A chestnut, and a fast horse,” Smith remembers.
But it would be a fall day at Sackville Downs in 1985 that would change Smith’s role in racing. He came to see the races at the Halifax, N.S., track but got offered a trip to Harrisburg by friends Sonny Siteman and Wayne MacRae.
“I took the offer and called home and said ‘I’ll be home a little later.’”
Once in Pennsylvania, it was time for yearling shopping but Smith eventually settled on a Tyler B colt by the name of Rumpus Hanover.
“I liked his breeding and he had a good maternal family, lots of winners,” Smith says.
But that said, there is a reason he got the colt for $12,500.
“He was a later foal and on the smallish side.”
The horse would go to Nova Scotia to be broke by Dale Pinkney – son of O’Brien Award winning Horseman Phil Pinkney. In his two-year-old year he impressed both the owner and trainer enough to try him on a bigger stage in Ontario – and the little horse didn’t disappoint.
He won a division of The Champlain stake in rein to a young Paul MacDonell, who was so young at the time that when the connections went to a bar to celebrate the victory, he had to show ID to get in, Smith remembers with a laugh.
Rumpus continued to campaign across Canada and the States in a year that would eventually see him time-trial at Lexington – setting a new world record of 1:52.3 for two-year-old colt pacers.
Then the offers started coming in and Smith was faced with one too good to say no to, as the Lou Guida syndicate tabled an offer valuing the horse at $1.6 million with them purchasing 50 per cent for $800,000.
“They were the biggest syndicate around, and they had the most bucks,” Smith says.
Business home on P.E.I. was solid but that wasn’t a large factor in the decision to sell.
“I was busy, yes, but that was a lot of money and made things easier. It didn’t change thing a whole lot but it made a lot more things possible.”
The deal had Smith retaining ownership of half of the horse but losing all say in the decisions to the syndicate, who placed the horse with trainer Lucien Fontaine for his three-year-old campaign. But Smith didn’t mind.
“That was fine, he was in good hands.”
Even though Dale Pinkney lost the horse from his barn, he was thankful for the exposure it brought to him.
“It shows you how far a great horse can take you,” Pinkney says.
Smith realized that and started hitting the colt scene in high gear but has settled on his sale of choice being the New Jersey Classic yearling sale.
Recently he’s had graduates from that sale like Exit 16 W series winner and current Meadowlands preferred pacer Camshaft Hanover (p,3, 1:50.3, $190,000), as well as Gold Cup & Saucer and $106,100 Matt’s Scooter final winner Pownal Bay Matt (p,3, 1:51.1, $250,000).
The price tags on them – $7,000 and $9,000 respectively – which translates into one thing: Smith likes doing business in New Jersey.
“The New Jersey Classic is a bit of a softer sale and The Meadowlands is a good place to race,” he says.
His niche has become buying horses in the Jersey sale and bringing them home to be broke almost exclusively by Dale Pinkney, then sending the better colts to Dale’s cousin – Dave Pinkey Jr. – in Creamridge, N.J. The yearlings offered in the New Jersey sale fit Smith’s mold perfectly.
“They’re in a price range that we can afford to take them home there,” Smith says. “You don’t get the purple pedigrees you would at Harrisburg but you find comparable bloodlines.”
Primarily Smith has owned the horse alone – free of partners.
“In the horse business you have to make some quick decision and it’s a little easier to make those decisions yourself.”
Due to the fact every dime comes out of his own pocket, value for his dollar has been the name of the game for Smith but he doesn’t pay a great deal of attention to the sale catalogue.
“I see what sires and mares are being offered. I don’t really pay much attention to the catalogue until I get there and look at (the yearlings).”
He’s come to realize that conformation -not black type – is key in the yearling game.
“The ones you pick on breeding that are the best bred, either have something wrong with them or they go for too much.
“The breeding is so close now, you could get them from pretty well anything. You look for the best bred ones you can for the money. Conformation is a must. If they haven’t got that you can pretty well stroke them off.”
When Smith and Pinkney arrive at the Jersey sale they take their time, looking at every pacer in the sale and a few trotters.
“If you don’t examine them before the sale, that bargain that’s going through the ring, you don’t know it’s a bargain.”
In Smith’s eyes, Dale Pinkney is every bit as good as his legendary father and Smith trusts Pinkney’s judgement.
“(Dale) may be overshadowed by his father but they’re side by side.”
Bargains are something Smith has proven he can find. At a sale at Tioga Downs in New York, Smith bought five yearlings for between $1,300 and $1,800 – all of them went on to take marks better than 2:00 and the shining star was Pacific Fella filly Princess Julia who has banked over $100,000 and scorched the Charlottetown, P.E.I., oval in 1:55.1 winning the Atlantic Breeders Crown mares Distaff.
“Sometimes price isn’t a good indication,” Smith says. “If you don’t mind feeding them and waiting on them you can get something. You never know where they’re going to come from.”
That attitude is part of the charm that has Pinkney and Smith working so well together.
“Ian’s the very best,” Pinkney says. “If we have to wait that’s what we do.”
Waiting can sometimes be a must, especially considering the prices Smith grabs them for.
“You’re buying in the bottom end of the barrel and trying to race the top end,” Pinkney says.
That can sometimes have it’s issues, he says.
“They’ve probably not been handled as much, not as much time spent on them.”
It also doesn’t help things trying to deal with the unpredictable Maritime winter while preparing colts, Pinkney says.
“If we were in New Jersey we would be a little farther ahead of the game.”
Smith doesn’t get in a panic over it all.
” I like to hit the later stakes and late closers and dodge the bear cats,” Smith says. “When you’re buying horses for lower prices that’s what you have to sacrifice.
“You won’t be getting stake horses, well stake horses are a bonus but you don’t need stake horses. I like a nice raceway horse for some enjoyment.”
But one might ask why Smith doesn’t invest more heavily in the Maritime program.
“It’s nice to have a couple of Maritimes breds but when you look at the economics you perhaps have to spread out a little bit farther. In the Maritimes there’s always only a few horses that pay their way.”
Through it all, Smith never made a permanent business move away from P.E.I and didn’t really want to.
“I never had any great desire, no. I was always busy and perhaps didn’t have time to think about the better things out there. (It’s just) the quality of life here. There really is no comparison anywhere.”
The horses take him far enough, he says.
“With race horses you get to see a lot of country but you always get to come back home.”
Though an increasing possibility has been the chance of The Meadowlands closing shop faced with surrounding competition.
“I find it hard to believe that the state would let a place like the Meadowlands fade. But I guess they need the slots to compete with New York and New Jersey.”
But would Smith truly be surprised?
“I would be, yes,” he says, “but I guess queerer things have happened.”
All in all it’s just a simple past time for Smith.
“It’s something to do. It’s a challenge I guess. You always want a better horse, you want to beat the best.”
He credits a great deal of his success to the top notch horseman he’s had handling his horses – from Earl Smith and Joe Smallwood, to Mike MacDonald and the Pinkney’s.
“I’ve surrounded myself with excellent trainers, drivers, and grooms. I’ve been very fortunate to have such talented Maritimers that make the difference.”
Smith’s current hopes lie one the backs of Blissfull Hall colt Blissed Off and Allamerican Native colt Parsons Hanover.
Reflecting back on the chance trip he took to Pennsylvania 24 years ago, Smith likes how it turned out.
“I should’ve taken more trips like it,” he laughs.

Golden Eye: Mike MacDonald

By Nicholas Oakes

It’s 2 am in La Belle Province.

Stepping off his late-night flight, trainer Mark Ford is thinking it’s time to find a hotel. But to his surprise, longtime friend Mike MacDonald is waiting for him, and will have no part of this hotel talk. MacDonald and his wife, Judy, insist on treating  Ford to some old-fashioned maritime hospitality (albeit in Montreal).

It wasn’t long before Ford realized this was the norm with MacDonald – his hospitality is notorious.
“Not just me but he would drag anyone home,” Ford – of Gallo Blue Chip fame – says. “Mike would come busting through the door at 2:30 a.m. and yell ‘Judy,’ then there would be a four course dinner on the table, then a full breakfast the next day at 7:00. I’ve never been to Montreal where I haven’t stayed with Mike and Judy.”
But this Maritime native, kind as he may be, is far more than a one trick pony. He’s banked 1,275 wins and $8,019,060 as a trainer, and 2.294 wins and $13,589,165 as a driver, throughout an illustrious career across Canada and the United States.
MacDonald, 61, grew up in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and found himself spending a great deal of time with Claude O’Brien (brother to the legendary Joe O’Brien) and it got him interested in racing.
For almost 40 years, MacDonald campaigned his stable from Hippodrome De Montreal (formerly Blue Bonnets) but it wasn’t the happiest of events that took him there.
While in his mid-teens on the island, MacDonald was in a hockey game that got ugly. When all was said and done, he found himself spending a night in jail to cool off. That was the end of MacDonald on P.E.I.
“I just kind of got disgusted with myself and said ‘Geez I have to go somewhere else.’”
That ‘somewhere’ was to Montreal to work for fellow Islander James ‘Roach’ MacGregor as he packed his bags the next day and started hitchhiking.
In Montreal he married Judy in 1973 and opened a public stable, but is quick to credit Maritimers for his success.
“I didn’t really make myself successful, I had a lot of good horses from home,” MacDonald says modestly.
Some of his success he’s quick to credit to longtime employees Jamie Smith and Joey Shea (currently the trainer of Keep It Real).
“To have two guys like that at the same time was unbelievable,” Judy says.
Mike Campbell has been a lifelong friend of MacDonald and says the environment they grew up in is what made MacDonald the horseman he is.
“He worked for some of the best horsemen that ever lived,” Campbell says. “Those old boys that were around the Island when we were kids growing up, if they thought you were serious about your trade, they would help you and tell you what was right and what was wrong. Those fellas around there when were kids were the best. Any one of them could’ve went anywhere and excelled because they were all top notch horsemen.”
He says MacDonald could see in horses what most people couldn’t.
“A lot of times over the years he took horses that people tried to race and couldn’t do any good with them and take the hopples off them or do something like that.”
Through it all though, MacDonald remained honest, Campbell says.
“He’s never taken a horse for anybody and kept it when it wasn’t doing any good,” Campbell says. “If the horse wasn’t doing he would call you up and say ‘I have this horse and when he gets a little better, you know, we’ll try him again.’ That’s just the way he was. He was never the kind to take advantage of somebody, he used everybody fair and square I always thought.”
It would be the Gold Cup & Saucer back home on P.E.I. that would prove to be where MacDonald shined brightest.
His first win came in 1975 aboard Ventall Rainbow, then he came back to win it again in 1977 with the same horse.
In 1984, Mike took home Pearl’s Falcon but had all week to endure the banter of good friend George Canning – who owned Winner’s Accolade that was also in the Gold Cup & Saucer final. Canning was adamant that his horse would be in the winner’s circle at the end of the week.
In the final, Mike was on top by four lengths with Pearls Falcon halfway down the stretch, then turned around in the bike to look at Winner’s Accolade while waving his arm forward and yelling “Come on George. Get going George.”
“It was bad,” Judy remembers. “It was really bad sportsmanship but Mike just couldn’t help himself.”
Mike and George laughed it off after the race and in 1985, George made a decision.
“The next year George said (to Mike) ‘I can’t beat ya so I might as well join ya.’”
That year Mike and Winner’s Accolade scorched the Charlottetown oval in 1:57.3 while winning the final.
Back home in Montreal, owner George Henderson approached Mike looking for a good race horse. After paying $200,000 for Bomb Rickles and watching him destroy the Quebec City track record and set a Canadian record of 1:55 over a half-mile track, Henderson figured he got his money’s worth but wanted a little more.
“Well, I might as well get a good trotter now,” Henderson told Mike.
Mike found one and he and Judy dropped by Henderson’s business office and told him they found a horse.
“Ok, go down to my bank manager and get a cheque,” was all he said.
The price tag on the horse (Vizzi Hanover) was $140,000 and Henderson didn’t even ask for the horse’s name.
In 1995, Mike was thinking about not taking a horse for the Gold Cup but his daughter Laura – who was 12 at the time – was certain Sandy Hanover should make the trip. After drawing into the final and giving Mike his fifth Gold Cup & Saucer driving win (more than any other driver), it appears Laura was right.
All told, between 1973 and 2007 Mike would race in the Gold Cup final 29 times. Many people would go on to dub Mike ‘Mr. Gold Cup & Saucer’ but Mike doesn’t consider himself that.
“No, no, there has been a lot of people race in the Gold Cup & Saucer,” Mike says.
Recently, Mike has seen some talented drivers pass through his barn, most notably Mark and Anthony MacDonald, who both worked for Mike in their teens.
“He made me,” Anthony says of Mike. “He made Mark, he would make something out of anybody who had anything to do with him. I don’t think you could walk around the world and find a guy like Mike MacDonald.”
“He would do anything for anyone. It wouldn’t matter if you just had a fight with him last night and you needed a set of harness because you didn’t have one. If you asked, the shiniest set of harness would be hanging on your crossties the next morning.”
Mark says Mike was a teacher to him, and considering Mark’s numerous Canadian dash winning titles, he must’ve taught something right.
“Mike taught me a lot about racing, and about everything really,” Mark says. “He definitely taught me a lot about training when I opened my own stable. He always presents himself good too, he’s got a lot of class.”
Presentation was something Mike had to pound into Mark the first day the youngster was set to go for his qualifying drives. Mark was driving two for Mike and rushed to the paddock after getting the barn work done, but still had his sneakers on. As soon as Mike saw Mark, he swiftly sent him back to the barn to put driving boots on.
The biggest part was Mike showed Mark he could make it in the business.
“He gave me a lot of confidence in myself. That’s something I didn’t have when I started working for him.”
Mark doesn’t know how exactly how Mike did it.
“It’s just the way Mike is,” Mark says. “If you were working for him and you did a good job he’d tell you.”
Anthony can’t help but agree.
“Whether you liked him or whether you hated him, if you knew Mike MacDonald you would learn something about harness racing.”
Even Mark Ford credits MacDonald for getting him started.
“I was 22-23 at the time and he was always very good to me,” Ford says. “When I was just getting started in New York he was just one of those guys that was always around. He helped me quite a bit, he helped me get started, raced a few horses for me, and was there for me when I really needed it. I’m very thankful to him for what he did for me to get me started.”
MacDonald has now moved back to P.E.I. to retire due to the state of racing in Quebec.
“Montreal was dead, it was gone,” Judy says, “There was nothing there for us.”
Now Mike is just enjoying the East Coast breeze and thinking back on a career most would only dream of having.

The Ladies man

By Nicholas Oakes

It was early August 2006 and everyone thought the Dream Maker series final was over Lilsharkshooter’s head, but the little horse had a bit more in the tank. The Cams Card Shark pacer – with driver Luc Ouellette – rallied from last to open up by three lengths to win the $53,400 final in 1:54.1, much to the surprise of owner Jerry Renkers – of Surrey, B.C.’s Lil Dude Ranch.
“We were in shock because things were looking pretty gruesome coming around the last turn,” Renkers says. “It was really unbelievable how fast he went at the end. Everyone was in shock, even the announcer.”
Even though a $2 win ticket paid $49.50 Lilsharkshooter wasn’t shocked, he was just showing off for the ladies.
Current trainer Scott Knight has seen first hand the effect women have on the little horse, in the form of one of his grooms.
“He’s kind of a funny horse because he loves women. Morgan Devlim does everything to him. She’s grooms him, jogs him, and trains him. The only thing I do is drive him. He loves her.”
Despite this, the pacer has still had one thing allude him, a win in the Open class at Fraser Downs, but Knight has a plan.
“If I could get a lady driver then maybe that is the key to winning the open with him,” he laughs.
Lilsharkshooter started his career in Ontario at Mohawk raceway under trainer Chad Schmiedge where he raced in the consolation of the Metro Stake. In his three-year-old campaign – with conditioner Jeff Stone – he won an elimination of the Western Canadian Pacing Derby at Northlands Park and raced in a heat of the Confederation Cup at Flamboro Downs.
He was in a lot of the big dances but luck was never on his side.
“He started off really good but then things kind of went south,” Renkers says. “I figured he’d be a top stake horse. He did ok, but he didn’t meet my expectations.”
Despite it all, Lilsharkshooter has managed to bank over $226,000 and take a mark of 1:52.1 at Woodbine, earning him the right to be spoiled a little.
“He loves black licorice,” Knight explains. “We have a tub of it and when I first got him he would just kind of dip in and take one at a time, and now you can’t get it near him or he’s going to take the whole thing, he just pigs right out on it.”
One day the management at Fraser Downs wanted to show off some race horses to the public so Lilsharkshooter made the trip to see his adoring fans..
“He was really good. He loved the attention,” Knight remembers but recalls the pacer getting a touch hungry during the visit.
“He ate all their flowers! But only the yellow ones,” he laughs. “I had to stand between him and the grandstand but he still ate about four big yellow ones. I felt bad for the guys that worked their because they had to plant all new flowers.”
Renkers all ready has some tentative plans for Lilsharkshooter’s future.
“If he stays sound we would like to race him two or three more years, then do some breeding.”

Nick Steward

By Nicholas Oakes

When Robert Shepherd would go to drive at tracks throughout Southwestern Ontario, he would always see a kid with a blue and white suit warming up horses. Now when he look over at the other drivers behind the gate he sees that same person lining up with him, and putting up numbers to prove he deserves to be there.
Nicholas Steward is his name, and at 18-years-old he’s showing the world that driving horses is his game.
Steward lives in London, Ont., and started around horses at eight-year-old with his grandfather – Larry Fitzsimmons. He jogged his first horse – Keep On Laughing – when he was 10, and this started dreams of becoming a driver..
Then in his early teens he started warming up horses for his grandfather’s stable, then things took off.
“I just started with grandpa and then it became wintertime and people didn’t want to do it because it was cold,” Steward recalls.
Then Steward was certain driving horses was going to be his future.
“I wanted him to go to school but he wouldn’t,” Fitzsimmons – a winner of over $5.6 million training – says of his grandson. “He had in his mind he wanted to be a driver. He’s holding up his end of the bargain, he’s doing good for himself.”
Good is definitely being modest, as in his first four months driving Steward recorded 51 wins and banked $400,000 in purses. But before all that was day one, and Steward’s nerves were just fair.
“But I had the seven hole so it wasn’t too bad. I drove three that night and I didn’t do very good,” Steward says honestly.
His first win was at Western Fair Raceway with Rhianne – trained by his stepfather Ray Bunn.
“I just sat in the two hole and got lucky,” Steward remembers. “I pulled out early too, I wouldn’t do that anymore.”
It was a great feeling to be in the winner’s circle, Steward says.
“It was good hearing Frank Salive, he kind of praises you up and gives good remarks about your drive.”
In his short time, Steward has recorded three win performances on two occasions – at Dresden Raceway and Hiawatha Horse Park.
“It’s always a thrill to win a race. You learn from all the older guys out there and you learn from your mistakes too.”
“He’s learning,” Shepherd comments, “he’s getting better all the time. He can carry (the horses he drives) along a long way.”
A normal summer week for Steward would see him spending Monday night at Grand River, Tuesday afternoon at Woodstock then back at Grand River at night, Wednesday at Dresden, Thursday at Hiawatha Horse Park, Friday night at Grand River, Saturday afternoon at Woodstock then the night at Hiawatha Horse Park, and Sunday afternoon action at Clinton.
With that hectic schedule, plus jogging for his grandfather in the morning what does he do with his small amount of spare time?
“Sleep, I like to sleep,” Steward laughs.
“Everybody likes him, he’s a likeable kid,” Fitzsimmons says. ” He’s got a nice smile.”

Prairie pride

By Nicholas Oakes

Darryl Mason scrolls down the Standardbred Canada results page to see that his home bred Friendly Farmer has yet again beat a field of conditioned pacers at Woodbine, this time in 1:53.1. This is what makes it all worth it for him, although he wishes there was that same kind of opportunity home in Manitoba.
But with only 22 race dates a year in the prairie province, he has to keep plugging away doing what he loves: breeding and racing horses.
Mason grew up – and still lives – in Killarney, Manitoba. His family was involved in racing which prompted him to get his driver’s license.
“I liked driving right from the start,” Mason says. “It was thrilling to get out there and drive your own horses instead of standing at the sidelines and watch someone else do it all the time.”
It was just pure fun for Mason with little stress involved.
“I was young then and didn’t have too many people relying on me.”
Now – over twenty years later – he does have people relying in him, with three children and his wife Sherri. Together they operate a massive breeding operation with seven stallions and 106 broodmares. Not to mention the 14 horses that are racing on the side.
Sherri doesn’t mind working with her husband everyday one bit.
“We get along pretty good,” she says. “Sometimes we have differences of opinion but we get along. You have to when you live together and work together.”
The biggest inspiration in Darryl’s life in career is hands down his wife, he says.
“She’s always been there to encourage me and support the decisions that I make.”
Friendly Farmer was a definite highlight of their careers. The Mason’s bred the horse and shared ownership of him with Donald Anness.
“He was a nice horse right from day one,” Darryl says.
And what was so nice about Friendly Farmer?
“He could beat everybody,” he laughs. “He knew what to do as soon as he went behind the gate the first time. He was a natural.”
“We owned the sire, we owned the mother, and we owned the mother’s sire,” Darryl explains. “We were always proud of that horse because he was a true home bred.”
In his spare time in the winter, Darryl likes to curl and snowmobile but in the summer it’s racing horses – which can have it’s strange and comical moments.
Post parading in a race in Portage La Prairie Darryl’s horse locked on a head pole and stopped dead still in front of the grandstand. Then deciding that he didn’t like the head pole, he reared straight up in the air and landed on top of the outside fence.
“There I was, stuck there,” Darryl remembers.
Once help came and they got the bike off the horse, he jumped all the way over the fence.
“Then there was no way to get him out of the grandstand area. We had to wait for someone to come and bring a key to unlock the gate.”
Earlier that same day, the horse got his halter off and spun around on the crossties, got his halter off, and got onto the golf course with his harness still on.
“He was having a bad day,” Darryl laughs.

The little horse that could

By Nicholas Oakes

It was driver’s challenge day in Newfoundland and Todd Trites was thinking he didn’t come all the way from Fredericton, New Brunswick just sit at the back of the pack all day.

“If they’ve got four feet and a heartbeat, I’m going, boys,” grinned Jody Jamieson at the group of drivers, so Trites knew he would have to roll out hard to make front with Machthemoment from post five. But it was The Smileforme Memorial Pace (named in honour of the horse who was arguably the best in the Atlantic province before his untimely death) and this tiny son of Mach Three was ready to shine.

Machthemoment busted out off the gate and was stung to the quarter in 28 by arch-rival Whitesand Dimples (driven by Brad Forward), before he cleared to the lead and kept on trucking to a 2:00.3, two-length victory — his eighth of the year. “He’s a real nice horse,” Trites said afterward. “He’s not big but he can motor —  just a nice, handy little half-mile horse.”

Standing in the winner’s circle, it was apparent. The torch had been passed and Newfoundland racing now belonged to the Machthemoment. But despite the excitement, owner Jeanette Newell was probably thinking not about the present moment, but about the autumn previous — a time when she would’ve laughed if someone told her she’d soon have the top horse on the rock.

———

Jeanette grew up an hour outside of St. John’s in North River, Newfoundland and her father — Gerard Newell — always dabbled in horses. But horses drifted off the radar for Jeanette as she moved to Ontario out of high school, and then eventually back to Newfoundland. “I came home nine years ago but worked all the time and on the weekends I was just enjoying being home,” she admits. “Then dad bought Mcoddie so I went to the track to see her race and fell right back in love with it.

“Dad was always bragging, and I’ll admit Mcoddie was pretty good last year,” Jeanette adds. “He was just joking around and he said ‘too bad you don’t have one that can beat mine.’

“‘Oh yeah?’ I said. ‘You just wait and see.’”

So the Newells logged onto TrackIT, searching for a horse; they found one they liked, and sent good friend Rod Forward on a hunt for the owners. Meanwhile, in Ontario, Machthemoment had just over $53,000 made and a mark of 1:56.3 at Flamboro while travelling through the barns of trainer Brian MacInnis, then owner Brett Riley at Kawartha Downs.

Riley thought the horse was better than he showed, as in 15 starts he had mixed results. When the phone call from Newfoundland came, Machthemoment was considered sold on the spot. “I needed a bit of money at the time and he was one of the horses that wasn’t getting in,” Riley recalls. “If things had been different I never would have sold him. I told them when they bought him, he just wasn’t suiting what I needed at the time, but I really like the horse.”

The trainer especially liked his personality. “He’s a smart little horse, always bright-looking. Just the kind of horse that has some personality and had some brains to him. He’s one of those horses that will give you all he got.”

Machthemoment’s racing future is a long one, Riley predicts. “He’ll be a horse that I could see racing until he’s 14. Clean-legged little fella and he’s got the body style that should hold up to race. He’s a gritty little bugger. He’s not a tall horse but he’s compact. I made sure they knew that before they bought him. I didn’t want him landing out there and them saying ‘What did we buy? A little runt?’”

It’s good to see they’re having lots of fun with him, he adds. “There are a couple of fellas that come around my barn and we’re always saying ‘did you see how that Machthemoment did?’ We get a great kick out of seeing him doing so good.”

Trucker Ron Gass was hired to pick the horse up in Ontario, and the transaction showed just how anxious Jeanette was to get everything done.”You’ve got to get me Ronnie Gass’s address, I have to pay him!” an anxious Jeanette said to Forward one day last fall.

“Relax, Ronnie is good,” Forward assured her. “You don’t even have the horse picked up yet!”

 

———–

Rod Forward met Gerard Newell at the track in St. John’s several years back and the first time Forward drove a horse for him, the results were less than stellar. “That wasn’t a very good experience,” Forward admits. “It was the last time that horse raced. He made a nasty break at the half but it wasn’t too bad, so I finished the mile. When he went to pull up, though, he could hardly walk.”

The horse broke a coffin bone but the friendship between the two Newfoundlanders continued. In 2008, Gerard asked Forward to look at a mare on a trip to Inverness. “If she looks all right, buy her,” Gerard told Forward as he handed over the money. Forward saw Mcoddie and liked her, so he did as he was told — he bought her, and trucked her to Newfoundland.

It was December of the same year that Machthemoment joined the mare at the Newells’ North River farm, where the pair jogs their horses around a small one-eighth mile track. The two horses were trained down and after a qualifier in 2:06, Machthemoment was entered in the ‘C’ Class at St. John’s.

“I was thinking: ‘C’ Class, okay, let’s see what he can do,'” Jeanette recalls. “He went out in that C Class and made it look easy in 2:04.2. I was floored.”

The next week was the race they’d all been waiting for, as Mcoddie and Machthemoment drew in together.

Jeanette had her plan set and explained it to Forward. “I already told dad… if they’re in together I don’t care who I beat, as long as I beat your horse.”

And as for who was driving who, Jeanette had an answer for that too. “You’re driving my horse and I don’t care who drives his,” Forward recalls her saying with a chuckle.

“They’re there to have a bit of fun,” he shrugs. “If you can’t have some fun what’s the sense of being in it?”

Forward’s brother Rob drove Mcoddie, but Machthemoment put in another impressive performance, beating the mare — who wound up third.When Jeanette saw her father after the race she put her hands up in the air in victory but he just turned around and walked away. Despite the show he puts on, though, Gerard finds it all fun for him and his daughter. “She was happy,” he grins. “He’s a hard little horse to beat.”

He’s the first to admit he’s just content to be involved. “It’s a nice sport to be in. There’s not a lot of money in Newfoundland but it’s a nice way to spend a Sunday evening.”

————

Machthemoment would go on to win in 2:00.3, defeating the well-known Whitesand Dimples.

“He circled Whitesand Dimples before she even knew he was passing,” laughs Forward. “He’s quick footed. He’s a real nice rig to drive. He’s a little horse on the track but if someone tries to pass him, he’ll give it his all.”

Clearly he’s learned his lesson. When the gelding first arrived, Forward definitely didn’t expect to see that kind of speed out him. “I thought he’d go in 2:02-2:03. I looked at his lines and two starts before he won in 1:57, but that’s Georgian Downs, not Newfoundland! So I figured you could tack on five extra seconds, easy.”

Although Machthemoment has been getting all the limelight, Forward still has a soft spot for his stablemate, too. “She’s lazy,” grins Forward, “but she can finish if you can keep her up close and keep her awake.”

In the end, though, it’s the owners that make it so enjoyable to drive these two, says Forward. “They’re easy going people. I don’t have any problems with them. They just want to come in and see the races.”

And the friendship is mutual. “He’s a fine gentleman and a fine man to talk to,” smiles Gerard. “I think he’d get along with the devil, that man.”

As for the future of Machthemoment, (as usual) Jeanette has it all laid out — and she doesn’t plan on parting with him. Ever. “He’s in his last master’s hands now,” she insists. “He’ll race as long as he can then he`ll be home until he can`t be there anymore. Nobody else will ever have him, he’s excellent.”

Gerard has some plans for his own filly, as Mcoddie is just returning from a sick break. “I’m gonna wait and get her good,” Gerard says, “then maybe give Machthemoment another run.”

So at least for the Newells (and for some other fans on the rock) Machthemoment has been living up to his name — he’s definitely been giving them some good times to remember.

‘Till racing do we part

By Nicholas Oakes

Darla MacEachern was running up the Charlottetown backstretch to get to her horse Gentle Sam, who had pulled up just before the three-quarter pole and was standing on three-legs.
“Darla it’s not good. I think he broke his leg,” driver Walter Cheverie told her.
Gentle Sam had to be put down and even though she only had the horse for a month she couldn’t bear to watch.
“I was too upset,” she recalls, “but I did cut off a braid of his hair and I still have it. It was a pretty sad night.”
That was a definite bump in the road and made harder because she lost another horse (Donmar H) the year before when he broke a bone during a race in Summerside but it hasn’t been the norm for Darla.
She grew up in Tyne Valley in western P.E.I., with her father Duane who trains a small stable.
She remembers helping her father at just five-years old and getting a little too close to some of the horses.
“Sometimes dad would catch me underneath them brushing them off,” she grins.
When she was 12, William Companion (a friend of her father’s) had Woodbine Free-for-aller Scarlet And Gold on P.E.I., for the Gold Cup & Saucer and one day she got to jog him. Companion said the horse would jog fine as long as he was alone on the track but unluckily for Darla a horse came out onto the track to train, and Scarlet And Gold decided to do a training trip of his own the wrong way of the track.
“I thought I was going to die,” Darla remembers. “He was trying to train with them.”
She’s now 21 and works as a receptionist for a family doctor in Summerside, P.E.I.
“(I like) the interaction with the people,” Darla says. “They’re sick and you’re helping people and hopefully they’re better when they leave.”
Although she likes dealing with people, she loves dealing with horses and her favourite, hands down, is Invitational pacer Porthill Alf (1:53.1, 48 wins, $132,000)- trained by her father.
“I like watching him race because he’s always there. He can leave and he can finish.”
But there are some things not to like about the son of Largo.
“His mood swings. But if you have treats he’s always in a good mood,” she laughs. “He’s kicked me a few times but we’re good now.”
Lately, Darla has tried her hand driving on the P.E.I. matinee circuit, where she won her first race with Stagecoachgambler at her home track of Tyne Valley.
“It was exciting. I like the adrenaline rush behind the gate and during the race.”
When it comes to Darla and how much she loves horse racing you just have to look at her schedule next summer.
“I’m getting married in July, but it’s on a Friday so I can go to the races Saturday.”
But is there any chance of her honeymoon starting Saturday?
“Depends what’s racing,” she grins.
For her Fiancé Justin’s sake, he better hope Porthill Alf isn’t in to race with a good class and an inside post, because it means his wife won’t miss it for the world.

Harold Shepherd

By Nicholas Oakes

“Don’t panic Harold, don’t panic.”
Harold Shepherd still remembers the gesture and words of Francis McIsaac (top driver in the Maritimes before his tragic death in 1979) during Harold’s first drive aboard Abbner Night – when he was just 16-years-old.
“Francis sat on the outside of me and guided me through the whole mile,” Harold says. “I finished second.”
That was the beginning but it was far from the end for Harold, 50, as he’s made over 280 trips to the winner’s circle and banked $275,000 racing almost exclusively on P.E.I. – and mostly with his own stable.
Shepherd grew up in Charlottetown and his spare time saw him at the race track helping his father George ‘Buddy’ Shepherd with the barn work.
Eventually the lure of the horses was too much and Harold got his driver’s license dreaming (like everyone else) of making it big.
“All the young fellas around here wanted to drive. That was our dream: To drive in the Gold Cup & Saucer.”
He worked for top horsemen like Gary MacDonald, Joe Hennessey, and Earl Smith before settling down with his wife Francis and getting a full-time job with the provincial Department of Transportation, but horses were still in the picture. He remembers having 12 horses and doing them all after work.
“It was hectic. You were there half the night.”
His biggest driving win was in a $12,000 Lady Slipper division with trotter Pedro but when it comes to Harold’s involvement in racing his pride has been his sons Robert, 29, Steven, 25, and Patrick, 17.
Robert has recently established himself as a top Ontario ‘B’ track catch driver with just shy of 1000 wins life and over $7 million in purses. At first, Harold’s nerves took a beating when Robert jumped in the bike.
“I was more nervous standing at the fence watching someone else drive my horse than I would be out there in the race.”
Then, when Robert made the move to Alberta Harold was sad to see him go but knew he had to do it.
“Bottom line, on the Island there’s no money in the race game. Like Robert said, up in Ontario it’s a business.”
Business or not, Harold still gets nervous watching his son race.
“Even now sitting watching the computer you’re still nervous watching him. After the spills he had, why wouldn’t you.”
Harold clearly remembers this past March, sitting home excited that his son was driving almost a full card at Woodbine (including a drive in the Ontario Boys final), then seeing him piled up in one of the worst racing accidents recently in the country – triggered by Warp Speed and Mario Baillargeon.
“When it happened I said ‘he’s all right,’ then we watched it again and I saw it. It makes it even worse when you can’t get a hold of anybody.”
Currently, Harold trains a stable of five along with son Patrick. Between that, playing cards, and watching Robert race nearly every night of the week it’s enough to keep Harold busy and content.
“You got to love the game or you won’t be in it. It’s like the old fellas used to say ‘enjoy your ups because there’s a lot more downs.’”

Big Money: Mister Big

By Nicholas Oakes

The $500,000 Ben Franklin final was going behind the gate. Harrah`s Chester track announcer James Witherite-Rieg expected nothing short of a clash of the titans, and Brian Sears had a game plan that was sure to deliver.
The favourites were Mister Big (driven by Sears) with the rail and from post four was Ron Pierce and Art Official – the horse that shockingly upset Somebeachsomewhere in his only loss – but Mister Big wasn’t about to let that happen to him.
“I knew if Ronnie crossed over too easy with Art Official it was gonna be too hard on my horse to make up any ground,” says Sears.
When the wings folded Sears left out, trying to push the pace and keeping Foiled Again (Yannick Gingras) out long enough to force Art Official to post a 25.2 first quarter. Mister Big then drafted to the outside first up but took his time coming next to the front ending Art Offical, until there was less than a quarter of a mile left.
“Three-quarters in 1:20.4. Art Official up the inside, Mister Big on the outside, the battle we’ve been waiting for,” Witherite-Rieg said to the harness racing world that was waiting intently to see who would come out on top. “They’re in mid-stretch and Mister Big pokes a head in front. Mister Big and Art Official – and Mister Big wins the Franklin!”
The time flashed up: 1:48 – equalling Artistic Fella’s world record time on a 5/8’s track.
“That was a dazzling mile,” Sears says. “First up, stared them down, and kept coming.”
That kind of monster wasn’t what Tim Pinske was expecting to get while he looked through the consignment at the Kentucky Standardbred sale. He wanted something to race in the Ontario Sires Stakes and layed eyes on a colt by Grinfromeartoear out of Worlds Sweetheart – a well bred Jate Lobell mare with a less than stellar career on the track (she earned just $750 racing).
“He was a good sized horse,” Pinske recalls of the colt before he bought him for $55,000.
Breeder Kentuckiana Farm then bought back into the colt with a 25 per cent share.
“(Mister Big) was a great looking individual,” recalls Ken Jackson, co-owner of Kentuckiana Farms. “We have an affinity to Jate (Lobell). We find he is one of the greatest broodmare sires the sport has ever seen.”
“We were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.”
In his first year racing for Pinske, Mister Big banked $125,440 and took a mark of 1:53 in a leg of the Dream Maker series at Mohawk with driver Phil Hudon.
“He had a great attitude and a great gait,” Pinske remembers.
In his three-year-old campaign things weren’t quite working out as planned as he had just $124,581 earned after finishing a disappointing fifth in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super final (won by Doonbeg). Then the decision was made to enter the horse in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine and Jody Jamieson was selected to drive, and he didn’t let them down. Mister Big posted a 42-1 upset in 1:49.2 (shaving two full seconds off his lifetime mark) and putting away a field that included top sophomores Artistic Fella, Total Truth, and Shark Gesture.
The next week – in the final – Mister Big finished second to Shark Gesture, ending his season with $312,433 earned on the year and $437,873 banked lifetime.
Jackson then figured the right move was to sell, so the next stop on Mister Big’s journey was the Harrisburg sale.
“Coming off a first in the elim and a second in the final it was an opportune time to sell,” Jackson says.
Meanwhile, Joe Muscara was on the hunt for a race horse prospect but had his mind made up and gave trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. his instructions: get Mister Big.
“He was the only one I wanted,” Muscara says, and after paying $255,000 for the horse and watching him put $3.5 million in the bank, he obviously knows what he wants..
As for Pinske, he isn’t bothered at all by the success that Mister Big has enjoyed since leaving his barn.
“We made money and Virgil made more,” Pinske shrugs. “That’s all right, he’ll be back for more.”
Jackson echoes the sentiment.
“In this game, if you sell one and it goes on and does good and you let it bother you, you won’t last long,” he says. “You wish well onto anyone who buys one from you.”
Jackson takes an extra amount of pride in Mister Big’s accomplishments since his sire (Grinfromeartoear), mother (Worlds Sweetheart – who is currently in foal to Art Major), and maternal grand-dam (Before Hours), were all bred by Kentuckiana Farms.
“It’s great to know that one you raised is the richest stallion of all time. It’s wonderful, that’s what we strive for. A lot of people say the cream always rises to the top and we believe that holds true with pedigrees.”
Coming back to race in January after the sale, Mister Big posted wins in the Willowdale series final at Woodbine, then won the Aquarius series final at The Meadowlands.
Although it’s one you wouldn’t think of, Morgan recalls it as one of Mister Big’s best races in his career.
Tuffofthetoughest was on front and backed down the half in 57.2 with Mister Big sitting ninth. To make up any ground, Mister Big did the near impossible – he came a back half in 52.1 coming three-wide at the three-quarters to do it.
“That was a wicked mile,” says Morgan. “But the mile was only in 1:51.2 so people didn’t really notice. You really have to watch the race to see what he did.”
Mister Big then continued to roll, earning $1,345,840 and winning 12 races – including the Haughton final (1:48.2), the US Pacing Championship (1:47.4 – his lifetime record), and the Allerage at The Red Mile (1:48.1) – all the while being driven by David Miller.
When people think of Mister Big they think of him closing hard or grinding first over but he can fire off the front end as well as any horse, Morgan says.
You only have to go back to his elimination of the Haughton memorial in 2008 to see how right he is. That day, Mister Big was on top at every call, tripping the wire in 1:48.1.
“He’s got a big motor. It didn’t surprise me,” Sears says.
“The way he did it on the front end was a scary mile,” Morgan says. “Anything you throw at him, he adapts. I think that’s the sign of a great horse.”
All of 2008 showed how truly great he is, as Brian Sears jumped in the bike permanently.
“He’s got a great mouth, a great gait, and great desire to win,” Sears says. “He’s got all the assets of a champion. It’s an honour to drive a horse like that. It definitely instills you with a great deal of confidence.”
Mister Big won 11 of 14 starts including a nine race win-streak of the $600,000 Haughton final and $50,000 elimination, $332,000 US Pacing Championship, $702,000 Canadian Pacing Derby, $532,150 Breeders Crown, $56,650 Winbak pace at Delaware, $157,000 Allerage stake, and the $317,000 Bob Quillen Memorial final and $30,000 elimination. This gave him $1,570,067 for the season and $3,353,780 in lifetime earnings at the end of his five-year-old campaign and made Muscara realize the unthinkable was within in his grasps and Gallo Blue Chip’s $4,293,108 career earnings record was breakable.
“To race him this year that was a big priority,” Muscara says. “That record was in sight if he put together a season like he did the past year-and-a-half.”
In the barn, Morgan can’t find much to complain about when dealing with Mister Big but there is one thing to remember.
“He’s a stud and he knows it,” Morgan says. “He’ll definitely try to nip or bite at you but in a playful way.”
But overall, Mister Big knows what he’s doing.
“He’s the kind of horse that takes care of himself. He likes to lay down, and when he isn’t, he’s got his head out looking at everything.”
Conformation wise, Morgan describes him as thick, muscular, and wide but not overly tall.
“He looks like a body builder, really no flaws in his conformation at all.”
“As far as him as a horse, he’s just a trainer’s dream and a pleasure. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
His daily routine see him turned out every day, jogged, and sometimes swam – but seldom sees a fast mile in between starts.
“Those races that he’s got to prep for, it takes a lot of work all spring. He doesn’t need much work in between.”
His health has also held up well to date for Morgan and Muscara. The only times he’s shown sickness were in the 2008 American National final where he finished 8^th with his white blood count out of whack, and when he was 6^th in 1:47.3 to Won The West this year in the Breeders Crown.
So far this year, he has $638,497 made as of press time and has five starts left on his dance card if everything goes to plan – the Winbak on Jug day, the Allerage, the American National at Balmoral, and the elim and final of the Quillen Memorial – with the potential of breaking the record if he can put together wins in 2-3 of them.
Regardless of the outcome, Mister Big is slated to stand stud at Tara Hills in Port Perry, Ont., in 2010 – with shuttle duty to either Australia of New Zealand.
“He’s done enough and I think it’s time for him to take a little rest and have some fun,” Muscara says.
And would it be safe to assume Mister Big is the best horse Muscara has ever had?
“He may be the best horse anybody has ever had,” says Muscara.