What’s the longest period of time you can remember a trainer going between wins? Months? Years? Maybe a decade or two? Just a few weeks ago, a Canadian conditioner with extensive roots in the game recorded his first training victory in 37 years.
The trainer in question is Langley, BC-based conditioner Jerome Bouvier, and the notable win came with Mystical Wonder in Fraser Downs’ Fillies and Mares Open Pace. The six-year-old daughter of Mister Big uncorked a gritty first-over move and got up to hit the wire first at 20-1. She returned $43.10 for the win.
As Bouvier has told Trot Insider, he took an extensive hiatus from the harness racing industry. The soon-to-be 59-year-old then returned and dabbled slightly in racehorse ownership at the turn of the century, but he really started to jump back into the ownership side roughly five years ago.
Bouvier’s stock has won races with him down as owner since 2013, but Mystical Wonder’s win on January 14 was his first win as a trainer since 1981.
Readers of Standardbred Canada’s award-winning Trot Magazine surely know Bouvier’s story, as he was profiled in the publication’s May, 2017 edition. Bouvier, who is in a wheelchair due to a serious waterskiing accident, has shown that the skill of horsemanship can prevail in this highly competitive industry. To read the Trot Magazine piece, click here.
Bouvier officially returned to the training ranks this past November. When asked how long it had been since he had been down as a trainer, he simply said, it’s been a while.
“I trained my own stable up to the early ‘80s, then in the late ‘90s I changed careers,” he said. “My last training win was late December, 1981 in Winnipeg at Assiniboia Downs. It was from there when I headed to California to work and enjoy myself. I didn’t train, I worked for Roger Stein and Nicole Tremblay. I drove one time and won with a longshot at 80-1, Glenn Inn, then unfortunately, 10 days later I was injured in a waterskiing accident. I had many wins as an owner, but January 14 was my first training win since ‘81.”
Bouvier told Trot Insider that he returned in 2000 with a horse, just to have fun, but it wasn’t until chatting with his father, Marcel Bouvier, in 2013, that he and a couple of friends decided to get back into the game as hobbyists.
“It didn’t take long to acquire three horses (which made for a total of seven). Three race horses, one two-year-old, a broodmare, yearling, and my wife's riding horse. Part of the motivation was to work with my father again. He stayed out west for a couple years. He’s now 85 and going strong. He is training our two-year-old filly Machazulu in Ontario. When he returned to Ontario, I took more of a hands-on role (in BC).”
When it comes to Bouvier’s return to the training ranks, he’s quick to point out that his accomplishments are nothing without the support of the strong team that he is part of.
“As for returning to the training ranks, I hired people to work for me as assistants,” Bouvier said. “I could not enjoy the sport without supportive family and friends. I am holding down a full time job as executive director of a Not For Profit. It wasn’t until this current race meet where I decided to have more of a hands-on role and go down as trainer. I enjoy sitting behind them in the summer at the farm, then I transfer them into the track during the race meet. Being in a wheelchair, I do enjoy the challenge of working with the horses as well as jogging them. I respect them, they respect me.”
Bouvier said that he has amazing people working for and with him. “My friend, Ann Cooper, is currently the caretaker at Fraser Downs where we work well together. I have my wife, Maryna, who is an incredible supporter and cares for our farm kids. She has a huge heart for the horses and her passion is the re-training of retired racehorses. I also have great partners that are also close friends. We enjoy it a lot and continue to have a nice small stable and support the harness racing industry.”
As for that January 14 win, when Keith Dicks came roaring home with Mystical Wonder, Bouvier got that rush – the rush that only a horseperson can get after their charge is first under the wire.
“As for the feeling when Mystical Wonder won the Fillies and Mares Open, that was very cool,” Bouvier said. “My first training win since ‘81. She was a nice purchase. I had my eye on her for a while, and in her second start she raced huge to get the win. I was very proud of her and the work our team did to help her adapt to the new track. It was a rush to see her win, and in such dramatic fashion.”
Speaking about his operation going forward, Bouvier touched on a few of his head – charges that, if all goes well, will be posing in the winner’s circle sooner than later.
“We have three racing and a two-year-old in training. I am especially excited about our two-year-old, Machazulu, who is by Mach Three and out of our Rocknroll Hanover mare Windsong Khloe. ‘Zulu’ is a beautiful filly and is training very well right now, thanks to my father Marcel.
“What is also exciting is we will be qualifying Windsong Khloe in a week. She is a big strong mare and still a ‘NW 3.’ We purchased her when she was three. She had an injury. We did race her three times then had a small surgery done. In that time off she gave us two fillies: Zulu, and her younger half-sister ‘Danzig’ (Danzig To Dharma, by Sunshine Beach). ‘Khloe’ is training well and if all works out and she races well, it would be awesome to see her on a race card next fall with her daughter (who would be at Fraser Downs for two-year-old BC stakes)."