Keep It Real made the final start of his racing career a winning one as he scored with driver Ross Leonard in the $15,000 Polar Vortex Pacing Series Final at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino on Tuesday, April 22.
Using a well-timed rally late in the lane, Keep It Real scored in a seasonal-best time of 1:54.1.
Trained by Leonard, the eight-year-old horse earned his second consecutive win at Hoosier Park.
“He was a terrific horse to have in the barn,” noted Leonard. “We wanted him to go out in a winning way and we had our eye on this series once we found out about it.
“He is a classy horse, everything about him,” he continued. “He was a pleasure to be around and a pleasure to drive. He is the type of horse you like to have in the barn and I’m glad to see him get the retirement he so very much deserves.”
Keep It Real will retire from the racing scene with 23 career victories from 75 starts, finishing on the board in 68% of his lifetime outings. While earning just over $600,000 throughout his career, Keep It Real established his lifetime mark of 1:49 as a four-year-old at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
The veteran pacer, who was unraced as a two-year-old because of a foot injury, learned his early lessons in the stable of Nova Scotia-based trainer Emmons MacKay for owner Wayne Whebby and was trained in Ontario by Joey Shea into his four-year-old year.
He raced amongst the likes of champions Shark Gesture, Well Said, If I Can Dream and harness racing’s richest pacer, Foiled Again, throughout his career. Keep It Real also raced in some of harness racing’s biggest races, including the 2010 installment of Hoosier Park’s signature race, the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational. He was a winner of the Burlington Stakes as a sophomore in 2009 and a top-three finisher in the $1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup.
A $45,000 yearling purchase at the Standardbred Horse Sale, Keep It Real is a son of Real Artist. His mother, Magical Leah, was the 2002 New York Sire Stakes three-year-old pacing filly champion. His great-grandmother, Goddess Supreme, was the mother of Dignatarian, who won the 1984 Champlain Stakes and earned just shy of $1 million in his career.
Currently owned by Gregory, Tracy and Taylor Samples of Indianapolis, Keep It Real will retire to stud duty for the 2014 breeding season in Indiana and remain in their care.
(With files from Hoosier Park)