Three-year-old Barber Pole became the North American season's leader last weekend with a 1:49 victory at the Meadowlands. The performance surprised many, but not trainer George Teague, Jr.
Maybe some were surprised because Barber Pole, a homebred of Gary and Barbara Iles, made five starts at two and kept a relatively low profile. The bay Badlands Hanover colt has been pegged at odds of 40-1 in Trot Magazine's 2009 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book.
"I knew he was a nice horse and that there was some real quality there," Teague told Trot Insider. "We consciously didn't want to race him too much [at two] -- we were always focused on his three-year-old season."
The colt made his pari-mutuel debut September 25 at Harrington Raceway and followed that win up with two other victories in conditioned events at Chester Racetrack. The colt then carried his unbeaten streak into the eliminations for the Matron Stakes. In the elim, Barber Pole cut the fractions and finished a very respectable second to If I Can Dream in a World Record 1:50.4. Barber Pole again finished second to the same foe in the subsequent final and was then shelved for the rest of the season.
Even though Barber Pole's performances in the Matron were solid to say the least, Teague told Trot Insider that the colt was not even at his best.
"Just like others, he battled a lot of sickness last year," Teague explained. "He was sick around the time of the Matron. He didn't get much better over the course of those couple of weeks, so we decided to not race him afterward in the Breeders Crown."
The decision to put the colt away in good shape looks to be paying off for Teague et al, who now have a fresh and talented stakes colt for the lucrative and winding stakes trail.
"The one thing that we've noticed the most with him this year is that he's been a lot quieter coming back. There's a little more maturity in him and we've re-rigged him some as well. We've trained him back down this year so he can be rated better, and he's really responded well that way."
One has to look no farther than Barber Pole's two pari-mutuel lines this season to see that Teague's technique has worked with the colt. The colt's first pari-mutuel outing resulted in a strong overland victory, clocked in 1:51.4, over Chester Racetrack. The second was the 1:49 mile at the Meadowlands, where Barber Pole and pilot Tim Tetrick paced off to the five-length win.
"I wasn't surprised by the mile at the Meadowlands," Teague told Trot Insider. "He's a fast horse. If he's 100 per cent and 'all systems go,' he's something to watch.
"He's going to the Hempt elims at Pocono next and then hopefully to the final," said Teague, who told Trot Insider that he is sending a handful of NA Cup eligibles to the Hempt Memorial. "We have some options with his schedule after that. He definitely has a full plate this year."