Six-time Canadian trainer of the year Richard Moreau isn’t comfortable with comparisons to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, six-time Super Bowl champion.

“Not everybody likes Tom Brady. Some think he’s arrogant. I prefer a low profile. I’ve got both feet on the ground. I never forget my humble beginnings,” said Moreau, 55.

Unlike Brady, Moreau has a chance to increase his title total to seven. For an eighth consecutive year, he’s a finalist for the O’Brien Award as Canadian trainer of the year, which he’s won the last six times. His competition for 2019 is a neighbour and friend, fellow Quebec native Luc Blais, who trains exclusively for Montreal’s Determination Stable.

Blais’ operation is less than half the size of Moreau’s public stable and focused on stakes horses, among them Hambletonian champ Forbidden Trade. Moreau’s 60-horse contingent races steadily and is a core component of cards throughout Ontario. Moreau’s operation racked up 285 wins and more than $4.5 million in purses in 2019, just a tick below his career peak of $4.6 million in 2018.

Double A Mint, pictured in victory at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Moreau’s 2019 season included the campaigning of hard-knocking five-year-old Double A Mint, an O’Brien Award finalist for pacing mare of the year who finished in the top three in 24 of 32 starts and collected more than $268,000.

“She did it without racing in many stakes. She’s tough, a worker, an iron lady,” said Moreau, who retained the mare in his barn despite a change of ownership late last year. “It was gratifying to keep her,” he said. “You never want to lose a big piece like that.”

Moreau said he might one day change his focus to younger horses and cut back on overnight racing, but it won’t happen as long as what he’s doing now keeps generating results. “I can’t do both. Stability is what I’m after and we seem to have that, although nothing in racing is ever guaranteed,” he said.

Moreau said that, over time, he’s gotten over his shyness and come to enjoy the O’Brien Awards Gala, “because it reminds me how far I’ve come in the sport, and that’s a good feeling. But I’m still usually the first to leave.”

(A Trot Insider exclusive by Paul Delean)