"We knew he would be a nice colt, but as it turned out, he's got so much heart and so much desire. It's unreal."

For a Maritime-bred horse to make national headlines is a rare occurrence, never mind to do so routinely. But, then again, Woodmere Stealdeal was anything but ordinary in his rookie campaign, winning all 13 of his races, setting track records all throughout Atlantic Canada, and earning $68,646 for Nova Scotians Kevin Dorey and Bob Sumarah. Now, just under a month away from the targeted start of his three-year-old season, the gelded son of Prince Edward Island stallion Steelhead Hanover and Very Ideal Hanover is poised to write another round of headlines after a well-deserved winter off.

"He's had a great winter," Dorey told Trot Insider. "We sent him away to a farm — it's something you'd see in Lexington, Kentucky. It was just a great farm. It was owned by the Sobey family. I called him and asked if they'd take 'Steal,' and they treated him like royalty for three months."

Since returning to the care of trainer Danny Romo in mid-January, Woodmere Stealdeal has trained back down to 2:07, and is gradually working toward his planned seasonal debut in the Dawn Bremner Memorial at Exhibition Park Raceway.

"We're going to qualify him in a couple weeks, and we're going to go from there. His first stakes race isn't until May 22, and we're not going to race him in overnight events," Dorey continued, citing the comparative lack of earning potential for Woodmere Stealdeal outside his stakes campaign. "There's not much sense getting him ready long before May 22. We want him tight for his first start."

However, the ever-changing public health climate may yet again foil Dorey, Sumarah and Romo's plans, as the reopening of the "Atlantic provinces bubble" has been shelved — at least temporarily.

"His first stakes race is in Saint John, but I'm not sure that's going to happen — because of the COVID situation, it's kind of touch and go. Even though in Nova Scotia and PEI we've been doing great with COVID, New Brunswick hasn't been so much. It's up in the air right now. Hopefully by May 22, New Brunswick will get things under control. Hopefully things will turn around."

From there, Woodmere Stealdeal is likely to compete — and thrive — on the Atlantic Sires Stakes circuit again at three, while also competing in other stakes races throughout the Maritime provinces — much like he did in his rookie season, which he capped with back-to-back 1:54.1 miles at Charlottetown and Truro.

And although the star performer's lucrative racing opportunities "down east" will have largely run out by October, Dorey is confident that 'Steal' can take on the world.

"You see a lot of Grand Circuit horses come out of Ohio and Indiana — they're not the big Pennsylvania- or New York-breds, but you do see a lot of horses come out of these smaller markets and make big-time Grand Circuit horses. Why not Nova Scotia? It can happen. If you've got the right type of horse — I've been around horses since I was four years old and I'm just turning 60 — but I've never seen a Maritime-bred horse like him in my life."

If all goes to plan, Dorey hopes to campaign Woodmere Stealdeal on the Grand Circuit after his sophomore campaign concludes, citing his ability to handle the turns on half-mile tracks and the abundance of high-dollar races availed four-year-olds in the States on the smaller ovals. But one thing is certain: Dorey has no plans to divest his stake in the best horse he's had in over a half century in the Standardbred game.

"I'd sell a percentage of him and send him away and let him see what he can do, but I don't think we're ever going to sell him completely because he's too good a horse," Dorey said. "Once the stakes races are done, he's too good for the Maritimes, and there's no money to be made when the stakes races are over. He's got to go on to bigger and better places, and I think he can compete with the best of them."

But for now, there are still plenty of memories to be made — and to be enjoyed.

"We don't race for much money like they do in Ontario, but we've got some pretty good stakes races in the Maritimes. We just want to watch him race. The fans love watching him race; my family loves watching him race."