This morning, Trot Insider spoke with trainer Joey Shea, who is prepping three-time Atlantic Canada Horse of the Year Dunachton Gale for his Ontario debut Saturday, November 8 at Woodbine Racetrack.

According to Shea, the accomplished seven-year-old son of Drop Off arrived at the Baycairn Training Centre, near Campbellville, ON, on Halloween Day (last Friday) and everything has been smooth since his arrival.

"Brent MacGrath and Phil (Dunachton Gale's regular trainer, Phil Pinkney) are pretty close," Shea told Trot Insider. "Phil had been talking about bringing the horse out of the Maritimes to compete if he was good. Brent put in a good word for me and a short time later, Dunachton Gale was being sent into my care."

Dunachton Gale has drawn the rail for Woodbine's sixth race on Saturday -- a $19,000 conditioned event. Shea has listed Paul MacDonell to steer Dunachton Gale, who many argue is the finest of Drop Off's progeny.

Shea told Trot Insider that Dunachton Gale shipped well and seems to be feeling very well. "He's a nice horse to be around -- a good-feeling horse. He's a very well-mannered animal off the track and is just a true professional on it."

The first of Dunachton Gale's three Atlantic Canada Horse of the Year awards came in 2004 when the bay simply dominated the three-year-old ranks in Atlantic Canada. Continuing to roll off a freshman campaign in which he triumphed in nine of 10 starts, Dunachton Gale won 14 of his 16 starts at three and finished second in the other two. Dunachton Gale's purse earnings for his three-year-old season settled at $66,277 -- the most he has banked in his six seasons.

He assembled solid campaigns at four and five, but truly reaffirmed his dominant status in 2007 as a six-year-old.

Off an '06 campaign in which he was named Atlantic Canada's Horse of the Year for the second time, Dunachton Gale took no prisoners in '07, as he won 11 of 14 starts and never finished off the board. He captured a heat of the Gold Cup and Saucer over the Charlottetown Driving Park in a life's best 1:53.1, but his season was cut short after he suffered a chipped coffin bone while winning the Joe and Jennie Chippin Memorial at Fredericton Raceway in 1:55.1, just a tick off the track record.

When awards time rolled around, Dunachton Gale easily earned his third Horse of the Year award for his stellar '07 campaign.

Dunacton Gale entered the stud ranks this year, but before doing so, his owner, David Fillmore, had indicated that he could be returning the races. In February of this year, Fillmore told Atlantic Post Calls that he thought Dunachton Gale "could pick up a pretty nice record over that big track in Montreal." With the current uncertainty in the Quebec industry, Dunachton Gale may just be taking that attractive mark over Woodbine Saturday.

"I've been jogging him and I'm going to be training him tomorrow," said Shea, who currently trains eight head, six of which for his cousin, owner David Shea.

"It's going to be interesting to see how he adjusts to the big track Saturday," Shea told Trot Insider. "Phil (Pinkney) told me that as long as he's going good, he'll be racing in Ontario. That doesn't necessarily mean all of those starts will be at Woodbine."

Click here to view Woodbine's Saturday entries.