“He’s one of those horses that just seems to come together and he’s made it count. We thought we had a little more horse here than anybody thought.”

When Blair and Erna Corbeil attended the yearling sale in Harrisburg in 2013, they mistakenly thought they could safely stow the chequebook away. This might have been the case if Rubber Duck hadn’t caught their eye. Now their bargain purchase is competing with the continent's top sophomore trotters in Saturday's $233,000 Goodtimes Final at Mohawk Racetrack.

“I have to give my wife credit for that colt," said Blair. "We thought we had already purchased all of our yearlings in the main sale!”

A late foal, the Muscle Mass yearling was on the smaller side and placed in the Mixed Sale. Fellow bidders seemed to overlook him, leading the Corbeils to pick him up for $3,500.

“She convinced me to go look at the horse. I didn’t know why he was in the mixed, but we took a shot and got him for a reasonable price.

“I couldn’t see any real conformation issues; he’s grown up to be a good sized trotter. He’s got a great attitude and gait to match and I liked the breeding on him.”

Rubber Duck is just the second foal from SJs Caviar mare Ringside Rosie. She is a full sister to one-time world champion Higgen Viggorish.

Based in Alberta, the Corbeils shipped him to Western Canada to train. There he learned the ropes under the watchful eye of O’Brien Award winning horseman Kelly Hoerdt.

“When I brought him back here, I called Kelly (Hoerdt) who was in California at the time. Kelly loves trotters and when I told him he was getting a trotter to train, he was really excited and has done a great job with him.

“[Rubber Duck] had the privilege of being the only trotter west of Ontario for a long time,” said Corbeil with a laugh. “He gained a lot of interest out here and has a bit of a fan club now."

As Rubber Duck’s development progressed, the two-year-old was shipped to Ontario to train with Julie Walker. His pari-mutuel debut was put on hold until October, with his connections believing some additional time to grow would benefit him.

“Julie has done a great job with him and brought him along really nicely. From an owner’s perspective, I’m absolutely thrilled with the way she and J.B. Renaud taught him to race," stated Corbeil. "He’s finishing his miles nice and strong. It’s nice to see, especially with trotters where it seems you need a little more patience than with pacers. In this case, it seems to be paying off.”

Walker’s trainee may have only seen the track six times in his freshman campaign, but hit the board in four starts and picked up a mark of 1:57.4 over Woodbine. Returning to the track in May has proven to be lucrative, with the colt seeming to come into his own.

“He started off his three-year-old year quite successfully, but we were fortunate that he didn’t get thrown to the wolves first start back and could ease back in and keep competitive. The races only get tougher as the year goes on.”

With four starts under his belt in 2015, he visited the winner’s circle at The Raceway at Western Fair after clinching the first leg of his Ontario Sires Stakes Gold division as the post-time favourite. With two weeks rest, he then headed to Mohawk Racetrack with the hopes of on his recent success.

Rubber Duck made himself known in his Goodtimes elimination at Mohawk last Saturday, rounding out the triactor with a personal best performance, race timed in 1:54.1. Closing in :28.4, he earned a spot in the Goodtimes final, part of Mohawk’s stakes-stacked Saturday card.

His elimination was captured by current Hambletonian favourite Canepa Hanover, who was two seconds the best and will be a tough contender in the final. Though Corbeil recognizes the quality of the field, he is confident in his horse’s abilities and believes fans will see a competitive performance.

“I’m sure everyone is thinking the same thing, with (Jimmy) Takter campaigning some strong horses in the field. Regardless, it’s horse racing and anything can happen. That’s why they don’t write the cheques before the race!”

The youngster will look to make a name for himself on the stakes circuit as the year progresses, with many possibilities on the horizon.

“For now we’ve paid him up for the Ontario Sires Stakes. When we were staking him, we didn’t know what to expect. The OSS program is so strong, you don’t have to go too far outside of that.”

“We’re settled on OSS for now and we’re not regretting it. If we can do well in the Ontario program, hopefully we can pick up a little bit here and there and pay him into more as the year goes on.”

In addition to training Rubber Duck and her successful stable, Julie Walker is the President of Racing Under Saddle Ontario. A staunch advocate of the sport, she has been a key member in getting RUS off the ground in the province. Though Rubber Duck has not yet been trained under saddle, Corbeil believes it could be a part of his future.

“It’s good for the industry and anything we can do to promote racing in Canada, every owner should be doing it,” said Corbeil. “Every single owner and trainer should be asking themselves what they can do to help the industry get better and promote it.”

“If it’s thinking outside of the box like with Racing Under Saddle, then everyone should encourage that. We all need to play a strong role in that aspect.”

The Goodtimes is part of Mohawk’s fantastic Saturday card with the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup as its main event. The card also features the $479,000 final of the Fan Hanover Stakes (which will showcase three-year-old pacing fillies), the $350,000 final of the Roses Are Red (pacing mares), the $272,000 final of the Armbro Flight (trotting mares), the $100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup (invitational pacers) and the $75,000 North America Cup consolation.

TSN1 will televise the N.A. Cup final on Saturday. The race will also be featured on Sirius XM satellite radio during an edition of the ‘Saturday Night at the Races’ series. First-race post time for Mohawk’s Saturday card of racing is 6:30 p.m. The N.A. Cup has been slotted as Race 12 on the 15-dash card and has an approximate post time of 10:40 p.m.

To view the entries for Saturday's card at Mohawk or a free program for Mohawk’s Saturday card, courtesy of TrackIT, click on one of the following links: Saturday Entries -- Saturday Program Pages.

(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Hannah Beckett)