Richard Moreau tried the tuxedo on again this week, just in case. It still fits "not too badly at all," so he won't need a replacement for his fifth consecutive O'Brien Awards gala as a Trainer of the Year finalist.
He's won it the last three years, the first trainer to do so three years running.
"Records like that don't really matter much to me. If I win again, good, and if I don't, doesn't matter. The key is that I still like what I'm doing. I feel 42...maybe even 38," said the tireless 52-year-old Quebec native, whose high-turnover stable races at numerous tracks and in 2016 achieved a new peak in purse earnings with $4 million.
He also scored his 5,000th win as a trainer last year, but the highlight of his year was something else: having champion pacing mare Anndrovette entrusted to him for races in Ontario.
"She didn't win but it really touched me that they sent a horse like that to me to train," said Moreau.
Horses like Evenin of Pleasure, Sandbetweenurtoes and Gerries Sport were standouts of the barn in 2016, but Moreau isn't sentimental about racehorses.
"On average, 30 go in and out each month...about one a day," he said. "My stock is higher quality than it was but I have no champions. I just try to be consistent. It can be just as satisfying. It is for me. I'm lucky to have a good team [of 12] as well. Some have been with me 30 years. We understand each other without even saying anything."
Moreau, who has a 45-acre farm in Puslinch, Ont., uses longtime collaborator and O'Brien finalist Sylvain Filion as his main driver, but emerging Quebec driver Louis-Philippe Roy -- a 2016 finalist for the Future Star award -- caught his eye and may also get some work from Moreau in Ontario this year.
"He's young, he's light and he has the desire," Moreau said.
The 2016 O'Brien Award winners will be announced at the annual Black Tie Gala on Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale Hotel in Mississauga, Ont.
For a full list of 2016 O'Brien Award finalists, click here. For details about the Black Tie Gala and how to purchase tickets, click here.
(Trot Insider exclusive by Paul Delean)