Stonebridge Helios was a horse that John Pentland never expected to train. Fast forward less than a year, and he's now a horse that the longtime conditioner eagerly anticipated returning to his stable.
In 2021, two-year-old pacing colt Stonebridge Helios shone brightly with a perfect on-the-board record by going 4-2-1 in seven starts while banking $295,710. Those exploits resulted in an O'Brien Award nomination for the son of Sunshine Beach - Ken Doll J.
While Pentland wasn't all that surprised to hear his rookie star was a 2021 O'Brien Award finalist, he was quite surprised to receive the call about training the colt before his two-year-old season.
"John Fleischman asked me to take this horse that was about to qualify," Pentland told Trot Insider. "I was a little full, but I wasn't going to turn down a colt that might be able to race even in the [Ontario Sires Stakes] Grassroots. But then he said he was qualifying in a day or two, and then he qualified really well for Dirk Simpson...then it was like, ‘I'll find a stall here. No problem.’"
Off a 1:59 qualifier at The Meadows on June 15, Stonebridge Helios made his way north and qualified for his new conditioner 10 days later at Woodbine Mohawk Park. That performance, a 1:55.3 mile with Bob McClure at the controls on June 25, had Pentland eying the first OSS Gold event on July 3.
"I thought he was a Gold colt when he went across the wire in that qualifier when Bob and I qualified him. But he must have stepped on a rock or something in the paddock at home, and he ended up with a bruise kind of around his frock on a back foot."
That setback prompted Pentland to pivot to Plan B: the first Grassroots event three days after the Gold. "I just didn't have time to prep him for the Gold and I asked John and Dirk – I didn't want to step on anybody's toes – if we could go to the first Grassroots. It would give me a few more days and wouldn't put as much pressure on the colt and both guys were terrific about it."
A runner-up finish for Stonebridge Helios in that first Grassroots event was followed by a lifetime best 1:51.4 score in his first Gold test on July 16. Two more Gold wins would follow, and then the colt stepped up to Grand Circuit competition and captured his $213,170 Champlain division in 1:52.1. That mile from Stonebridge Helios was the one that stands out the most for Pentland from his pupil's rookie season.
"Oh, it has to be the Champlain. Rolled off on them. Like some of the other efforts, where he came from last — and I've watched that race a bunch of times...Jody [and Erinwood Yves] was cutting out these real pedestrian fractions and he got up for the win — but I'll tell you, when he handled that field in the Champlain...he looked as good as any horse around."
Unfortunately for the connections, the only time Stonebridge Helios didn't finish in the top three was in his biggest race of the season purse-wise — the $225,000 2021 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final. The betting favourite finished a solid third, just a half-length back of winner Bob Loblaw. Pentland didn't fault the colt, saying he just "didn't have him on his toes" off a five-week break going into what was always going to be his final start of the year.
"He got a rough trip. That was probably his roughest trip. Like it wasn't a brutal, horrible trip, but he had to do a lot of work to the half and yeah, came up a little short. But other people have good horses too...we just lost the race. Fair and square."
Suffice it to say that while there are other "good horses" to Pentland's point, he's absolutely thrilled with the colt he conditions and co-owns along with Fleischman and breeder Angie Stiller. In fact, he'd place Stonebridge Helios among the best he's had the privilege to sit behind. When asked to describe his best attribute, Pentland hit the proverbial 'all' button.
"There isn't one he's missing. He's the nicest horse I've ever trained. He has great manners, he's got a beautiful gait, he's big and strong, he's focused on what he does, he's easy to drive...there's just nothing that this colt doesn't possess. There's just no shortcoming in him at all. And he shows it to you right away.
"You just program him to wherever you want to go and he does it. Dirk did a great job with training him down and getting him ready to race. He is just such a nice horse."
Pentland took part in the 2020 O'Brien Awards Virtual Gala and enjoyed his night thanks to an award-winning season from pacing filly Lauras Love, will gladly take attend this year's virtual awards show on Sunday, Feb. 6 but confessed that he'd much rather have a night to celebrate with the harness racing industry in person.
"Oh, it broke my heart to tell you the truth," stated Pentland with a smile and simultaneous regret. "I was pumped about taking [my girlfriend] and I was hoping that the Stillers and John [Fleischman] would be able to go. It would have been a lot of fun. But this virtual thing...they do a great job. The people that do it, I couldn't imagine how they were able to come up with the neat ideas to do it and make it inclusive. They do a brilliant job, but it's not being there. And you're with people that are all celebrating their success. It’s a happy place, you know, and everybody that's there has obviously had a great year. It’s just so much fun."
Sure, some people prefer the virtual setting and it opens up the night for more people to attend in the same way. But there's nothing that can replace the ability to make personal or professional connections like the traditional O'Brien Awards setting. It was at the O'Brien Awards some 15-plus years ago that Pentland first had the opportunity to meet and chat with one of his co-owners on a serious personal matter.
"I remember when I went to it there for Luck Of Michelle. My son had a little bit of a heart murmur a long time ago, and Dr. Stiller was there. It was the first time I met him, and I had the audacity to go up to the man and say ‘Dr. Stiller, can I talk to you just for a moment about my son?’ Oh, he probably only gave me five or 10 minutes of his time at most, but he gave me his personal number and talked to me for an hour on the phone. And I went ‘Wow, is that ever a gentleman...that's as classy a guy I ever met.’ You know? You can't make those relationships at home."
On Feb. 6, 2022 the connections of Stonebridge Helios and fellow finalist Betterhavemymoney will be watching from home to find out who the voters chose as Canada's Two-Year-Old Pacing Colt of the Year for 2021, one of 18 awards that will be doled out at the O'Brien Awards Virtual Gala.