Marfisi To Return To Ontario

He hasn’t raced a Standardbred in Canada since the summer of 2010, but that may all change very soon, as trainer Duane Marfisi is returning to Ontario.

News of Marfisi’s return comes courtesy of a posting on the website of All Stars Stable, with whom he was working in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“Lazarus's Cup win is an obvious [highlight], but Adore Me's Cup Day was great, too, and it was [a special] thrill for me when I got the opportunity to go over for the Miracle Mile Day in Sydney,” Marfisi wrote. “Not only was it a great occasion, but we had such a great result that day. Have Faith In Me I always rated as a very special horse from his early days, so there was that as well.”

Marfisi, 53, ran a very successful stable during his days in Ontario, as his career North American UTR currently sits at .310. Standardbreds from his stable won 568 of their 2,890 starts and banked more than $10.7 million in purses. His stable was successful with claimers, but it also found the limelight with horses such as Dali, Precious Delight and Grin Tin Tin. He also trained Day In A Life, Grinfromeartoear, Red Bow Tie, Leading X Ample and Precious Cammill for some of their starts.

Marfisi has stated that he will be conditioning horses in Ontario, but he is currently unsure of how many head he wants to have in his operation.

“I still haven't decided what the racing future holds for me [in Ontario],” he wrote. “I have been offered horses already and I still have a lot of connections up there who want me to train bigger numbers because we had a bit of luck with our claimers before. But at this stage I am still assessing things. Janet has a job she has always wanted at the University of Ontario and I will have to contribute my share! We both have family there, too, and that is a factor in looking further north.”

Marfisi was exposed to some new training techniques while working with All Stars Stable, and they clearly left an impression on him, as he has stated that he is not abandoning them on his journey home.

“What can I take home from the All Stars operation? Well Sky Major is already on a Purdon/Rasmussen regime back in Canada. I will be preparing him for Trevor Casey there and he is doing fine so far, but training him the All Stars way will be a bit different up there. I am that impressed with their methods that I will be using them instead of the ones I have used up there previously, and I had my fair share of success doing it that way.”