Shane Tritton never had any doubts that My Ruebe Star N could succeed in America after coming from Australia. But even the optimistic trainer has his limits.
“I know she can’t keep doing what she’s doing,” Tritton said.
That’s about the only negative he can muster, and it makes sense considering she has won 89 per cent of her North American starts. And, he quickly added, “But as long as she can keep racing well, then I’m sure she’s going to be thereabouts.”
The seven-year-old pacing mare was one of 20-odd horses Tritton and wife Lauren brought to their farm in Pine Bush, N.Y., when they relocated from Down Under last March. She was the quickest of them all to acclimate to American racing, and the result has been eight wins in nine U.S. starts entering Thursday’s (Feb. 11) $30,000 Fillies and Mares Open Handicap at Yonkers.
My Ruebe Star N was assigned post seven in the seven-horse field, and is the 2-1 morning-line favourite with regular driver Jordan Stratton.
“She’s just so competitive,” Tritton said. “She’s good to drive, she can sit in a space, she can leave, she can come from behind, and, to me, that’s the ultimate in America. You obviously have to have ability, but when you’ve got everything else, that makes it easier — they can get a lot better.”
The New Zealand-bred showed promise in her homeland before being exported to Australia by breeder and co-owner Mike Siemelink in May 2019. After joining Tritton’s ranks, she had enough success at Tabcorp Park Menangle that the owners wanted to stake her in Australia before breeding her.
But Tritton felt her gait would help her find success in the States, and he eventually got the green light to bring her over.
My Ruebe Star N became the first winner in America for Team Tritton when she prevailed at The Meadowlands last June. Racing predominantly at Yonkers, the horse won her first five races before taking a third-place finish; then finished with two more wins before getting a rest at Tritton’s farm in October.
“I only gave her three weeks off,” he said. “There was nothing wrong with her. I just let her wind down and get a little bit of a break, and we’re sort of taking our time bringing her right up. We just gave her a break because she’s good, and every time we’ve done that, she’s gotten better ... and we’re hoping she can do that again.”
My Ruebe Star N made her 2021 debut on Jan. 28 and won the Fillies and Mares Open Handicap at Yonkers in 1:57. As for this week’s Open, Tritton remains hopeful.
“We’ve been in this position before where she gets the outside in the Open,” he said. “We sort of look at it and think, 'This might be tough,' but she’s very fast off the gate, she gets herself in a good spot. If she can cross them, she will. If not, she gets a handy spot and gets to where she needs to be. So, we’re pretty confident she’s always going to go well.
“One day, she’s going to get no luck, but at the end of the day, so far she keeps defying those odds. It’s always tough in the Open; you’ve got to respect everybody.”
In looking forward to this season, Tritton plans on putting the mare in the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series next month and will also stake her to several Meadowlands races. He looks forward to a random draw at the Blue Chip.
“It’s tough at Yonkers because she’s done so well she keeps getting the outside,” the trainer said. “She keeps defying the odds and Jordan drives her really well. She’s done an extremely good job. We know she can’t keep doing that, but at this point in time, we’re looking forward to the Blue Chip. She wouldn’t know what the inside looks like. She hasn’t been there for a long time, so it would be good to get her at an inside draw a few times and take it a little easier on her.”
The strategy is to race My Ruebe Star N fairly solidly for six months, and then back off and start prepping for next year.
“I’m hoping she can do real good and make all the effort worthwhile,” Tritton said. “There’s a lot of racing in America. She loves Yonkers, we’re going to stick to there as often as we can, and venture a couple times to The Meadowlands to see how she stacks up.
“It just depends on her. I want to race her for the next five years if I can. We want to look after her, let her keep getting better, but she’ll tell us how she’s going.”
(USTA)