Carey Le Cain fell in love at first sight with a diminutive pacer by the name of Ahi, who survived the fire at First Line Training Centre in December of 2018. Her care and rehabilitation of the horse helped bring him back to the races two years ago, but their bond only grew stronger with time.
Ahi overcame a number of serious health issues as a result of that tragic fire. It took time and care for the horse to recover. Carey and her brother Brodie were paramount in caring for the horse while in the stable of Mark & Shawn Steacy.
Carey worked for the Steacys through a co-op program with her high school in Guelph, and was there for Ahi's return to the winner's circle in January of 2020. She heard that the connections were considering selling the horse, and made the decision that she would be the buyer.
“I kind of told my dad [Scott Le Cain] I was going to buy him,” Carey told Trot Insider. That's all well and good, but how does a then 17-year-old afford a racehorse? The answer is hard work.
To make the money necessary, Le Cain kept working for the Steacys five days a week while also working for horse owner Mary Christopher on the weekends and picking up stall jobs on Sundays. She saved enough money along the way to finally place an offer on the horse with his owners, and officially received her paperwork on October 5, 2020. Shawn Steacy continued to train the Sportswriter gelding, and the horse earned $7,641 from that point of purchase through the end of 2021.
Ahi won his first race in 2022, collecting a $2,300 cheque from a $7,000 claiming race at Flamboro Downs on January 6. But Le Cain soon made a wild move she never expected to: she got her training license and started conditioning the horse herself.
“In high school still, I didn't really have an idea [of what I wanted to do],” Le Cain said. “I was only working a weekend job then, but I knew I always wanted to be with the horses. But I didn't really expect to eventually get a trainer’s license. I decided to get it this year actually. I wasn't going to, but my friends convinced me that I should. He was the first horse I've technically ever trained, especially in the race bike. And then I thought, ‘Why not? It’s a little kid's dream.' I've always wanted to, but I didn’t have the right motivation to do it. But I did it.”
Not only did Le Cain obtain her trainer's license, but the 19-year-old also picked up her first lifetime win with Ahi on January 30 at Flamboro Downs. That effort was followed by a runner-up finish on February 6.
The shift from going from being a groom to a trainer was a slight adjustment for Le Cain, though she had good mentors in the Steacys as well as her father Scott to get her going in the right direction.
“It's rewarding when you see your name on the screen after your long weeks and nights and when they pick up cheques it's always nice. The Steacys taught me a lot of patience. You can’t rush [the horses]. It comes with time. They taught me the proper way to go about a lot of stuff.
"From my dad, motivation and drive. He's an outgoing person. He's up at four o'clock and out to the barn, even though they don't start that early. He's helped me a lot over time.”
In November of 2021, Le Cain began working for horseman Jack Moiseyev, helping him train horses on his farm, and his experience has only added to her skillset noting that "Jack's really good to work for.” Though she continues to work with other stables in Ontario, Le Cain herself is stabled at First Line Training Center with Ahi and is already open to expanding her arsenal.
“I'm not 100 per cent sure yet, but I definitely would like to get into yearlings when it comes time. I own half of a McWicked filly with Mary [Christopher], so I'll be looking forward to that.”