If recent success is any indication, keep an eye on a two-year-old trotter in-to-go at Woodbine Mohawk Park this coming June if the trainer and driver is Robbie Robinson.
The Ottawa-based horseman plies his trade predominantly at Rideau Carleton Raceway, but over the past couple of seasons Robinson has made the trek to Canada's top circuit with rookies that have tackled stakes competition. Most recently, Robinson developed Tokyo Seelster and guided him to his first victory at Mohawk in late June of 2020. The two-year-old son of Kadabra would stay in the Campbellville area and put together a solid campaign with six top-three finishes from 12 starts and a bankroll of more than $208,000.
"Sam and Mike Sergi sent him to me in late January," Robinson told Rideau Carleton's Graeme Mitchell in a recent interview. "Their track went bad and they wanted me to train him down. I'm not sure how long I was to have the horse, then COVID hit and I ended up taking him all the way to the races. Qualified him , raced him at Mohawk and then we left him with Richard Moreau."
The model of development followed a similar path one year prior with a trotting filly named Warrawee Vicky. Robinson plucked the daughter of Royalty For Life from the 2018 London Selected Yearling Sale for $11,000, trained her down and then shipped her to Mohawk in June 2019 for her first major test -- a test she passed with flying colours.
"I qualified her here, took her to [Mohawk], she won her first start there with me driving. I brought her back home and then I had to ship her back the next day as Brad Grant bought her."
After the sale, Warrawee Vicky raced for Grant under the care of Scott McEneny. The 2020 O'Brien Award nominee his paydirt on the Grand Circuit with a win in the Simcoe this past September, and she earned nearly $400,000 in 21 starts for those connections.
Robinson currently has a handful of horses in his care, and those individuals include some younger stock that Robinson hopes can follow in the footsteps of his accomplished former pupils that also include stakes-winning pacers American Rebel and Kwik Talkin.
"The three that we're training now, there's two trotting colts. They're both ahead of schedule of what I would usually have them but the winter's been fairly good," said Robinson. "I've got a New York-bred that a guy sent me, he's trotting good and we bought an Artspeak colt for not a lot of money -- $7,000 and he's training real good too so right now they look up to par."
In terms of goals for 2021, the humble horseman will look to keep making progress with gradual and realistic improvement.
"I just want the colts that I have to perform well and the few racehorses, like The Magic Of Life, I'm hoping he'll step up to be a little bit better horse this year. We gave him a break and he's training back well, he looks bigger and stronger. I just want them to perform well, get drives every night and do the best I can with what I have, do a good job for the people and make some money."
To watch the full interview with Robinson, click the play button below.
Great horseman. And even
Great horseman. And even better person. Good luck always