Blair Corbeil has been involved in harness racing for 25 years, but 2021 marked the first time a horse he has owned was named a finalist for an O’Brien Award… and the second time as well.
“It's the first time, hopefully not the last,” said Corbeil, a Standardbred Canada director who has owned numerous quality horses over the years in Alberta, Ontario and other racing jurisdictions. “There's thousands of other owners wishing they were in our shoes, so we’ve got to feel pretty honoured.”
The Beaumont, Alta. businessman shares ownership of two O’Brien Award finalists, including Logan Park in the three-year-old trotting colt division and Warrawee Vital in the older pacing horse category – both trained by longtime partner and friend Rob Fellows.
Logan Park was the top point-earner in his division during the Ontario Sires Stakes regular season with four Gold Series wins and finished second to fellow finalist Fashion Frenzie in the Super Final. The Archangel-Rite Outa The Park gelding banked $366,072 with a 5-3-2 record from 15 sophomore starts for Corbeil and his partners in the Outofthepark Stable, along with breeder Reg Higgs and Arpad Szabo.
Among his highlights, Logan Park equalled the all-age trotting track record and smashed the divisional record at Rideau Carleton Raceway with his 1:52.4 triumph in the July 11 Gold leg.
“Anytime you win a race, it's a highlight,” said Corbeil, who owns pieces of about 50 Standardbreds. “As anybody that's in the industry knows, there's a lot of things that have to go right in order to win a race. That track record performance in Ottawa was a heck of a race, but he had a lot of great races. There were a lot of good battles. There are some great horses in that program in Ontario. Those Gold finals in Ontario were all really good races and he put in some big miles there.”
While Corbeil laments Logan Park’s misfortune in the Breeders Crown, he’s confident the trotter is a Grand Circuit caliber horse who will get another shot at tackling the top guns this year.
“I thought he had a real good shot at the Breeders Crown down there. He finished second in the elimination and raced huge. And then we drew the 10-hole in the final and we had a horse beside us that was kind of a bad breaker. He went on a break, and we went on a break. I don't know if we had much of a chance from the 10-hole anyways but it's just the way racing goes. You can't have good luck all the time. We've got to be thankful with what we're given.
“We had multiple drivers on ‘Logan’ throughout the year and they all did a great job,” he continued, referring to Louis-Philippe Roy, Jody Jamieson and James MacDonald. “We're thankful to all of them for that as well. Overall, we're ecstatic with his year and he finished it off well and we turned him out sound. Anytime you can have a great campaign with a horse like that and put him away sound and healthy, it's a great sign for next year.”
Warrawee Vital made the tough transition to the older pacing ranks look easy, putting together a 7-3-3 record from 19 starts while banking just over $200,000 for Corbeil, Yolanda Fellows and M&S Racing Stable.
The son of Captaintreacherous out of 2021 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Great Memories was a multiple Grand Circuit stakes winner at three when he took his mark of 1:47.1 at The Red Mile and he carried that speed all the way through his four-year-old campaign.
Despite an earlier debut than originally planned due to schedule changes caused by COVID-19, Warrawee Vital got off to a fast start with close runner-up finishes in the opening legs of the Graduate Series at The Meadowlands with Ron Coyne, pacing sub-1:49 and sub-1:48 miles right off the bat before returning to Canada to win five Open/Preferreds at Woodbine Mohawk Park in rein to Trevor Henry. A flashy 1:47.3 victory on September 25 was followed by another memorable performance on October 2 that Corbeil got to witness first-hand.
“When you're racing against the best like that, they're all big miles, but one in particular – and I was fortunate enough to be in Ontario for that race – was that one on October 2,” recalled Corbeil. “When he was parked to the half – a quarter in :25.3 and :53 flat to the half – and still held off the best horses the country could throw at him to win that race, that race was pretty eye-popping as far as we're concerned. There were some other people outside watching in front of the grandstand and they were blown away by what he did in that race as well.”
After wintering in Maryland, both Logan Park and Warrawee Vital are back in Ontario, looking good and feeling good as they prepare for their 2022 racing seasons, according to Corbeil. He is quick to acknowledge Fellows and his wife Yolanda for the success of his O’Brien Award nominees.
Their affiliation began when Corbeil met Fellows at the Harrisburg sale years ago. They continued to dabble in horses together and a shared a connection with Bill Companion furthered their partnership, which turned into friendship as Corbeil expanded his roster in Ontario the last seven years.
“I mean it all starts with Rob and Yolanda and their team. We have our horses there for a reason: we think they do a very good job at what they do. They've got just a first-class operation; they're first-class people and they ask the same of their staff. Every time we go back and visit and spend days and days there at the farm, it's amazing to see how their staff treat the horses and how well they are looked after. As an owner, it's very reassuring and it's just makes you feel good when they have success and the team has success. As much as it's nice for us, we really, really want to share the success with them too, because they're the ones that put it all together and make it happen. You don't have great horses without great people.”
Corbeil is also pleased to share his success with another longtime partner.
Twenty-five years after being introduced to harness racing by Mike McAllister, it’s all come full circle as he now gets to celebrate one of his first O’Brien nominations with his Outofthepark Stable partner on Logan Park.
“We'll get together to watch the O'Briens that night for sure,” he said. “It's always better raising a glass with friends and family.”
The 2021 Virtual O’Brien Awards Gala will be streamed live on standardbredcanada.ca tonight (Sunday, Feb. 6), with the Red Carpet pre-show set to begin at 5:30 p.m. (EST), followed by video greetings at 6:30 p.m. and the awards show at 7 p.m.