Like a fine wine, Marilyn and James Gorman’s Well To Do Guru just seems to get better with age
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On the heels of a remarkable 2011 campaign in which he posted a record of 13 wins, five seconds and three thirds from 26 starts (while earning a career high $197,354), the gelded son of Richess Hanover--Gurus Girl was voted 2011 Horse of the Year in Illinois by members of the United States Trotting Association in District 5. That honour will be bestowed upon his proud connections in a winner’s circle ceremony on Friday night at Maywood Park.
The ultra consistent homebred finished up his seven-year-old season sporting career numbers of 32 victories, 30 second place finishes and 20 third place finishes with earnings of $510,908. Along with being a dominant force among the state-bred set in Illinois, the pride of trainer Terry Leonard also proved that he can be equally tough in Open company, as he knocked off several very strong Free For All fields during the 2011 season. In fact, his career-equalling and 2011 best of 1:49.3 came in a win over the top class pacers at Balmoral Park on September 24 last season. His time of 1:50.3 at Maywood Park ties him for the fastest mile ever paced on a half-mile oval by an Illinois bred.
Handled throughout his highly successful 2011 season by driver Casey Leonard Well To Do Guru captured such stakes as the inaugural edition of the Betzotic Stake in June at Maywood Park, the Cook County Stake at Maywood and the Lester Mc Keever Stake. A clean sweep of the Maywood Park Illinois Bred Championship Series also earned Well To Do Guru and his proud connections a $20,000 bonus.
Being handled like one of the family by everyone involved has helped keep Well To Do Guru as fresh early in the year as well as at the end of a tough season of battling the best at both tracks.
“Everyone involved with this horse, from my dad, Terry, his caretaker, Teddy Pearson, and the Gorman’s themselves, just take such pride and good care of him,” said driver Casey Leonard. “It’s an absolute pleasure and an honour to now have my name associated with him as well and I feel he’s very deserving of an honour like this.”
Well To Do Guru was also a very important part of the healing process for Marilyn Gorman after she was diagnosed with cancer back in the early part of 2009.
“One of the things that kept me strong and kept me going through that time was knowing that I would get to see him race on a Friday or Saturday night,” said Marilyn. “I was too weak to go the track, so Jim would drive me over to the OTB and we would arrive five minutes before he raced and be out of there five minutes after he raced. That was all I had the strength for at that time. I really believe that 'Guru' was put here for a reason and that was it. I’m now a cancer survivor and cancer free and I really think this horse helped not only me but it also gave Jim a little diversion because he was right by my side every step of the way.”
After being turned out back in mid-December, Well To Do Guru is now back in training and being prepped for what everyone hopes will be a big eight-year-old season.
“He was brought in from the field on January 19 and we’ve started training him down again,” Leonard explained. “If all goes as planned, he’ll have a qualifier or two in a few weeks and then we’ll be looking at having him ready to go by sometime around mid-March. I’m sure we’ll pretty much go with the same schedule of not racing him for more than three weeks without getting him a week off and hopefully he’ll continue to perform the way he has for all us.”
(Maywood Park)