When you think of aging wine, it is some of the best you could ever have/drink, but when it comes to horse racing a lot of the times the older a horse gets sometimes they will fall off of their game.
Since coming to Buffalo Raceway, the track’s new announcer, Michael Carter, has said that he has seen three horses that he would consider ‘war horses,’ all with a ton of class.
In 2005 there was an unsuspecting trotter that no one would have ever expected to do well. His name was Self Professed and he did not always have it as easy as he does right now. When he was a yearling the connections found out that he had OCD (oesteochondrosis dissecan, which can produce cartilage or bone fragments) and they took care of that putting him behind about six weeks.
Self Professed was once trained by Don Swick, and is now trained by Ashley Holliday and owned by Resilient Racing – sometimes its like things have never ended. He was fourth in a great race last out, and two back won a race in an absolutely gutsy performance.
Holliday says, “’Self’ is one of those horses that you don’t really have to train, you can just tell by his personality and demeanor that he knows his job and he knows how to do it.” She continued, “He loves his treats – apples are his absolute favourite – and right now it’s about keeping him happy and sound.” Self Professed was a valiant third in his Hambletonian elimination and faded in the final, but he was a lot more than anyone expected. Age may have hit him, but his resilience is still around, and at over $1 million in lifetime earnings he is still doing well.
In 2007 there was a gutsy three-year-old named Running Book, who took the harness racing world by surprise. He was a 40-1 winner in his Meadowlands Pace elimination and was perfect that night. When he returned to the final he faded badly to sixth after leading most of the way.
Running Book comes to Buffalo Raceway now 10 years old and is returning to his winning ways. Trainer JD Perrin just got him recently and has taken him from a $10,000 claimer to an Open winner (this past Saturday night) in less than a month.
Perrin says Running Book “is very nice to work with in the barn and on the track. Being a stud when other horses are around he is very vocal, likes to let everyone know who the alpha is.” Perrin continued by saying, “Good News for him (Perrin) is he is still an alpha on the track.”
You would think that a horse like this would just give in after a while and be ready for retirement at this age, but Perrin says, “Training a class horse is nice, but you just have to focus on keeping them sound and healthy – they know how to win.”
Perrin is right about one thing: this horse really does know how to win; he dominated Saturday in what should have been a very intense race.
Think Gold started his career in the Ontario Sires Stakes before reaching out his feelers and sort of dropping down. In 2006, as a two-year-old, he was trotting for some very good money and succeeding here and there. He was being trained by Carl Jamieson at the time and was racing against horses such as Flirtin Man that wound up going to the Hambletonian and other races and doing very well for themselves.
In 2013, Think Gold was owned by Isabelle Beaudoin and trained by her father, Jacques. Isabelle said, “He is the type of horse that needs to be in charge. He didn’t like head poles, tongue ties, and his mouth getting touched and was very tough to warm up.”
Beaudoin continued, saying, “He was a sweetheart, though, and a horse that rarely required any maintenance and always gave his all fighting every week.”
These three are just some of the few war horses still around, but all three of them have something in common. Just because the stakes season is over for them doesn’t mean they are through.
Racing at Buffalo Raceway continues throughout the month of March on Wednesdays and Thursdays with a first post at 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 6:40 pm.
Racing in April will take place Wednesday at 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 6:40 p.m.
(With files from Michael Carter, for Buffalo Raceway)