Trot Insider recently spoke with two-time O’Brien Award winner Casie Coleman about the return of some of her stables’ top pacing ladies including Arts Star, A And Gs Confusion, Unique Legacy and Moving Pictures
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Coleman told Trot Insider that her three-year-old Ontario Sires Stakes leading lady, Arts Star, made a short five minute trek down the road from Darlene Hayes’ Hillsborough Stables, on February 1 to return to action at her stable in Ontario.
“I brought her in and I’ve been jogging her lightly and just started training her a couple of slow trips,” says Coleman, adding that she’s been in 2:28 with the bay.
“She’s filled out a lot. She was always a big mare but she didn’t have a whole lot of muscle to her. Her [hind] end has really thickened out and her shoulders have thickened out and I’ve already let her hopples out probably about two inches. She’s really grown up a lot.”
Last year, Arts Star put together a record of three wins, four seconds and one third in 11 outings earning $185,800 for owners Steve Calhoun and Michael Lindley of Chatham and the West Wins Stable of Cambridge, Ont. The O’Brien Award finalist finished second behind St Lads Popcorn in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final earning her the runner-up spot in the year-end standings.
Coleman says she is aiming to qualify the Modern Art – Beach Jenny filly sometime in May to have her ready for the first Gold eliminations at London.
“I’m hoping she can be another top player in the OSS. If she seems like she’s good enough at the time I may give her a shot at the Fan Hanover and she’s staked pretty heavily in Ontario. She’s in the Canadian Breeders, the Simcoe and the SBOA. She’s pretty much paid into everything so if she’s good enough we've got a lot of money to go for.”
Making a transition to the aged category for Coleman is last year’s Breeders Crown winner A And Gs Confusion. The four-year-old Allamerican Native – Colorado Creek pacing mare, who surpassed the million-dollar mark in earnings at the end of her sophomore campaign, is owned by the A And G Stables of Bronx, New York.
A And Gs Confusion, who also returned to action at the start of February went in 2:27 on Friday morning.
Coleman said she is aiming to have her ready for the second leg of the Classic Series at Dover Downs and is pretty much staked to everything for aged mares.
Coleman also notes that A And Gs Confusion is not the only mare in her stable who will be facing some stiffer competition this year. Unique Legacy, a daughter of Real Desire – Unique X Ample who won the Town Pro Final and swept the opening legs of the Kentucky Sires Stakes pushing her bankroll to $226,328 for owner and breeder Robert Hamather of Exeter, Ont., will also be moving on up.
“She’s training back with A And Gs Confusion right now and she’s been the same speed. She’s also a four-year-old that’s going to be racing against the Open mares this year and she’s also been coming back great.”
Having already proven herself against aged competitors, Moving Pictures will make a return to the track after having colic surgery last year.
“I’m just really taking my time with her,” said Coleman. “I haven’t even set a time frame for when I really want to qualify her but I’m just slowly taking a couple of seconds off her each week and so far she’s responding well so hopefully we can get her back to the races this year.”
“She’s been training back good. I’ve been a couple of slow trips with her in 2:28. I’ve just started going two trips with her about a week ago,” she explains.
Also owned by Calhoun and Lindley, the winner of 19 races and over $1.3 million in earnings will remain in Toronto this year. The six-year-old daughter of D M Dillinger – Killer Queen will attempt to take back her titles in the Milton and Roses Are Red Stakes and try her hand at a few new events too.
“With all those mares I’m looking forward to it this year,” says Coleman.
“[Last year], all of them raced very, very good. Arts Star had that ‘Popcorn’ racing with her so maybe she can improve at trying to keep up to her,” she laughs. “But I just hope that they get a couple of seconds faster like they usually do when they get a little older and really I didn’t have anything bad to say about all of those mares and the way their seasons have been. Just hopefully we’ll have a little more luck with Moving Pictures obviously. That was a heartbreaker last year with what happened to her but she’s back now and going good.”
Coleman is also looking forward to seeing her group of two-year-olds in training step up to the plate.
“We’ve got quite a few and I couldn’t be any happier with them. We’ve been in about 2:39 with all of them right now and we’re just about to start going two trips.”
Coleman noted an Artsplace colt named Sportswriter, Western Ideal filly Sassy Deal, and She Just Rocks - a Rocknroll Hanover filly - as early standouts, but says all the babies are on task and doing well.
In the past two years, Coleman has started working with babies more and has since had 14 to 15 two-year-olds in training per year.
With another recent change in her stable, Coleman is expecting an even busier season than the last.
“I’ve got a split stable now. I’ve got 44 horses in Toronto and there’s 15 here in [New] Jersey so it's changed a lot. I’m on the go a lot more because I’m racing here so much.”
And Coleman has Andrew Harris to thank for lightening the load a little.
“He runs my stable down here in Jersey and he’s been doing an absolutely unbelievable job.”
In fact, on Thursday night Harris scored his first Meadowlands’ driving win aboard Shining Art.
“That was pretty huge for him winning over the Meadowlands for the first time,” says Coleman, who offered her congratulations to the young horseman.