After departing the nation's capital in the mid-2000s, trainer Victor Puddy has made an awful lot of noise since returning to Rideau Carleton Raceway with a string of horses last fall.
Puddy, whose starters eclipsed the million-dollar benchmark in five seasons through the 2010s, has campaigned primarily in southern Ontario since 2007, reestablished his presence in Ottawa last October. In the short time since he returned to the capital city, he has climbed to third in the training standings, trailing perennial kingpin Guy Gagnon in both wins and earnings. But Puddy has his eye on greater success at Rideau, largely due to the string of horses he effectively hand picked to make the trek from his southern Ontario operation.
"I've been away probably about 14 years," Puddy told Rideau Carleton's Graeme Mitchell in a recent interview. "I came back; we're going to do a split stable — probably about 15 in Toronto and 15 or so here all summer."
Among the horses that Puddy brought east with him are a pair that he claimed for owners Gord McDonald and Christopher Boland: Racemup and Crossfit.
"I claimed Racemup for $25,000," Puddy recounted of acquiring the now six-year-old Manitoba-bred pacer in the fall of 2019. "We got him that night, and I never really talked to Gord. Gord texted me after to ask what I thought of him, and I said, 'Raced good, I kind of like him.' We never really talked about what to do with him, and I put him right back in the same class for $25,000. I think he won by seven or so in 1:50, and we lost him. Gordon called me right after and said, 'We've got to get that horse back!' The next week, we went back to get him, but we didn't get him — somebody else got him. Then the next week, we got him, and he's never been in a claimer since. He's just a nice horse.
"Crossfit was the same thing. Gord McDonald claimed him for me out of Toronto. I told him I was going to have a split stable in Ottawa and Toronto, so we claimed hopefully that he'd do in the Preferred here."
So far, both Racemup and Crossfit have performed admirably at their new home track, with Racemup hitting the board in seven of nine tries in Preferred company and Crossfit finishing third or better in half of his six starts in the Preferred Trot at Rideau.
With other consistent performers such as Reys N A Rocket and Red John filling out his eastern base, Vic Puddy is optimistic that both his Ottawa and Toronto operations can enjoy success in 2021 and beyond:
"I just hope that we have some good luck in Ottawa and, hopefully we have some real good luck in Toronto. It's all we can hope for right now. The staff in Ottawa's great, and the staff in Toronto's doing good. It's a little tough on me back and forth, but we're just hopeful we can make it work."
To watch the full interview with Puddy, click below: