Steve Heimbecker, one of Ontario's most prominent owners with around 60 horses currently to his name, headlined the special Sunday (March 21) edition of COSA TV with talk about his big gamble on harness racing and some of his past success stories.
Heimbecker spent aggressively during the 2020 yearling season, investing approximately $1.5 million into racehorses with a few long-term goals in mind. For one, Heimbecker spreads his purchases to several different stables with the hopes of providing some of racing's up-and-coming conditioners a chance.
"I gravitate towards people who are, not younger by design, but who maybe need some opportunity," Heimbecker said. "Because I really believe, especially in this business, it’s really tough to cut your teeth. It’s tough to be presented with those opportunities whether you’re training or involved in part ownership. For me, by design, I selected different types of trainers for different reasons. It’s not a handout—we need some results; some performance, there is a measurement on my end. Certainly, I’m not opposed to giving people opportunity. Let’s face it, the young people in the business today are going to be the stars of tomorrow, so they’ve got to start somewhere. If I intend to be around for another 20 or 30 years, I want to have an affiliation with those people. For me, it’s by design. I spread it around purposely, and hopefully it pays off."
Another big investment by Heimbecker focuses on supporting the growth and development of harness racing in Ontario. With a large portion of his 2020 yearling purchases being fillies, Heimbecker has hopes to participate in as well as build the breed in Ontario.
"You’ve got some huge advocates for Ontario racing, and some really strong supporters right in Ontario," Heimbecker said. "And I think for me, I want the product to get better. We’ve seen some of the Bettors Delights do some amazing things on the Grand Circuit, and I think we have to improve what we’re getting out of Ontario. I think we’ve got obviously one of the best grassroots program, a great Gold program. We are just put together very well, and I think continued support of what we’re doing in Ontario is an integral part of ensuring that we’re here for the long ride. The longevity in this business, especially in our backyard, that we’ve got to preserve. And I don’t mind racing in New York—there’re some big races at those tracks and on the Grand Circuit that I’d love to be a part of. It’s not like I’m opposed to racing at the U.S. marquee tracks, but I believe personally that we’ve got the best racetrack in our own backyard.
"I think after the first sale, Brad Grant called me and said ‘Stevie, what the hell are you doing? You’re buying everything,’" Heimbecker also said. "You know what, I did make a big investment this year, but it’s a strategy on my part. I bought a lot of fillies because I want to consider getting into the broodmare game at some point, and potentially breeding some of these nice fillies that I’ve got. There’s an opportunity there. And I think with what’s going on, let’s support it. Someone’s got to win these races, and so why not me? I’m going to give it every opportunity, and I think with 31 two-year-olds acquired last year, even if I buy a little less at the yearling sales this fall I’ll hopefully still have a nice reoccurring group with the three-year-olds next year."
Many of 2020's sales toppers came from Heimbecker's checkbook. The Big Hen—a $375,000 purchase and a full sister to millionaire Medusa and Ontario champ Alicorn—was one of the most expensive yearling pacing fillies purchased last fall, while Heimbecker also purchased Shanghai Seelster ($150,000) and Addison Seelster ($100,000), who each were among the most expensive yearlings at the 2020 London Selected Yearling Sale.
"I didn’t want to go that high," Heimbecker said of the purchase price for The Big Hen, who is currently in training for Dave Menary. "I recall talking to Dave [Menary] and said ‘Listen, what do you think of this filly?’ And he just said ‘Yeah, she looks great Steve. But it’s going to be expensive.’ I was on the phone with him when she was going through. We hit the 375 mark and the hammer dropped, and the rest is history. She had a little issue with some teeth, but we got that fixed up. She’s going fantastic. She’s in the top group over there at Classy Lane. We’re pointing her obviously towards the Grand Circuit events, and hopefully she’ll have a big heart and a good motor."
Regarding Shanghai Seelster, who is in training down in Florida for Gregg McNair, Heimbecker said "As we know, Gregg’s a man of few words, but when he speaks, you listen. And I really like Gregg—I’ve known Gregg for probably 20 years now. He loves the filly; she’s going fantastic. She’s probably one of his favourites down there, which again, a man of few words—that’s a good thing. But he’s excited. She’s doing everything right, she’s very good sized. The Bettors [Delight] traditionally are a little smaller and then they kind of grow into themselves, but obviously they’ve got big motors. He’s extremely excited about her. I think I basically put it to Gregg—I called him one night or he called me; I might talk to Gregg once every six weeks, and that’s fine with me. I said ‘Gregg, which ones your favourite?’ And I think I have four or five of them. I said ‘I just want to know which one’s your favourite. You don’t have to tell me how good, how far along, I don’t need times. Which one do you think is the best right now?’ And he said ‘Shanghai’ and I said ‘That’s all I needed to know’ and I just hung up the phone."
In terms of Addison Seelster's development, Heimbecker said "She’s with Amanda Fine out at Classy Lane. Amanda loves the filly, it’s the favourite in her barn as well. She’s doing everything right, she’s good size. I saw her about two weeks ago—the filly looks fantastic. She’s got a little fire in her, but you want your fillies to have a little fire. I wouldn’t say she’s got an attitude, but she definitely has a personality. We’re hopeful of big things there as well."
Heimbecker also bet large with yearlings since he again decided to purchase a slot in the Mohawk Million. Last year, Heimbecker shared ownership of a slot with Brad Grant, which was leased to eventual Million winner Venerate. Heimbecker returned with a slot purchased in conjunction with Julie Miller and Daniel Plouffe with the hopes to use it for their $400,000 purchase in Trunk Bay—a Muscle Hill colt out of a dam from the bloodline of Passionate Glide.
"He’s going well," Heimbecker said of Trunk Bay. "He’s got some major attitude stuff. I think at this point, we’re contemplating potentially gelding him. But that’s a big decision, especially when you’ve got a high-priced animal like that. As far as the future of breeding and everything else, it’s a tougher decision when you spend $400,000 for a yearling. Julie’s navigating those waters, and we obviously lean on her expertise. She’s a great communicator, and hopefully that works out. He’s had a little bit of issues, but we’re still optimistic he’ll be a really nice colt and obviously the breeding points to that.
"Julie’s not a rush, push-the-button sort of trainer anyway. If we got a later start with the colt, there’s tons of money in the fall if you’re a good trotter as a two-year-old. I don’t think it’s a concern about when will he get out, how will he heal and that sort of thing. To your point, it’s just a big decision when you spend that kind of money—and obviously we’ve got four great owners on this trotter, and we would love to hit a grand slam; the stars align this thing’s a sire one day and we’re winning the biggest races we can."
Though Trunk Bay was a lofty investment, the colt isn't the only young trotter in training for Heimbecker. He also purchased a pair of Walner yearlings, Clenched Fist and All Diesel, as well as the Chapter Seven colt World At War Deo—all for whom he has high hopes.
"I’m excited about the Walners," Heimbecker said. "I’m in partnership in Clenched Fist with the Miller Stables, Julie Miller, and a few other owners. He’s going very well, doing everything right. Julie’s pretty optimistic about him. He’s training with Trunk Bay and doing everything he needs to do at this point. It’s early—they’re really not sheriffs on the times right now. But we are optimistic that he’s going to be racing as a two-year-old, number one. And number two, he’ll hopefully be competitive. And for that price point, we are pointing him towards some marquee races and more Grand Circuit type things. There’s nothing that’s told us that we can’t go that direction with this colt. He’s pretty handy, and I know Julie’s pretty happy.
"We got All Diesel for $45,000, another Walner which is with Aaron Byron," Heimbecker also said. "Aaron’s had his father Steve come out a few times and go with some of the trotters that we have. He’s a nice colt. He has got a real quick foot. He can definitely trot up a storm. But, like most trotters, we just have to make sure his head’s screwed on right. I think that’s going to be the challenge, just keeping this guy under wraps. He’s definitely made some drastic improvements. I think Aaron and the staff have rigged him a little bit different. They’re finding some things are working a little bit better. Everybody who’s around him is pretty excited about this colt. He’s real deal, and that’s a great price. He also looks very, very good."
In regards to World At War Deo, Heimbecker said “This colt is something else. Dave Menary has been looking after him. This colt in the field, what an amazing-looking animal. [He] was just trotting around—beautiful, long strides. Put together well… almost looked like a three-year-old. Dave and his staff are really excited about this colt. He looks like a three-year-old. He’s a pretty nice animal to watch go. He’s probably the nicest-looking two-year-old colt I have right now, and he seems to want to do the work. He’s got a lot of go, and we’ll see how low he can go. We’re pretty excited about this, and the fact it’s a Chapter Seven is a nice thing too. There’s no reason why, if things didn’t work out for the other ones, that this one couldn’t race in the Mohawk Million. I’m knocking on wood, but there’s three or four that probably could take this spot. So we’ll see.”
For Heimbecker, investing in young trotting stock is a way he can help to promote the Mohawk Million, a race with its unique format of purchasing slots for entry which he wants to see continue.
“I think it’s good for racing, and obviously it’s a big purse. Over the years, we’ve seen some of the marquee races in North America—I mean, the Pepsi North America Cup at the time used to go for $1.5 million. The purses have come down, and some of them have come back up. But this is a great race. It’s a really good format, and it’s a huge purse. It really makes an incentive, or at least validates, buying some nice trotters. The fact that Bill and the group have allowed the same as the first year—for the spot to be sold or leased—doesn’t pigeonhole someone into a bad spot. You’re going to get 10 nice trotters going to the gate come September and I’d love to be in the stands watching that.”
Heimbecker also purchased some pacing male prospects. One he has high hopes for is Dropetherakefreddy, a Huntsville colt purchased for $85,000. The colt currently trains in the hands of Aaron Byron, who has around "five or six" yearlings total from Heimbecker.
"This colt is—knock on wood—this colt is 100 percent the real deal," Heimbecker said. "He’s probably the sexiest-looking two-year-old I’ve ever bought, and I’ve bought a lot of them. And this thing absolutely looks the part: amazing attitude, doesn’t really have anything wrong with him. We’re really excited about this thing. He’s tearing Aaron’s hands off every training go right now. I know at the barn he’s at—I know Ben and Colin Johnson are out there, and a few other guys—they’ve seen this colt go. I think they’d say the same thing: he’s a pretty nice animal. I think he’s going to be pointed to some pretty big races this year."
Another pacing prospect for Heimbecker is the Fear The Dragon colt Pearl Snaps. Heimbecker has entrusted the training of Pearl Snaps to Blake MacIntosh, who trained one of Heimbecker’s biggest successes in Courtly Choice.
“Blake called me,” Heimbecker said, “he was down at the sale, and he said ‘Steve, I got this colt. We’ve got to bring this colt home. He’s one of my favourites if not my favourite.’ And I usually say that to Blake every year, ‘Just tell me which one your favourite is and we’ll figure it out.’ He would probably be the second-nicest colt that I have. Blake’s pretty high on this thing. In fact, I got the staking bill a few weeks ago, and I’m just going through the numbers and it’s a big pill to swallow when these things come out of course, and there’s no racing. So I’m running through my little thing here, and I see Pearl Snaps—$10,000 for this Ohio [race]. I texted Blake and I said ‘Blake, what’s up here? We’re paying $10,000?’ And he said ‘Yeah, it’s similar to the Mohawk Million; it’s a paid-in event. But Steve, this is a really nice colt. You want to do this.’ It’s similar to Gregg [McNair]—Blake doesn’t say to much.”
Towards the end of the show, Heimbecker reminisced on the success of Courtly Choice, who was one of the first horses Heimbecker purchased into when getting back into racing.
“I reached out to Blake and I said ‘Listen, I’d like to get involved with this colt,’” Heimbecker said. “He talked to the ownership group and they said ‘Yup, this is fine.’ I told them I’d be involved in getting into more horses with him in his barn, and that I was back—I took a short hiatus just because of my kids’ age. I needed to spend some time at home and enjoy that time with the kids. Now they don’t want to be dropped off in front of the school or right at their friends house. I got to go around the corner because I guess I’m not ‘cool’ anymore. So it’s a good time to get back into the horses.”
One of Courtly Choice’s biggest wins came in the Little Brown Jug, where he parked first over and ground to a narrow victory in the second heat following a break in stride to barely qualify from the elimination. Heimbecker that day, being superstitious, decided to not attend the Jug out of fear that his horse’s chances would be jinxed.
“I literally left the house, had the car packed up and said ‘I don’t feel right, I’m going to go home. I’m just going to watch it from home,’” Heimbecker said. “When he did break in the elimination, I thought ‘What did I do?’ Anyway, he did come back on and qualified for the final. I remember talking to Blake, he must’ve assumed I was somewhere on the grounds. I said ‘How is he? Is he okay?’ and he said ‘He’s great. I think we’re going to win this thing.’
“I was just overwhelmed with happiness,” Heimbecker also said, regarding the win in the Jug. “I think I sent Blake a text for a year and a half of that race. Just randomly, I’d send him a copy of the race.
Then Heimbecker was not in attendance for the 2019 Canadian Pacing Derby, where Courtly Choice catapulted from off the pace to pull a 34-1 upset over world champion Lather Up. But that night Heimbecker did not miss the race out of superstition, but instead because he was fishing at a lake with his son.
“Blake actually told me ‘Steve, you’re not allowed to come to any races anymore. We win all the big ones when you don’t show up,’” Heimbecker said with a laugh. “[But] my strategy for the upcoming year is going to change. I’ve made a conscious decision to go to as many races as I can. We’ll see if we can get this jinx away. With COVID, I’ve now been missing it a lot.”
Prior to the talk of Courtly Choice’s career, Heimbecker spoke of some horses he had coming back including Maverick, the richest yearling ever purchased; Pirate Hanover, who fell in his Metro elimination due to a broken hopple hanger; and Lady Lou, a now four-year-old mare who Heimbecker describes as a “bank machine.”
The Heimbecker episode of COSA TV is available in its entirety below: