While untested in major stakes competition, Don & Sheila Anness' homebred Red Bugler turned enough heads with his blazing speed to reach the top 10 in Trot Magazine's Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book
.
Throughout the course of the week, the SC website will countdown to the Spring Book favourite, complete with updates from the trainers on the pacers that Trot staff assessed as the leading contenders for the richest price in Canadian harness racing. Watch for the full list of Spring Book odds in the April issue of Trot Magazine.
With odds of 25-1, late season Ontario-bred sensation Red Bugler comes in at #9 and Trot Insider caught up with the colt's trainer, Rheal Bourgeois.
Where did he winter?
"He was turned out at Mac Galbraith’s Shady Hill Farm in Durham, Ontario. He was there for close to two months before we brought him back to Mohawk Racetrack."
When did you start back with him?
"I started back with him around the middle of December."
Where are you at with him right now?
"We trained him in 2:05 on Saturday, March 20."
Have you noticed any changes from last year to this year?
"He’s always had a good temperament. I thought he might grow a bit more than he did, but he did fill out a bit. He’s a decent-sized horse and hopefully he comes back the way he ended up the year. I let his hopples out an inch and that’s about it; he wears a nice loose hopple anyway. The speed is already there, I just had to put lots of foundation into him. Don and Sheila Anness deserve a lot of credit, they got him ready and he’s a very nice colt."
When will he qualify?
"I’ll qualify him in mid-April, and I’ll probably qualify him twice unless he qualifies really well the first time. If that’s the case I’ll just qualify him once. I want to make sure he’s good and tight knowing where he’s going to have to go when he starts racing."
What will his early schedule look like leading up to the Pepsi NA Cup?
"We’ll shoot for an overnight race and then he has The Diplomat Series (two legs and final) followed by the Upper Canada Cup at Georgian Downs and then the Burlington Stakes at Mohawk."