Two-time O'Brien Award winner Casie Coleman has given Trot Insider an update on the five North America Cup eligibles that she has in her operation
. Included in that bunch is Art Colony, which has been installed as the 7-1 second choice in Trot Magazine's 2009 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book.
Click here to view the spring book in its entirety.
Coleman has a total of five 'Cup' eligibles currently under her tutelage. Her comments on the three-year-olds are listed below.
"I trained him in [2:] 15 this morning and am looking to go in about [2:] 10 with him by next week. We've put a ton of miles in the range of [2:] 25 to [2:] 35 into him so far this year. We've been going two trips with him a couple of times a week.
"He's filled out and grown up -- I couldn't be happier with him. We're pointing him at the Burlington and North America Cup. He'll be getting at least two qualifiers beforehand and maybe a three-year-old Open if that opportunity presents itself."
"He was really fast last year -- he had trained down to 2:02 and was coming along really well until one day he came up lame after training. He had cracked a pastern, but we all loved him since Day 1. We had to quit with him to let him heal up.
"Mr Terror is wicked-fast, but he can be temperamental. Last night at Woodbine he had a head pole that was bugging him a bit, but he still went out and won in [1:] 54 over a sloppy track.
"Right now we're just tinkering with his equipment. He made a speed break in one of the opening legs of the Apaches Fame (Pacing Series at Woodbine) and also made a break in the final. Mark MacDonald told me that he was going a huge mile in the final before he made that speed break, but he still paced in [1:] 52.4, which shows what kind of a motor he has. The key to him is getting his gait and attitude together. If he gets his head on straight, everyone will see that he's the real deal. We are pointing him first to the Upper Canada Cup at Georgian Downs."
"The horse is actually flying in as we speak from trainer Rod Therres out west. To be honest, I don't know all that much about him. I checked out his record and he looks like a nice colt, but he's going to have to go a lot more if he's going to tackle some of these colts. Even though I've heard some good things about it as of late, it has been a while since I've seen the track at Fraser, so I'll have to wait and see what this colt is like. He'll be entered to The Diplomat if he shipped well, and we are also pointing him to the Upper Canada Cup."
"I just got him a week ago. Paul Reid had him early at two and than 'Nifty' Norman (trainer Richard Norman) had him the rest of the way. He banked over $200,000 last year and I was told that he has been training down in Florida this year and has been in two minutes. I'm looking at qualifying him at the Meadowlands on Thursday and I plan on qualifying him twice. He, as well, will be going to the Upper Canada Cup."
"Mac Nichol paid $130,000 for him as a yearling, but last year he just couldn't seem to sustain his speed, even though he went some really fast quarters. I think his size played against him last year. He was a huge two-year-old -- virtually the size of an aged horse. He has been gelded and was trained down at Mac's Ideal Training Centre this year. He's a completely different horse than last year and has totally dropped the attitude. We're considering entering him to The Diplomat as well."