Despite a rough start to his career, it appears as though regally-bred trotter Zero Boundaries is finally coming around for trainer John Bax
.
Driven by Tomas Dalborg, the three-year-old son of Duke Of York marched his way to an 11 and a half-length score on March 28 at Kawartha Downs in 1:58.1 - at the time, the fastest mile in North America this year for a sophomore trotting gelding.
“The time was very impressive,” Bax told Trot Insider. “He’s trotting really good. I qualified him the week before in 2:03.1 and he was real handy but I was not expecting him to go that fast.
“Tomas is a great up and coming driver and I use him on occasion. It’s a tough game to break into and when I have a horse for him that fits I'll use him.”
While Zero Boundaries seems to be off to a good start this year, his freshmen campaign turned out to be a disappointment for his connections including breeder Al Libfeld of Pickering, Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband of Toronto, Ont.
“His two-year-old year did not go very well,” explains Bax. “He has a great pedigree and we had high hopes for him but he had trouble concentrating and he had interference issues.”
An embryo transfer foal, Zero Boundaries is a half-brother to the ill-fated Forever Starlet and World Record Holder Sir Perseverance, each winners of over $700,000. Zero Boundaries finished a distant sixth after making an early miscue in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold elimination in mid-July. In the Consolation, he broke stride and finished last. After struggling through a series of qualifiers in August, Zero Boundaries finally hit the mark winning in 2:02 at Kawartha, although he stepped offstride again in his next OSS start finishing out of the money.
“We used trotting hopples, which I use as a last resort," said Bax. "He had a win but it was not how I wanted it to go.”
Bax ended Zero Boundaries’ season early and the bay was gelded. He then spent the winter in Peterborough with the veteran horseman and resumed training before the New Year.
“He’s really come along and he’s a better horse to drive this year,” says Dalborg, who sat in the bike for both of Zero Boundaries’ victories. “He has lots of potential but he needs to grow up a little bit. He’s a little tricky, you have to keep him concentrated, but he’s a nice horse for sure.”
Bax says he would love for Zero Boundaries to follow in the footsteps of Define The World, who started small and worked his way up to earn divisional honours in 2008. The aspiring Gold champion will race in Toronto or at Kawartha or Georgian Downs to gain experience and prepare for the first Gold in May at Mohawk Racetrack.