With the scheduled date of the 2022 Pepsi North America Cup just over two months away, Trot Insider will profile some of the race's top contenders as horses ready to compete for one of Canadian harness racing's biggest prizes.
At 22-1, Magical Arthur begins the countdown at #10 in TROT Magazine's 2022 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book.
A homebred owned by David Lumsden of Ancaster, Ont., Magical Arthur posted a solid 3-3-0 summary from eight seasonal starts with $216,125 in earnings. His only off-the-board finishes came in his first two starts for trainer Tony Beaton, with an equipment change after a break at Grand River Raceway making a world of difference. The rookie pacer took his mark of 1:52 in a division of the Nassagaweya and then paced back to his mark in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold leg one week later.
Trot Insider caught up with Beaton for an update on the talented colt as he prepares for his sophomore season.
"He wasn't staked to an awful lot, but every time he raced he raced great," said Beaton of Magical Arthur's rookie campaign. "Obviously, the Battle of Waterloo, he made a mistake up there but he got hitting the bike. So once we started putting the bigger bike on him and he didn't hit it, he just flourished. And that was something we had to figure out with him. But he never got over-raced, and he was put away at the end of the year in great condition."
Where did he winter and when did you start back with him?
"He went back to Darlene Hayes' Hillsborough Stable, right where he was raised. We took him back in the first week of December. We had him on the wheel and we'd jog him every second day for a couple of weeks and then once all the other two-turning-three-year-olds came back in we went full bore ahead with them."
Have you noticed any changes from last year to this year?
"When I picked him up I noticed he filled out some. Didn't get a lot taller. Then the one day I hooked my jog cart on him and I was like, 'wow, he really filled out.' His ass end now...he always had that trait to him, but now it's just that much bigger. And when you're sitting behind him, he is that much taller too. Just a nicely put together colt."
Where are you at with him now and when will we qualify?
"He trained [April 2] in 2:06 at Classy Lane and we were extremely happy with everything. He was very strong doing that and he recovered quickly afterwards.
"We were right on schedule to qualify mid-April, then Mother Nature took its toll on all of our tracks around here. We probably fell behind about a week or 10 days, so rather than [qualify] middle of April we're looking the third week or towards the end."
What will his early schedule look like leading up to the Pepsi North America Cup?
"They offered that new SBOA Stake this year for the colts, and I was very happy to see that. It gives them something to get a good start under their belts. I'm probably qualifying him twice due to the amount of money he's got on his card. It's going to be tough to throw a green three-year-old against some of the more seasoned horses, unless we can get into a three-year-old...which would be nice.
"We have to pick our spots, but definitely the SBOA's on the plate and then I believe the Somebeachsomewhere and then it's the NA Cup."
What does his tentative schedule look like after the Pepsi North America Cup?
"We've got the OSS, right? So that's that gets pretty hectic for the colts anyway. If we stay good enough, we've got the five OSS races right to go along and then this year we decided to pay him into the Breeders Crown. It's in our backyard here. We made the supplement payment for him at the start of the year. I was a little reluctant to do it. but [owner] Dave Lumsden said 'let's give him the chance. He deserves it.' He's paid for it himself."
What's his biggest asset / strength?
"He never gets tired, and he's got a great gait to him. And he's got that determination and will to him."
At what point last year did you think this horse was North America Cup material?
"After the Nassagaweya. Dave was ecstatic and said 'alright, we're paying him into the NA Cup next year.'"
Any three-year-old stablemates in the barn right now that are paid up and also looking promising?
"We've got Many Moons, and he's basically on the same schedule as Arthur. And Aint He Special is training with them as well; he's the type of colt that if he put it all together and the switch would go off he could be a nice, nice colt."
As someone who's been connected to North America Cup winners as part of another stable, how does it feel to possibly have your own contender in the race?
"It's an honour to have a horse even talked about in that class. And it's like, this is your work basically and your management and everything. You know, I have to give credit to Casie [Coleman] for the way she did manage some of those horses. We always tried to have them peak when it was go time. And her results and numbers, they don't lie, right? She did a great job of managing and pairing the horse up with the proper driver. It's a long, drawn-out process."