Wildriverbumblebee, last seen winning the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots final for three-year-old pacers in 1:51.2 at Mohawk last September, is about to come out of hibernation.
Owner and breeder Dr. John Bradbury of Cookshire-Eaton, Quebec, said that if all goes as planned, the four-year-old son of Sportswriter will qualify next week at Hippodrome 3R.
"I like to go at least two qualifiers. We'll see how he feels after the second one before making any decisions, but everything's going good so far. He`s been jogging and training and I find he's really muscled up since last year, more than during the transition from two to three," he said.
The first item on his tentative schedule is a series for older Quebec-bred pacers at Hippodrome 3R in June. Wildriverbumblebee won the biggest race of the year for Quebec-bred pacers at two and three, and has only been worse than second only once in 14 lifetime starts. Last year, he won seven of nine and made $87,125.
"I'm not too hard on him," said Bradbury, an Eastern Townships veterinarian.
He was thinking of testing his pacer in the U.S. after his Mohawk victory last fall, but those plans were derailed when the colt came down with sinusitis, then broke a small bone in his face while playing in a field. He's now fully recovered on both counts, said Bradbury, who has nominated him this year to the Breeders Crown and Canadian Pacing Derby as well as the $200,000 Prix d'Ete at Hippodrome 3R on Aug. 19.
"I know it's ambitious," Bradbury said, "but he's pretty fresh and we haven't seen the end of him yet. He did his 1:51.2 mile on the front end and I think he'll be even better racing off a helmet."
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)