When eight-year-old pacing mare Bio Link walked into David Grisenthwaite’s barn just seven starts ago, he never thought she would become the fastest horse he has ever trained. “She was kind of a joke at first,” said Grisenthwaite. “We were pleasantly surprised when she starting winning for us.”
Bio Link has recorded three wins in a row for her new trainer, breaking her lifetime mark and swiftly moving up the condition ladder in the process.
Grisenthwaite would love to figure out what the reason for Bio Link’s improvement is, but for now he thinks it was the small changes.
“I changed her hopples a little bit and moved her to Billy Larimer for blacksmithing. You sure can’t do well without a good blacksmith.”
Grisenthwaite further explained, “Ryan Stahl and Wyatt Irvine have been driving her for me, and when these guys get confidence in your horse they are as good as it gets. She would not be racing the way she is now without them.”
He went on to say, “I don’t know how long she can keep doing what she is doing. She is eight years old and a wonderful horse to work around. In fact, my daughter, Brittany Miller, does everything for her except training miles.”
The 1:54.1 win on May 11, which represents Bio Link’s lifetime mark, prompted Grisenthwaite to move her from $3,000 claimers to the top conditioned races offered at Northfield Park.
“It just looked like she could deal with them,” Grisenthwaite said. “So after that step up, I asked Ryan how the new competition was and he replied, 'She won, didn’t she?'”
Bio Link, a pacing mare by Village Jiffy from the Run The Table mare Quicklink, has five wins in 2012 and 38 for her career. Brian Lloyd of Garfield Heights, Ohio owns the mare.
“She has been turned out a lot this week and is up to her belly in grass just running, playing and having fun,” Grisenthwaite stated.
Bio Link is entered to race on Friday, June 1. She has drawn Post 7 in Northfield’s eleventh race.
When asked about her chances, Grisenthwaite said, “I don’t want to jinx her.”
(Northfield Park)