Maybe they should just give Brandon Campbell and his partners the money in Saturday’s $105,570 Ralph Klein Memorial Stakes for three-year-old colts at Calgary’s Century Downs and not even contest the race.
Campbell has got what certainly appear to be the best two horses in the race in Grey Horizon and One Hot Minute, who both easily won last Saturday’s two eliminations.
Grey Horizon won his elimination by a leisurely win-as-you-please 8-1/4 lengths in 1:53.3 going wire to wire; One Hot Minute, with a perfect drive by Campbell, exploded down the stretch to win his elimination leg by a widening 1-1/2 lengths in 1:54.4.
And, Campbell got the two inside posts by virtue of their wins in the eliminations. One Hot Minute will start from the rail with Mike Hennessy in the bike; Grey Horizon will start from the two-hole with Campbell driving.
Campbell also got a break when one of the Klein favourites and the morning line favourite in the first elimination, Believe It Sea It, broke stride taking him out of the picture.
And if all of that isn’t enough, both horses are just finding themselves and getting better at the right time; both are just starting to show what they are made of.
“They’re both getting good at the right time,” said Campbell. “But it’s still a horse race. It wouldn’t be the first time a big favourite lost. But, that said, I think we stand a great chance. I’m not going to say 100 per cent we are going to win, but I’m going in with a great deal of confidence. With these two horses I have to be. I think One Hot Minute is as good as any of the other horses, excluding the grey horse, Grey Horizon. Grey Horizon I believe is in his own league.”
But, again, it is a horse race where anything can and often does happen.
“Sometimes thing go wrong,” said Campbell.
Take the July 13 $53,600 Alberta Sires Stakes Maverick final as just one example, which was the last time Grey Horizon and One Hot Minute raced against each other. Inexplicably, both horses hooked wheels and took themselves out of the race.
“You still need luck,” said Campbell, who has won the Ralph Klein four of the last five years. “In a perfect world, it would be absolutely amazing to finish one-two. My fingers are crossed.”
Of the two, Grey Horizon, who was bought for $55,000 at the 2022 Alberta Standardbred Horse Association Yearling Sale -- the second highest purchase of that sale -- is the best.
A son of Vertical Horizon, who won just over $860,000, Grey Horizon’s dam, Panagler, paced in 1:51.4 and earned more than $578,000.
Grey Horizon has won eight of 16 starts while finishing second six times. He won three stakes as a two-year-old. This year, his biggest win was clearly the $90,000 Moores Mile, which he won by nine lengths in a personal best of 1:53.2. It was one of six victories for Campbell that day.
“He’s been as sharp as a tack ever since he won the Moores Mile. It really picked up his confidence,” said Campbell. “Despite being much the best, he wasn’t always paying attention. You look at his ears and they are going this way and that way. Then, all of a sudden, he’s gone.
"He’s big. He’s powerful. He does everything so effortlessly. And, he’s athletic. But, like I said, sometimes he likes to look around and not pay attention. He’s turned into the horse he was supposed to be. He takes the turns as straight as an arrow.
“He hadn’t raced in three weeks going into the eliminations. The only thing I did to get him ready was jog him a mile in 2:20 on the farm. But he just shot out of the seven-hole in the eliminations, won very comfortably and was much the best.”
One Hot Minute, a son of Westward Hanover -- a multiple stakes winner who won 13 of 39 starts -- is out of One Hot Majorette. The latter has been a good producer with foals like Order One To Go, who won 16 races, and Hurry Home, who won 13 times.
One Hot Minute is owned and bred by Tim Kane and Campbell’s fiancé, Jodi Loftus. Grey Horizon is owned by Loftus, Raymond Henry and George Rogers of Calgary, Alta.
“One Hot Minute had a good spring but then he fell off and got sick. He just wasn’t firing,” said Campbell. “Until recently, he just hadn’t put it together; he’s just coming to himself.”
Campbell said One Hot Minute, a narrow gaited horse with a big heart, can be even better.
“Last week, I noticed a couple of things -- just trainer stuff, just some things I saw -- which I’ll work on and will hopefully make him even better.
“I’m looking for good performances from both of them. They both came out of the eliminations very, very good. I’m super pleased where I’m at going into the final,” said Campbell.
Alberta's reigning Driver and Trainer of the Year has been battling a back injury, noting, “I’ve got three herniated discs in my back. I’m going to the doctor on Thursday to set a date for surgery.”
Unable to do the work he is used to doing, Campbell said he has been blessed by his staff.
“Mostly, I just stand there and point fingers. Emma Laforce and Jodi are the best grooms on the planet.”
He’s also been aided by his parents, Sanford and Debbie.
“My dad jogs horses every morning. My mom helps with the chores.
"And John Baxter has been a big help too. He jogs horses for me too,” he said of one of Alberta’s best horsemen of all time.
With a pair of disqualifications in the second elimination, also qualifying for the final were Rum N Custard, who finished third and was placed second; Phone Nine One One, who was fourth place third; and Solar Solution, who was sixth placed fourth.
STOCK REPORT - Also on Saturday’s card at Century Downs is the $122,200 Gord and Illa Rumpel Memorial Stakes for three-year-old fillies.
There were no eliminations because only seven entered. Among the favourites are Outlawguns N Roses, who has won nine of 16 starts and was only out of the top three twice. She won the Alberta Marquis elimination for her sixth win in her last seven starts but broke in the final as the 1-9 favourite. She also won the $56,900 Alberta Diamond final by 10 lengths in a personal best mile in 1:52.4.
Outlawguns N Roses finished second in the $118,000 Shirley McClellan to Byby Baby Byby, when she was parked to the first quarter in :26.3.
Byby Baby Byby, who won the Marquis final, will be back to face her on Saturday. A winner of six of 14 outings, Byby Baby Byby also defeated Outlawguns N Roses in last year’s Alberta Starburst. She took her mark of 1:52.2 last year when she set Century Mile’s juvenile track record. Like Outlawguns N Roses, Byby Baby Byy has only been out of the top three twice.
Another rematch is most enticing.
Also in the field are the Campbell-campaigned Over Ice and B.C. invader Kootenay Cocoa, who interestingly hasn’t raced since April 26 when she won the Penny Bath Memorial at Fraser Downs by almost two lengths in a personal best of 1:52.3. She recently qualified in 1:57, winning that qualifier by more than 33 lengths.
To view the entries for Saturday's card of harness racing at Century Downs, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Century Downs.
(Curtis Stock / thehorses.com)