A game of musical horses will see Jeff Gillis start three-year-old trotting colt Parlay in the first of two $40,000 Gold Eliminations at Western Fair Raceway on Friday
evening.
"Ricky MacPhee and I each had a horse we weren't getting along with, so we decided to swap horses for a month or so and see if we could help each other out," explains Gillis.
Gillis sent MacPhee a two-year-old pacing colt named Cambalibra, and received Parlay in exchange. Gillis admits he had not followed Parlay's career before the trotter landed in his barn, but an inspection of the colt's lines and a few brief conversations with his drivers prompted the trainer to reach for a pair of trotting hopples, an item that has been an on-again off-again part of the colt's equipment this summer.
Sporting the trotting hopples, Parlay qualified on Sept. 21, stepping off a 1:56.4 win with Jody Jamieson in the race bike. Gillis then entered the colt into a Sept. 26 overnight, and Parlay delivered a second strong effort over an off track, reaching the wire on top by a length in 1:56.2.
"The horse has been good pretty much any time he's stayed trotting," notes Gillis, who conditions the Kadabra son for Cambridge resident MacPhee, Harris O'Brien of Fort Erie and Robby Wiratmo Wibawa of Mississauga. "The trotting hopples certainly help him."
Gillis is not sure how the long-legged Parlay will navigate Western Fair's half-mile oval - all of the trotter's victories have come over the seven-eighths mile surface at Mohawk and Woodbine Racetracks. In Gold Elimination action at Georgian Downs and Rideau Carleton Raceway, both five-eighths mile tracks, the colt made late breaks. On the optimistic side of the ledger, MacPhee qualified the colt over Grand River Raceway's half-mile oval on June 29 and Parlay laid down a solid effort in 2:02.3.
"Check back in four days," says the Guelph resident, with a rueful chuckle. "There's just two divisions, and it's mainly about Super Final points for this horse. A small share and make it to the final would be nice."
Parlay will start from Post 5 in the first $40,000 Gold Elimination, and on draw day Gillis was unsure which driver would steer the colt. Jamieson is otherwise engaged in Lexington, KY and his second choice, Jack Moiseyev, will steer two-time Gold Final winner Equity from Post 7 in the same division.
Aside from his struggles in stakes company, Gillis says Parlay is an easy horse to get along with, but adds that he is no closer than he was two weeks ago to figuring out what is causing the colt to make breaks.
"He's very basic. He likes to eat, he doesn't wear much equipment, he's really a very simple horse," says the trainer. "But there are more questions than answers at this point.
"I think we traded one problem for another problem," he adds. "Hopefully it works out for everybody."
Parlay and his peers will kick off the Gold Elimination action at Western Fair Raceway on Friday evening in Race 4. The second Gold Elimination, which features the other two-time Gold Final winner I Wont Dance from Post 4, is slated as Race 8. Post time for the evening's festivities is 7:05 p.m.
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