A former face familiar to Ontario and multiple tracks on the East coast is back in active competition at the age of 15 and still winning races.
Stormin Rustler posted three wins in four starts over this past Labor Day weekend. The Rustler Hanover gelding posted a win in 2:04.1 and a half-mile dash victory in :58 at the Walworth County Fair in Elkhorn, Wisc. on Saturday (Aug. 31). With a day of rest in between, he was back at it again at the Iowa County Fair in Mineral Point, Wisc. on Labor Day Monday (Sept. 2) with a second place finish his first heat and ending the day in a dead-heat for the win in 2:01.
Stormin Rustler was driven by Wisconsin Harness Horse Association president Danny Carey and is owned by Sawyer Stables of Burnett, Wisc. His performance over the weekend has bumped him into third place in the Wisconsin top ten pacers standings.
The decision to send the former New Jersey campaigner to the Badger State came from former owner/trainer Michael Posner. After his mandatory retirement at Freehold Raceway in December, he felt the gelding still had plenty of desire to keep racing.
“I owe it to him to let him keep doing what he loves to do.”
His instructions were very specific, “Let him race as long as he wants to. He’ll tell you when he’s done. When that day comes, send him back to me and I will make sure he has a forever home.”
Stormin Rustler winning at The Meadowlands in 2015
Stormin Rustler has bankrolled more than $500,000 in his career, has a lifetime mark of 1:50.4, and now has 57 wins in his 405 races lifetime. He has toured over a dozen racetracks -- two of which, Ontario's Quinte Exhibition Raceway in Belleville and Sudbury Downs, are no longer active -- and had a nine-year streak where he won at least one race every year at The Meadowlands. With just two fairs and four races left in the 2019 fair season in Wisconsin, he has no plans of slowing down.
“He’s clean-legged and healthy,” says co-owner Dean Sawyer. “We are leaving the retirement plans up to him. When his ears aren’t pricked up and he doesn’t try to bite you when you try to pet him or give him a hug (Stormin Rustler’s favourite way to play) then we’ll hang up his harness.”
Just when you think this horse’s story can’t get any better, Stormin Rustler even has a following. Two of his former owners, and even his breeders from Pennsylvania, still stay very much involved in updates on the horse’s races.
Stormin Rustler is currently entered to race on Sunday (Sept. 8) at the Richland County Fair in Richland Center, Wisc. He will again be driven by Danny Carey.
“Stormy is a classy old racehorse that loves to race,” said Carey. “The Wisconsin County Fair circuit is the perfect transition to retirement for a horse like him. Kudos to the Sawyer Stables for giving him a great balance of relaxation and a bit more racing.”
And after his win, Danny gave him a hug with a big smile on his face and said, “That’s my boy!”
(with files from WHHA)