Justin Lebo, a 26-year-old resident of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, has a soft spot in his heart and a sore spot on his shoulder; both courtesy of the champion two-year-old colt he trains named Major In Art.
This year's Woodrow Wilson and Metro Pace winner has not only put young Lebo on the harness map, he's also put him in the hospital.
"After the Metro, I took him out to grass him," Lebo said. "He was feeling so good that day he threw me down and dislocated my shoulder. When I walked him out he was jumping around. He wound up breaking the lead shank and he took my shoulder out of joint. An hour and a half later I was still in the emergency room waiting to get my shoulder put back in the socket.
"Actually, he does nothing wrong. He's just a little cocky when you take him to the paddock but that's to be expected. He's basically a mild mannered horse. Everybody who sees him says he's got the look, he's the real deal, he has that 'it' factor."
Major In Art, who will race in the Governor's Cup eliminations Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, has five wins in six starts and earnings of $700,600 for the Major In Art Stable. His only pari-mutuel defeat came on July 25, when he finished second to Vertigo Hanover in his Woodrow Wilson elimination.
"For one thing, he'd never had to go that fast before," Lebo said. "It was an exceptionally fast mile (1:51.1) and he just wasn't tight enough for that mile but when he came back we made a couple of changes and he went on to win the final."
Lebo comes from a family of horsemen, and while it was inevitable that he would eventually take up his position in the jog cart, his quick success on the other hand is something for the record books. Lebo has only been licensed since 2006, and according to Meadowlands racing analyst, Bob "Hollywood" Heyden, he is the youngest trainer to win the Woodrow Wilson and the youngest to win the Metro. Previously, Blair Burgess, who won the Metro in 1989 with Road Machine, was the youngest Metro winner at 27.
"It was definitely an honour to race against some of the guys I've grown up listening to," Lebo said. "It's definitely an honour in that regard. Hopefully I'll get a couple of more horses like this throughout my training career."
(HRC)