Scott McEneny prepares to cap one of the best seasons of his career when he sends Bettors Up, a Bettors Delight filly from the Western Hanover mare Fresh Idea, in the $427,000 Three Diamonds from post two and Bettors Dream, a Bettors Delight colt from the Dream Away mare Enduring Dream, from post 11 in the $520,000 Governor’s Cup and to be contested on Saturday, November 19 at Woodbine Racetrack.
With a stable that includes his Fall Four contenders plus OSS winners Arsenic, Streakavana, Stuck In My Spanks and Tycoon Seelster, McEneny has posted numbers that rank within the top five of his 25-year training career.
“We didn’t really give a lot for the horses we bought,” McEneny said. “I’ve got some good help, we worked hard, and things worked out.
“I didn’t expect what we got out of Bettors Up. She trained down like an ordinary horse, but, when I had Bettors Delight he was like an ordinary horse until he got behind the gate, and that’s the way [Bettors Up] is.”
Mceneny purchased Bettors Up for $15,000 at the 2015 Lexington Yearling Sale. She competes for the interests of Brad Grant, Teresa Davidson, and Michelle McEneny.
“My wife was watching [yearling] videos and she spotted [Bettors Up] on the video,” McEneny said. “Her video was just amazing; she looked very athletic. We went to look at her, and when they pulled her out of the stall, I went ‘Oh boy, she’s small.’ But she was very correct and we took a shot on her. She’s not very big, but she has a big heart and a big gait and a big motor in her.”
In her last training mile before qualifying, Bettors Up demonstrated ability that McEneny felt was stakes calibre.
“We had a set of four training, and she kind of just followed along, but that day she was coming along with us and actually passed us at the wire. That’s why she wasn’t staked to as much as she had; she was a little better than we thought.
“Tim Tetrick drove her for her first time and he was like ‘She doesn’t race like one that’s that small.’ When I told him she has a 53, 53-and-a-half inch hopple, he said she doesn’t pace like one that has that; she has a long gait to her.”
After finishing fourth in the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship for Two-Year-Old Pacing Fillies, Bettors Up was laid off until November 4, when she finished third in a non-winners of three condition at Woodbine.
“She has gone through a lot over the summer with some injuries and stuff,” McEneny said. “It’s too bad she had those six weeks off. It kind of took a toll on her, so I’m just trying to get her sharp for the final.”
Bettors Up, a winner of six races in 10 starts this season, earning $211,959, was not staked to all the major stakes events this season, but McEneny always planned to race her in the Three Diamonds.
“She didn’t have the Breeders Crown or the She’s A Great Lady; I wish she did because she won the Eternal Camnation pretty handily. We went back to Pennsylvania because she was pretty dominant in Pennsylvania until the final, but the problem with the final, as far as I’m concerned, was the track. It just wasn’t the best track for her.
“I kept her around because I thought the Three Diamonds would come to be a little easier than it was; I knew a couple of fillies who weren’t eligible. We’re hopefully going to get our best on Saturday.”
In her Three Diamonds elimination, Bettors Up finished third, chasing home Idyllic Beach and Someomensomewhere.
“[Her race] was good,” McEneny said. “It’s tough to keep her sharp because she was out for six weeks; we didn’t want to race her that hard. She takes a little bit to get going; she’s better at rolling. Tim [Tetrick] said she was really good at the wire, but they won’t be going slow fractions this week.”
Starting from post two, Bettors Up, driven by Tim Tetrick, is neighbored by her elimination rivals Someomensomewhere, from post one, and Idyllic Beach, from post three.
“I hope we have a good shot,” McEneny said. “There are three or four good fillies, but they’re all inside. It depends on how the race sets up. She has won going [1]:51 on the front end, so she can race either way. It’ll be up to Tim on how he wants to race her.”
McEneny’s other starter on Fall Four night, Bettors Dream in the Governors Cup, enters off a seventh-place finish in a conditioned race at Woodbine, which was his first start in three weeks.
“He was in very tough against a bunch of older horses,” McEneny said. “He has been a little bit of a disappointment, was a little sick in the Metro. I thought he was better than that, so we rested him up, and it’s tough to get races for him up here with two-year-olds, so we raced him tougher than what he wanted. Then there were no eliminations [for the Governors Cup], which I would have really liked to have eliminations just to get a race in him, but we didn’t draw a bad post considering where everybody else drew.
“I’d rather have post eleven [than post ten]. He’s just a bad-drawing horse; I think he’ll be a better horse next year, but he has just had some bad posts. He also got sick during some of those stakes, so we’ll hopefully get a cheque, put him away and come back better next year.”
Bettors Dream, a Bettors Delight colt, has won three races in eight starts this season, earning $70,872 for McEneny and co-owners John Fielding and Dominic Chiaravalle. We was victorious in the Dream Maker series this summer at Mohawk where he took his mark of 1:53.1.
“He’s a lot bigger than his sire was,” McEneny said. “Bettors Delight was not big. He’s also a little lazy, but he has just had some bad luck this year.”
Bettors Dream, in his last start of the season, will be driven by Scott Zeron.
"I think he’ll hopefully come back to be a decent, useful three-year-old and grind out some money. He hasn’t done that bad this year."
To view the entries for Saturday's Fall Four card, click the following link: Saturday Entries - Woodbine Racetrack
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Ray Cotolo)