When it comes to the sophomore pacing scene for males, all of the industry’s attention is currently on the Pepsi North America Cup, and rightfully so. That being said, a particular ‘B-track’ three-year-old has made himself known due to a recent big mile, and he is now set to make his Woodbine Mohawk Park debut.
Bettor B Going was an unraced three-year-old when he made his pari-mutuel debut on May 18 at Kawartha Downs. He spotted the leader almost 20 lengths in the tilt and ended up finishing fifth. He was individually timed in 1:58.2.
The son of Bettors Delight made his second career start at the Fraserville, Ont. oval on June 1. The result was a down-the-road 1:52.1 win. The margin of victory was 29 lengths. The performance was a game changer for his trainer, Wilford Perrault.
“He really shocked us,” Perrault recently told Trot Insider. “We knew that he had some speed, but we didn’t know he had that kind of speed… He’s the fastest colt that I’ve ever trained.”
Bettor B Going had initially sold for $50,000 at the 2017 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Longtime Standardbred racehorse owners Grant and Joanne Curnow of Pefferlaw, Ont. purchased the bay online last fall, and that’s when Perrault got acquainted with the horse.
Bettor B Going, pictured jogging in the winter months leading up to his 2019 campaign.
“He was bought online last year,” explained Perrault, a 57-year-old resident of Lindsay, Ont. “He was a colt and we gelded him and he was trained down all winter. We schooled him and qualified him at Kawartha and then we put him in for his debut race at KD as well.”
Perrault knew that Bettor B Going had speed in him, but he wasn’t sure if or when he would show it to the world at the racetrack. The gelding’s pari-mutuel debut didn’t prove to be a showcase of said talent.
“He was a bit foot-sore after his first race,” said Perrault, “so we changed his shoes.”
Bettor B Going also got a change in driver after his first race, as Nick Boyd slid into the race bike for the gelding’s June 1 assignment. The changes worked, as history has shown it.
“He got to the front and then he started hitting the wheel disc,” Perrault said about the 1:52.1 performance. “The faster he went, the wider he went in the back, and he just kept going faster.”
The mile affirmed Perrault’s tempered beliefs in his charge. It also made a believer out of Boyd.
“Nick got off of him and said that he was the fastest colt that he’s ever driven,” Perrault stated. “He just gave him one tap with the whip in the middle of the stretch to keep him on his business, but Nick said that he was great and to not change anything with him.”
One change that is coming, though, is that Bettor B Going will be facing the Mohawk Park starter next as opposed to the Kawartha gate. He will be contesting Race 3 on Mohawk’s Tuesday (June 11) card. Bettor B Going has drawn the outside Post 7 in the non-winners of one-race class. Louis-Philippe Roy is scheduled to be in the sulky and the duo has been pegged as the 5-2 second choice on the morning line.
Perrault recently told Trot Insider that his charge would be headed to Mohawk for his next assignment, but that nothing else had been determined beyond that. Bettor B Going is eligible to the Ontario Sires Stakes and the Simcoe when it comes to the provincial racing scene, and was also nominated to the Ralph Klein Memorial and the Western Canada Pacing Derby in Alberta.
“The owners and myself are going to have to discuss things after [the Tuesday race],” said Perrault. “He’ll be going to the OSS at some point, but we just have to figure out when.”
Perrault told Trot Insider that he is relishing the moment, but he is equally as excited for the Curnows.
“They (the Curnows) have been in the industry for years – ever since they were kids,” said Perrault. “They’ve mainly owned cheaper claimers, so they’re thrilled.”
The first of Mohawk’s ten Tuesday races is scheduled to head to post at 7:10 p.m. Race 3 is expected to face the gate at roughly 7:50 p.m.
To view the harness racing entries for Tuesday at Mohawk, click the following link: Tuesday Entries – Woodbine Mohawk Park.