'The Stable' Life

For Kevin McMaster and Harry Poulton, training horses is in their blood. But when they found themselves on the outside, looking in, the phone rang. It was opportunity. By Keith McCalmont

A life in racing is decidedly unstable. Just when you think you have the world by the tail, circumstances beyond your control can bring everything crashing down.

Sometimes, that run of good fortune is ended by an injury, a string of tough trips or, at its worst, your own bad decisions. It’s just the way of life for those who make their living in racing.

In the case of trainers Kevin McMaster and Harry Poulton, their successes and longevity in the game was well-known. But in recent years, due to changes in the industry, their opportunities to make a living training horses just wasn’t there any longer.

McMaster, an O’Brien Award winner as Trainer of the Year in 2000, was a force in Ontario, specifically the Woodbine/Mohawk circuit, winning in triple digits from 1999 through 2005. While his number of starters decreased from 2006 to 2012, the end of the road was closing in as owners bailed with the news of the demise of the Slots at Racetracks Program (SARP).

“I’d recently put an ad on the Standardbred Canada site, and the calls I got, the guys just didn’t want to pay what it would cost to train a horse. There’s no way I could make a living with what was offered,” recalled McMaster. “I had lots of calls, you just couldn’t charge anything, and I couldn’t look after a horse right for that kind of money, and that’s when I knew it was time to get out.”

In a game where experience matters, horse racing could ill afford to lose a veteran horseman who had essentially grown up in the game and was associated with any number of good horses including his own pacer, Smithsonian p,1:48.4s ($508,230).

And yet, by the end of his run, McMaster had packed it all in and was working as a courier driver.

Poulton, another respected veteran conditioner, who trained Hall of Famers On The Road Again and Matts Scooter, was essentially down to his last horse when he decided enough was enough, and headed home to Prince Edward Island.

Retired life in PEI suited Poulton - for a spell.

“I was doing nothing. Absolutely zero. I jogged the odd horse for my sister and trained it. It was the first time in my life I went three months without doing anything,” laughs Poulton. “But, at the end of three months, it was like ‘this is getting a little boring’. When you first get away it’s great, but after you’re away too long you get the itch again.”

With a number of horsepeople exiting the game, or cutting back, and new owners seemingly impossible to find, for a brief spell it really did feel like dire straits for the racing business.

But, from adversity comes opportunity, and in September of 2015 horseman Anthony MacDonald, and his wife Amy MacDonald, launched TheStable.ca offering up a new way for the public to invest, financially and emotionally, in horse racing, through fractional ownership and the opportunity to spend time with their investment.

“We found a way to make horse racing easy and affordable, and we tapped into a massive market that had never been explored before - that’s what happened. Our clients have grown, and in-turn the industry has grown,” said MacDonald. “The amount of work I’ve had to do has grown. We went from 26 horses the first year to in the second year 45. Now we’ve got 106 horses in the barn. It has grown exponentially.”

At first, The Stable offered the MacDonald clan some stability, but the vision has now grown beyond initial expectations. And not only is the unique program bringing more horses to the races, it’s now also opening a door for returning horsemen.

“Kevin McMaster, an O’Brien Award winner, was a dominant force,” says MacDonald. “To say he was a leading trainer for over a decade would be understating the impact he had on Canadian horse racing. Since SARP, guys like Kevin, who are quiet and like to focus on the work at hand, had clients that were disappearing and they couldn’t make an impact on the market anymore.”

With an abundance of horses at his fingertips, MacDonald knew The Stable had grown beyond a family operation. He needed help.

“We’ve taken some of our horses and transplanted trainers in to train them. Kevin McMaster now has horses in shedrow three of Tomiko Training Centre,” said MacDonald. “Harry Poulton, virtually retired from training horses, had sold his home and moved back to PEI. Now, he’s back up here to train horses under The Stable banner.”

It’s a racing success story and a blueprint to not only grow the game, but maintain the quality horsemanship that is so essential to raising future generations of trainers.

• • • •

A native of New Waterford, Nova Scotia, the 49-year-old McMaster grew up in the game.

“I was born right into it and loved it right away. I knew from early on this is all I wanted to do. I’ve been training horses for 40 years. My father had a horse when I was born and I was holding it in the barn from when I was two-years-old,” says McMaster.

His father, John, enjoyed having horses, but for Kevin, the idea of driving and training racehorses was a passion.

“I had my trainer’s license at 14 and I was driving horses myself when I was 17,” recalls McMaster, of his early years at Tartan Downs. “We were racing for $350. If you trained a horse, you might get $80 a week [training bill]. That’s why I had to get out of Cape Breton. People had to have money to do it. The ordinary Joe couldn’t afford to have a horse.”

Although making a living in Nova Scotia was difficult, there’s no end to the prominent horsemen that have emerged from the province, from small tracks fueled by the energy and buzz of an engaged community.

“My father raced his first horse in ‘67 and they were betting $65,000. Imagine that,” says McMaster. “I remember him taking me by the hand, and there were that many people parked outside the track that we had to walk a mile to get to the grandstand. It was only horse racing then, and there were big crowds.”

McMaster knew he had to leave the comfort of his hometown eventually, and arrived in Ontario in 1995 with three horses, initially working for Pat Crowe and Kevin Davidson. Over a three-year period he grew to a stable bursting with 80 horses.

“It was a circus, that’s for sure,” said McMaster. “I hit it right at the right time. When I got going big the slots just came in and the purses were high. Everybody was making money back then.

“I remember claiming horses for $27,000 and putting them back in and getting $13,000 for the win, and losing them... that was $13,000 clear in a week,” continued McMaster. “That was there for you all the time. There were so many horses around then it was easy.”

More than just quantity, there was quality in McMaster’s stock as well.

“Watching my own horse, Smithsonian, win in 48.4, that was nice,” grins McMaster. “Just coming from a small town going miles in 2:10 and then winning here in :48.4, that was pretty nice.”

However, even with 2,033 career wins to his name, opportunities eventually dried up for the award-winning horseman.

“When the slots left, that was the start. That’s what helped finish it really. Burnout was a lot of it too,” he offers. “I was at the races every night and I think I just got burned out and started to cut back on horses. And then I started to own my own horses and that’s when the downfall really hit. It was tough to compete and I didn’t have the money behind me. When things are going great, it’s great, but when it goes bad you get a different attitude.”

It’s hard to imagine that a passionate east coast horseman like McMaster simply walked away from the game, but it was even worse than that.

“You know what the scary part is? I didn’t miss it,” says McMaster. “I was that burned out. I had no plans to get back in the game. I was going to give it two years before I sold all my gear just to make sure.”

But the phone calls soon started to ring through from MacDonald, about this new opportunity…

“Anthony made a lot of sense, and what he has going here is a great thing. It takes a lot of pressure off trainers…and owners. This is something that could really save harness racing,” says McMaster.

McMaster is now back in the game with a flourish, working specifically on getting horses about ready to race.

“I train 10 two-year-olds that Anthony turned out. I’m training them back and they’re all between 2:12 and 2:20, so in another month they should be racing,” says McMaster.

That part of the job is likely familiar to McMaster. On the other hand, the video cameras, drone, and daily visits from horse owners is something new.

“These people have horses, and they love it, and if the horse don’t race good they don’t worry about having to pay a $3,000 board bill because so many people own the horse. I just think it’s a great way for people to own horses,” says McMaster.

In fact, McMaster is actually enjoying this new way of life.

“I think it’s the greatest thing. I always wished an owner would be around the horses more so if something is wrong, you could actually show them,” he says. “These people are very excited about their horse. They may only own 1% but they’re really excited. When that horse trains good, they smile like they’re going to the N.A. Cup, and when they train bad you can see the disappointment. I like having the owners involved as they get more out of it.”

• • • •

It’s hard to imagine any other sport where a team on the rise could add an award-winner like McMaster, and a veteran with Hall of Fame connections like Poulton.

At 60, Poulton is far too young to be out of the sport. Experience can only make you a better horseperson and as Hall of Fame Thoroughbred trainer Roger Attfield once noted in an interview with the CBC, “Racehorse trainers don’t retire, they just die.”

Well, there’s plenty of life left in Poulton yet, and the persistent MacDonald finally managed to talk his friend into coming back to Ontario from a retirement he really didn’t want anyway.

“I was always talking with Anthony. I had wrapped up, but here I am, back at it,” he laughs. “I’d had enough of sitting around doing nothing. It was a good opportunity.”

A two-time winner of the Meadowlands Pace, Poulton took down his first of the million-dollar mile in 1984 with On The Road Again and was back four years later with Matts Scooter to scoop the prize money again.

“There’s a lot of memories. A lot of favourite ones. Maybe winning the first Meadowlands Pace was the highlight of it all,” he starts. “It was like any other race except we were going for $1 million. The preparation was the same, everything was the same but the money. Pressure never bothered me very much. When you have that kind of horse, they don’t always win but they always race good.”

MacDonald makes the point that you need to be a businessman, and perhaps even part showman, in order to attract owners these days, but the soft-spoken Poulton isn’t one to shine a light on his own successes.

“My honest belief is you do everything you can to keep a horse sound, healthy and fit, and you can’t do much about anything else. They’ll look after the rest,” he says quietly.

But there is a sense of admiration and fondness in his voice when talking about his Hall of Fame pupils.

“Both of their racing styles were really similar. They didn’t leave hard very often, but would come early and just grind it out,” he says. “Most horses nowadays leave. It’s a different racing style. Back then a lot of horses came first and second-up, and off the pace. Most of them now leave pretty hard, the ones we have around here.”

While McMaster works with the racehorses, Poulton is content to spend his mornings with the babies.

“It’s just something I enjoyed from day one. I’d much rather train young horses than racehorses from day one and I’m not even sure why. I just enjoy it more,” says Poulton. “If you end up with an On The Road Again or a Matts Scooter at the end of the day, it’s pretty rewarding.”

It puts a smile on Poulton’s face to see new owners find their way into the game through The Stable.

“It got so people couldn’t afford it, and Anthony has made it so that people can afford to be in the horse business. I think it’s a fabulous idea,” says Poulton. “I was walking the shedrow last week and a couple was standing there looking at a horse. They told me how they’d never been able to own a horse but with this new program they had a piece of the horse and enjoy it to no end.

“I guess that’s why it’s working. It’s the horse. Simple as that,” continued Poulton. “People have forgotten that so much of it is about the horse itself and they really enjoy coming out to watch the horse training down.”

He also enjoys the team-atmosphere working at The Stable.

“I get there at 7am and Amy is there already doing computer work and answering emails. Anthony will come in and he’s there until we’re all done,” noted Poulton. “Plus, there’s a lot of good young horses out there. You’d be surprised at just how many good young colts there are.”

• • • •

Not to be forgotten in the special mix that is The Stable - the flashy website, the fractional ownership, video content, and drone footage - is the opportunity for McMaster, Poulton and others to eventually re-start their own stable.

“Forever, people have been extremely protective of their clients and investors, and for us I know there’s no end to the investors that can be involved in horse racing. My hope is that some of these clients that Kevin and Harry come in contact with at The Stable will end up being their own clients,” says MacDonald.

“There’s no need for Kevin and Harry to be under The Stable umbrella in a few years, and they can go back out on their own,” continues MacDonald. “It’s as much a business entity as it is an educational tool for trainers that deserve a better lifestyle, considering what they’ve given to the industry. There’s no secret here. Everything you need to know about what we’ve done is on the website, on Facebook and on Twitter. The blueprint you need to grow is right there. It’s just a matter of doing it.”

And McMaster is keen to keep doing it.

“I’m going to give it a 100 percent try, and right now I’m very pleased with it. I love winning and I’d love to do this for another 5-10 years if I could. This is a different ballgame altogether,” says McMaster.

Now Poulton, on the other hand, may not be looking for a route back into full-time training but he is committed to a life in racing.

“I’ll work with Amy and Anthony until they don’t need me anymore, and then I’m back into retirement. I’m enjoying it. They’re great young kids, easy to work for and do everything they can for the help. It runs really smoothly,” he says.

You have to hand it to MacDonald. He’s made an unstable life, a ‘Stable’ one.