After a few starts at Cal Expo to get acquainted with Wrangler Reward, Karen Isbell guided the hard-knocking 7-year-old to a coast-to-coast score in impressive fashion last weekend.
Isbell claimed Wrangler Reward for $3,500 back on January 13 for herself, her husband Allen Aldrich and thoroughbred trainer Jeff Bonde, and was rewarded with a victory as owner/driver/trainer in her fourth teaming with the pacer.
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| Karen Isbell |
The start before the trio red-tagged Wrangler Reward from trainer Tim Brown, Isbell had finished second to that pacer with Grandpa Stevie. The next week, Grandpa Stevie was in the fourth race and Wrangler Reward was in a bit later on the program.
“Trainer Tim Brown claimed Grandpa Stevie, and when my husband and Jeff found out, they called me from Oaklawn Park and told me to claim Wrangler Reward,” Karen explained. “That’s just the way it works sometimes.
“I had actually driven Wrangler Reward in a series, but I’m still an amateur driver and amateur trainer, so it took a little time to get know him. The plan for the last start was to go to the front and be more aggressive than I have with him, and it was a solid mile because he had a challenge at the half and was competitive the entire way. It was a real big race for him.”
Isbell was originally a jockey, then became interested in the standardbreds many years later and drove her first harness race a year and a half ago. She decided to add trainer to her resume in the fall and currently has four performers in the shedrow.
Bonde, who in recent years has moved into the elite ranks among thoroughbred trainers, is partners on three of the Isbell pupils while husband Aldrich has a couple that take their lessons from Bonde.
“He’s supporting us and it makes the whole thing a lot of fun,” Karen noted. “When I first started getting into harness racing, the plan was just to drive, but the more I got involved the more I wanted to be hands-on and it’s very fulfilling when you’re both the driver and trainer of a winner.”
