For
the last three years, San Pail has been the standard-bearer for Canadian
trotters. San Pail won three straight
Maple Leaf Trots at Mohawk Racetrack then won the 2011 Breeders Crown Open Trot
at Woodbine Racetrack, defeating not just the best trotters in North America,
but also two European invaders, Rapide Lebel and Commander Crowe on his way to
Horse of the Year honors north and south of the border . Since San Pail has been shelved by an injury
for much of this year, taking over his
place at the top of Canada’s contenders has been Mister Herbie, a four-year-old
Ontario-bred son of Here Comes Herbie.
Mister
Herbie, who has 16 career victories and earnings of over $1.1 million, is
trained by 35-year-old Jeff Gillis, who won his first Breeders Crown last year
with the mare trotter Frenchfrysnvinegar.
After a private purchase from previous trainer Carl Jamieson, Mister
Herbie came into Gillis’s care late in October 2011 and rattled off six consecutive
wins, including a record-setting 1:52 victory in the Ontario Sires Stakes Super
Final at Woodbine and multiple victories over aged horses in the preferred at
the Toronto oval, to close out his 2011 campaign.
Mister
Herbie got a brief respite in early 2012, but returned in March, winning two
more opens at Woodbine. The stage was
then set for a match-up with San Pail in the Glory’s Comet Trotting Series, and
the veteran got the better of his younger challenger by two and a half lengths
in the first round of the series. Mister
Herbie skipped the second leg, but was back with a vengeance in the $125,000
final, defeating San Pail by a nose in 1:51.3 despite a first-over trip.
"Anytime
you face a horse like San Pail, obviously it's going to be a challenge, but
honestly we kind of welcomed it,” Gillis said.
“We're really proud of our horse, and we're not really intimidated by
very many with him. He's a great horse
in his own right. I don't think he's
ever going to be outclassed. He may get
beat, but I don't think he's ever going to be outclassed."
Mister
Herbie then trekked to the Meadowlands for the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial , and
he was impressive again, wearing down Winning Mister from first-over to win by
half a length in 1:51.3. Mister Herbie
would go back to Canada following that race, but was a dull sixth in the Gold
division of the Honorable Earl Rowe Memorial at Georgian Downs. Gillis noted there was an explanation for
that poor performance, though.
“He
got through the Cutler, but he didn't come out of it very well, and
consequently he wasn't himself at Georgian Downs two weeks later,” Gillis
explained. “We had a little flare-up
with ulcers, but once we got those under control, he's been quite good since
then."
Mister
Herbie got a little more time off after the race at Georgian Downs, and then
qualified in 1:52.3 on July 6 at Mohawk Racetrack. That was all in preparation for the Maple
Leaf Trot, which was the biggest race on Gillis’s radar, and was on July 21st at Mohawk
Racetrack. Mister Herbie would reward
Gillis for his hard work, getting to the finish line three-quarters of a length
to the good in a Canadian record of 1:50.4.
That race was also the first time Mister Herbie locked horns against
Chapter Seven, but those two horses have been frequent competitors since then.
“The
Maple Leaf Trot was the be-all and end-all,” offered Gillis. “That was the one we were really focused
on. We were very fortunate in a lot of
ways to get that race. We haven't been
able to beat Chapter Seven since then, but there have been circumstances and
scenarios that went along with that.”
Since
winning the Maple Leaf Trot, Mister Herbie has finished second to Chapter Seven
in the Nat Ray on Hambletonian Day, first in the Frank Ryan Memorial at Rideau
Carleton Raceway, a locked-in fourth in the Credit Winner at Vernon Downs, and
second to Chapter Seven in the Allerage Trot at The Red Mile. Gillis is looking forward to another battle
with Chapter Seven and also Commander Crowe, who will be making the trip across
the Atlantic Ocean again.
"I
have tremendous respect for Commander Crowe,” said Gillis. “I thought in the Elitlopp he looked as close
to unbeatable as they come, but I understand he's been beat a few times since
then. It's always a challenge, I think,
for a horse with the ship and the flight he's got in front of him. That's a factor, but I think it totally
changes the dynamic of the race. The Europeans
don't seem to mind living on the outside, pulling early, what have you. I really think it changes the way that race
will unfold.
"I
think in the Nat Ray Chapter Seven was just plain better than we were. The next time we faced him was in Vernon, and
we got locked in the two-hole in a four-horse field, which I would have thought
was not impossible, but very unlikely given the circumstances. I would say Chapter Seven wasn't at his
best that day because he got beat, and I
really didn't think off those splits that he would have gotten beat, so that
race is kind of a throw-out to me. In
Lexington I may have had our horse a little under-fit. I also think the trip favored Chapter Seven
in that he got an uncontested lead, and we really expected Hot Shot Blue Chip
to come first-up because he'd beaten him that way in Vernon, but we couldn't
flush him. If you give a horse like
Chapter Seven four or five lengths at the end of the last turn, you're going to
have a lot of trouble running him down.
“Having
said that, I'm confident. I think we're
going to give both those horses everything they want and maybe a little
more. To me there are certain races
that carry a little more prestige than other, and I think the Maple Leaf Trot
and the Breeders Crown are two of those races that you really want. To me it really wouldn't matter where the
Breeders Crown was, it would still be an important race to us. I just feel that we have a little bit of a
home-field advantage in knowing the track very well and being in our own stall
and own environment. You want to take
advantage of those things."
With
no eliminations required for the $600,000 Breeders Crown Trot, Gillis will put
Mister Herbie through his paces at Mohawk Racetrack in preparation for the
race. Even though Gillis would have
liked a prep race for the event, he remains enthused about his charge’s
chances.
"He's
going to school (Friday) morning at Mohawk Racetrack, and I'll basically
develop a schedule based on how he schools and what we feel he needs after
that,” Gillis stated. “I think I've been
a little bit guilty his last start or two of babying him a little bit too much
and maybe not having him quite sharp enough.
I don't want that to be the case here.
"He
is the closest thing to a perfect horse that you're going to come across. He's just a sweetheart to work around. You could have a little kid jog him and he
races like a champion. There's really
nothing not to like about him, but if I had to pick one thing, I think he's got
a lot of courage. Talent only takes you
so far. You've got to have courage and
desire and he's certainly got that."
If
Gillis is right, the Maple Leaf may very well be flying high again following
this year’s edition of the Open Trot.
US$600,000 Breeders
Crown Trot (Race 3 7:20 p.m.) Sat. Oct.
27 EARLY post 6:30 p.m.
PP Horse Driver Morning
Line1. Daylon Magician (Jack Moiseyev) 10-1
2. Mister Herbie (Jody Jamieson) 3-1
3. Hot Shot Blue Chip (Corey Callahan) 8-1
4. Commander Crowe (Christophe Martens) 5-2
5. Arch Madness (Trond Smedshammer) 8-1
6. Chapter Seven (Tim Tetrick) 6-5
