If you just took a snapshot of Grey Horizon crossing the finish line in this past Saturday’s $105,000 Ralph Klein Memorial a length and a quarter on top with the 1-9 favourite and trainer/driver Brandon Campbell easing up on him you would have thought well that was easy.
It wasn’t.
Instead, Campbell had what he called a “heart in the throat moment.”
Actually Campbell had two of them on Calgary’s Century Downs’ Midsummer Classic program which also included the $122,000 Gord and Illa Rumpel stake final won by Outlawguns N Roses.
The first came early. The second came much later.
First, the left hobble hanger, which is used by standardbred pacers to help the horse maintain its pacing gait, came loose just as they were leaving.
“It was too late for a recall,” said Campbell. “It could have been a disaster.
“I wouldn’t say the hobbles were touching the ground but they were hanging low enough to make a fella nervous.
“Thank God he’s a sure-footed horse,” said Campbell of the three-year-old owned by Jodi Loftus-Raymond and George Rogers.
“I thought as long as he keeps his hobbles filled and doesn’t run out of gas we’d be alright.
“But I had to take a big hold of him.
“I had just ordered an extra large set of hobble hangers. Regular doesn’t fit him because he’s a big, tall, large animal with a long gait.
“We put the hobble hangers on the highest hole and they were still too low. I’ll either throw them away or wait until we get a Clydesdale.”
The second ‘heart in the throat moment’ was even more precarious.
Exiting the final turn Grey Horizon got very rough-gaited.
“I had him trucking on fast,” said Campbell. “Then he threw in several very funky steps.
“I thought I was going to lose him. He just lost his footing. If I gave him his head he would have galloped which he almost did coming down the lane.
“I wasn’t sure if I could keep him on stride. It was 50-50. I almost lost him.
“I had to slow him right down; we definitely weren’t going the same speed. If that hadn’t happened it would have been a 1:52 mile,” Campbell said of what was a 1:53 mile - a personal best for Grey Horizon - with trainer Kelly Hoerdt finishing second (Solar Solution) and third (Rum N Custard). Campbell’s other entry, One Hot Minute, paced a personal best to finish fourth.
“I was having flashbacks to last year’s Western Canada Pacing Derby,” Campbell said of when Virtual Horizon lost as the 8-5 favourite to Blue Star Mercury. Virtual Horizon had won 13 in a row.
“I thought to myself ‘Not again. Not now. Not this time.
“Fortunately, Grey Horizon saw Hoerdt’s entry coming and took off again. He reset himself pretty handily and we were just flowing along.
“I had to hold him together and get him gaited again which he did. That’s my job as a driver.
“After that, honest to God, it was easy,” said Campbell with Grey Horizon sent off at 1-9 and paying just $2.10 to win, $2.10 to place and $2.10 to show as a result of his eight-length win in the eliminations.
“He saw those other colts of Kelly coming. At that point - as soon as he got going again - he wasn’t going to let them go by.
“Thank God we got lucky.”
The Ralph Klein Memorial was Grey Horizon’s ninth win in 17 starts. Ultra consistent, Grey Horizon has also has six seconds.
On June 15 at Century Downs Grey Horizon won the Moores Mile by eight lengths.
“I went into the Klein super confident. But as I said it’s a horse racing and things can go wrong. Things went wrong on Saturday but he overcame them.
“You almost always need some racing luck.
“Last month everything seemed to go wrong for our barn but the last couple of weeks things have gone really good.
There appears to be a lot more to come. And not just with Grey Horizon, who still needs to qualify for the Super Finals Nov. 3.
“This race and the Moores Mile don’t count towards the Super Finals so we have to race good in a couple of weeks in the Plainsman,” said Campbell, who has a barn loaded with young talent.
“The May 18 Marksman was a point-race for the Super Finals at Century Mile but we drew the eight hole and he just crapped the bed.”
The July 13 Maverick also counted towards the Super Finals but in that race Grey Horizon hooked wheels with One Hot Minute and neither horse finished the race.
“He’s still got work ahead of him.”
According to Campbell, always one of Western Canada’s top trainers and drivers, Grey Horizon came out of the Klein “super good.
“On Sunday he was bouncing and playing. It was as if he hadn’t put any effort into the race. He blows out quick. He’s got a good set of lungs.
“He’s one of those amazing animals.
“He holds his fitness well.
“He’ll get this week off to recuperate. Then I’ll jog him lightly. I probably won’t even train him between starts; he’ll be fresh.
“I’ve got a really, really, really great team, nice partners, nice horses. I’m really excited for the rest of the stakes season.
STOCK REPORT - Outlawguns N Roses set a track record for three-year-old fillies in the Rumpel when she breezed home in 1:51 3/5 - two fifths of a second faster than the boys in the Klein.
Retaking the lead after an opening quarter in a rapid 26 4/5, Outlawguns N Roses went on to a most impressive eight-length win over favourite ByBy Baby ByBy, who has had several matches with the winner.
Owned by trainer Rod Starkewski and Clauzette M Byckal, Outlawguns N Roses defeated ByBy Baby ByBy in the elimination of the Marquis - she broke stride at the start of the Marquis Final which ByBy Baby ByBy won - and easily handled ByBy Baby ByBy in the May 25 Diamond.
ByBy Baby ByBy, who set the track record for two-year-olds last year (1:52 2/5), got the decision in the June 15 Shirley McClellan.
But this was all Outlawguns N Roses, who was sent away at odds of 7-2 while ByBy Baby ByBy was the even-money favourite.
it was Oulawguns N Roses’ sixth win in eight starts this year and 10th in 17 lifetime appearances.
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Author: The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty.