Just six months ago Todd Teolis had never seen a single horse race. Now, in a blur, Edmonton’s Teolis has some 25 harness horses including seven broodmares - all in foal - and two weanlings that came with the broodmares.
One of them is Outlawminutbyminut, a two-year-old colt, who looks to be the one to beat in one of four of Saturday’s $80,000 Super Finals at Century Mile.
“Todd is a big picture kind of guy,” said Teolis’ trainer and partner Logan Gillis.
“He dove right into the breeding and the race horse game at the same time.
“He’s got a lot of big plans.”
Teolis doesn’t disagree.
“From zero to a million miles an hour; that’s me,” said Teolis, 51, who is in the car wash business.
Teolis’ foray into harness racing is fortuitous and fateful.
“I reconnected in Christmas of 2023 with a girl, Jennifer Knight, that I dated in high school. Her daughter, Kelsey Knight, just happened to work as a groom for Dave Kelly,” said Teolis.
Kelly, one of Alberta’s top horsemen, and Logan were longtime friends from Nova Scotia, and Kelsey and Logan’s girlfriend, Meagan, were also friends.
One day in May, Kelly asked Teolis if he wanted to go to the races.
“I said ‘Sure,’” said Teolis. “I thought it might be fun even though I didn’t know the first thing about horse racing.
“I bet $20 on a 26-1 longshot and won $550. I thought this is pretty easy.
“After the races we went back to Dave’s barn. I liked the atmosphere. I had just sold a couple of companies so I thought to myself that this could be fun,” said Teolis, who was watching this past weekend’s Breeders’ Crown races from The Meadowlands as we spoke.
“I’d love to have a horse that could compete in those races,” said Teolis of the Breeders’ Crown which is harness racing’s world championships. Teolis is heading to the rich Harrisburg Yearling Sale next week in hopes of finding just that kind of a horse.
“He’s got big plans,” said Gillis.
It wasn’t long before Teolis asked Gillis if he could buy him a horse.
“I found one, Outlawelectricblue, who was pretty good but he had a nagging injury and he’s getting some R&R,” said Gillis, who has only been driving and training full time for five years.
“We worked out a deal and now we’ve got 25 horses.”
Teolis then said he wanted to buy another horse. Enter Outlawminutbyminut.
Outlawelectricblue and Outlawminutbyminut both came from Connie Kolthammer’s esteemed Outlaw Stable; both were private purchases.
“Logan qualified Outlawminutbyminut on July 7 and even though the qualifier went in just 2:05 4/5ths and Outlawminutbyminut only finished fourth, Logan saw enough that he told me I should consider buying him,” said Teolis. “So I did. Logan is very intelligent. He knows what he’s talking about.”
“It wasn’t an eye-opening qualifier,” said Gillis. “But he knew how to go fast. I could just tell. Everything he did he was a gentleman. Some two-year-olds can get very erratic the first time they see the track. Outlawminutbyminut was nothing like that.”
Outlawminutbyminut didn’t show much in his first two starts finishing seventh and then sixth. But then the light came on. Outlawminutbyminut won his third start, the Century Casino eliminations, at odds of 39-1. Then he won again - the $70,000 Century Casino Finals - at odds of 27-1.
Not surprisingly, Outlawminutbyminut hasn’t been seen at those kind of odds since.
On September 14 he won an Alberta-sire stake at even-odds.
Second in the Rocky Mountain behind Custers Stand, who will also compete in Saturday’s Super Finals, Outlawminutbyminut then won his most recent appearance by an eased-up seven and a half lengths in the first division of the Shooting Star in 1:54 3/5 with Gillis never having to urge him one little bit.
“This race was over as soon as the gate opened,” said Century Mile’s track announcer Dylan Beardy over the track’s sound system.
By comparison, the second division of the Shooting Star, won by Custers Stand, went in 1:56 albeit Custers Stand having to do all the work himself coming first over and still prevailing.
“I don’t think Outlawminutbyminut was as tight was he could have been in the Rocky Mountain,” said Gillis. "I’m not giving him an excuse but he came into the Rocky Mountain without having raced in three weeks. But he still went faster (1:54 4/5ths) than he had ever paced so I can’t knock him.
“Every time he goes out he learns something new. I attribute that to how smart he is.
“Outlawminutbyminut just keeps getting better and better. But so has Custers Stand.”
Gillis said there are quite a few nice two-year-old colts this year outside of his horse and Custers Stand.
“Brandon (Campbell) has two of them: Worldsgreatestsin and Discontinued. Scott (McGinn) also has two nice ones: GTS Jukebox Jack and GTS Captain Solo.”
And then there’s Momas Work of Art, who is the leading Alberta-sired money maker having won the $70,000 Century Casino, the Rising Star and an Alberta-bred stake.
“Saturday should be a great race.”
While not eligible for the Super Finals, Teolis and Gillis have another very talented young horse: three-year-old filly Bares All.
A Pennsylvania-bred, Bares All was purchased for $65,000 ($US).
Victorious in her last appearance, in her second-last start she was second to the superb Outlawguns N Roses, who will also compete in Saturday’s four Super Final races.
Outlawguns N Roses has won five races in a row including the $131,720 Century Casino Filly Pace despite drifting to the outside fence down the stretch with Bares All charging hard from the inside.
“I thought I might have a chance for a moment. But we ran out of track,” said Gillis.
“But even though ‘Guns N Roses drifted I still don’t know if I ever would have beat her. If I got closer ‘Guns N Roses would probably just have gone faster.
“‘Guns and Roses has all the speed you need and she has the want to win. That’s a deadly combination.”
That’s not to take anything away from Bares All, who has won in 1:52 2/5 at Philadelphia’s Pocono Downs.
“She looks good and she is a very easy horse to drive. She does everything easily.
“I’m undecided about racing Bares All into the winter. I might just turn her out. She’s raced 12 times already this year.
“I put together a list of horses that were for sale that I looked at. I watched all the replays she was the one I liked the best.
“Hopefully she matures and becomes a real nice aged mare and hopefully a top class mare. She shows a lot of promise.”
“I give all the credit to Logan,” said Teolis. “Our success is totally because of him. He’s a great horseman and he’s super intelligent. He’s just never had the opportunity before.
“He’s great with horses. He has a great attitude an tons of talent. I’m giving him an opportunity and he’s running with it.
“He’s the wing nut that holds this together.
“I’m super excited about Saturday but I’m more excited about next year.”
Unlike Teolis, Gillis, 34, has horses racing in his blood. His father, Rodney, still races horses in the Maritimes. Gillis’ grandfather also raced horses.
Logan came west about 15 years ago to work in the oil and gas industry at Fort McMurray which he did for nine and a half years.
“Dave Kelly and I owned a couple of cheap horses together and when the job I was working on in Fort McMurray ended I came back to racing working three and a half years for Dave.
“I got my driver and trainer license five years ago and, with six horses, I went on my own.
“I’ve got great staff. Reliable and hard working. That really makes my job a lot easier,” said Gillis, who trains at Lacombe’s The Track On 2.
“I don’t have the thought process that I can make a horse better. Seventy percent is the horse. The other 30 percent is the trainer and the driver.
“Todd is a great owner. It wouldn’t surprise me if he does have a horse racing in the Breeders’ Crown one day. I would never have believed that before. But now? Who knows?
STOCK REPORT - Thoroughbred racing ends for the year this weekend at Balzac’s Century Downs.
Last weekend, the final stakes of the year - the Birdcatcher for two-year-old colts and the Freedom of the City for two-year-old fillies were held. Trainer Tim Rycroft, Alberta’s leading trainer five times, won them both with Holiday’s Again and No More Lies.
No More Lies went wire to wire to win the Freedom of the City by four imposing lengths while winning her fourth race in five starts. Holiday’s Again took the Birdcatcher after duelling early with stablemate Mr Miezie and pulling away to a four and a half length victory.
Jockey Jose Ascencio rode both of them.
Trainer Bob Kingston won his 200th race with Titian breaking his maiden on Saturday for owner Willow Creek Farms. Tragically Willow Creek Farms’ owner Dairen Edwards passed away three days before the victory. Edwards was president of the BC CTHS.
Mike Vanin, executive director of the HBPA of Alberta said the loss is “a very big blow to both Alberta and B.C. racing industries."
And, Jodie Heisinger won her first race in her first race as a trainer with Burning Up.
The Dr. Tony Ryan Award, of which my book ‘The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty’ is one of three semifinalists, will now be held on Nov. 20. The award is for the best book in thoroughbred racing and will be held in Lexington, Kentucky. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
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Author: The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty