Century Mile’s Canadian Derby is still a month away but Pioneer Storm King, who impressively won Saturday’s $50,000 Count Lathum Stakes, is now squarely in the picture.

“I don’t know why we wouldn’t run in the Derby,” said trainer Robbie Henson, who came to Alberta this year from British Columbia.

“That’s always been our goal since this spring,” Henson said of the August 23 $200,000 Derby which is part of the $500,000 Western Canada Derby Series along with Winnipeg’s Manitoba Derby and Vancouver’s B.C. Derby.

Pioneer Storm King had never run farther than seven furlongs until he led every step of the way over a muddy track in the mile and a sixteenth Count Lathum.

The Derby is a mile and a quarter.

“I figured he could get the distance. I gallop him all the time and I could tell he wanted more ground,” said Henson, 36, who trains the three-year-old for owner and breeder Tiffany Kubas.

“He’s got a nice, easy, comfortable stride. It’s a high, loping stride and horses like that tend to carry their speed a little farther.

“He hasn’t disappointed me at all; he hasn’t run a bad race other than the Western Canada Handicap and that wasn’t his fault,” Henson said of last month’s race where Pioneer Storm King finished fifth defeated by more than 13 lengths.

“He hit his head against the front of the starting gate and rang his bell a little bit in that race. He broke before it was time to go.

“He was just too sharp and that was my fault.

“When Scott (jockey Williams) realized Pioneer Storm King wasn’t right he just put him away.”

Pioneer Storm King’s victory in the Count Lathum was the antithesis.

Breaking smartly from the rail, Pioneer Storm King set comfortable fractions of :23.22 seconds for the first quarter and :46.87 for a half and then got a nice little breather down the backstretch.

Puttingonthefoil, last year’s Alberta champion two-year-old made a strong bid and got within a length of Pioneer Storm King at the head of the lane but Pioneer Storm King pulled away down the stretch to win by three and three-quarter lengths.

“Scott said (Pioneer Storm King) looked at the starting gate and kicked off again.”

It was Pioneer Storm King’s third win in eight lifetime starts. He also has three seconds and a third.

The mud certainly didn’t hamper him.

“He’s not a big, thick horse. He’s like a little deer; he just skips through it,” said Henson. “He could run over broken glass.

“He’d never run in mud before but coming from Vancouver he trained in it enough back home.”

As good as Pioneer Storm King is in races, Henson said he can be a handful.

“He’s a little neurotic. He’s constantly going; he doesn’t let down very good. Everyone knows you have to tip toe around him a little bit.

“His routine has to be the same. Otherwise the squirrel keeps going around in his cage.

“But he’s matured a lot,” said Henson, who bought a house in Thorsby – 25 minutes southwest of Century Mile – for his wife, Michelle, and his two kids Naomi and Alexa.

“His two-year-old season was an adventure; he was wrapped pretty tight.

“But he matured from two until three and he’s still maturing this year as we do more with him.”

Henson is unsure what’s next for Pioneer Storm King.

“He could run in Manitoba in their Derby; he could run in Grande Prairie in the Grand Prairie Derby; he could go to B.C. for the Sir Winston Churchill Derby Trial.

“Or, we could just run him in the Canadian Derby,” said Henson.

“It will be a day-to-day thing. If he’s kicking the barn door down we’ll probably run him somewhere – try to find the easiest spot – and pick our poison. Otherwise, like I said, we could just go straight to the Canadian Derby.”

Henson has been on fire ever since he arrived in Edmonton winning 11 of his 48 starts.

“It’s been a very good start to our year and this new adventure,” said Henson, who trains 24 horses - principally for Willow Creek Farm. His father, Steve, trains another 12 horses in B.C. for Willow Creek, which have been the leading owners in B.C. the last two years.

Ironically, his dad will most likely be in the Canadian Derby as well with two powerful looking three-year-olds: Rondelito and Mount Doom.

Rondelito has won his last three starts including the Chris Loseth and Ross McLeod stakes.

Mount Doom was last year’s B.C. Champion two-year-old winning the Glen Todd Ascot Graduation and the Jack Diamond Futurity. However, he was unable to handle stablemate Rondelito in their last two meetings.

Steve was B.C.’s leading trainer last year.

“The horses have run their eye balls out for us,” said Robbie, who has only been training for five years. “It looks like it was a good decision to come to Alberta.”

Meanwhile, Gee I’m Foxy turned in yet another spectacular performance while winning Saturday’s co-featured Sonoma Stakes for three-year-old fillies.

“Unbelievable,” said winning trainer Cheryl Humbke.

“At first, I was worried she wasn’t handling the muddy track. It made me a little nervous. But then she just took off.”

Fourth during the early going - confidently and patiently ridden by Keihton Natera – Gee I’m Foxy came through along the rail around the final turn and disappeared into the evening.

Gee I’m Foxy won the Sonoma by eight geared-down lengths. She won her previous start – an allowance race – by 11 lengths. And she won the Chariot Chaser by seven and three-quarter lengths for Winnipeg-based Railside Stable.

Three races. Three wins by a total of 27 lengths.

In total, Gee I’m Foxy has now won six of her 10 lifetime races. Her first two starts this year were against older, open company.

Last year’s Manitoba Champion Two-Year-Old filly when she won three of five starts – three of them stakes – is now well on her way to being Alberta’s Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

“She can do anything this girl,” said Humbke, who has only been training for four years. “She handles everything we throw at her.

“She’s something special. I feel so fortunate.

“She’s a happy, happy horse,” added Humbke, who is pointing Gee I’m Foxy to the Century Mile Oaks on Derby Day.

“And she’s so confident.”

Humbke is planning on keeping her in Alberta.

“Depending on how things go maybe we’ll go somewhere this winter in some bigger races.”

STOCK REPORT - Majestic Oops, co-owned by Albertans Bill Dory and Janet Kropp, turned in a very game effort in Saturday’s $500,000 Molly Pitcher stakes at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park finishing second to multiple Grade 1 winner Randomized. Majestic Oops ran seven times in Alberta last year while in the care of Craig Smith, who has been Alberta’s leading trainer the last two years.

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Author: The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty.