Waterdown horse trainer McEneny is riding the wave

Racing horses for a living is a game of ups and downs. The downs are far more frequent.

But right now, Waterdown trainer Scott McEneny cannot seem to make an incorrect step as he continues to manufacture his best season of racing in 14 years.

Ten days ago, he won the $200,000 Battle of Waterloo at Grand River Raceway with Simple Kinda Man, a horse he did not even realize existed four weeks earlier. That is called being on a roll. “I vaguely knew the owner Doug Paul who races under the name of M And L Of Delaware,” said McEneny.

“We’d crossed paths a few times but I really knew little about the man,” says McEneny.

Paul, while based in Wilmington, Del., does race a few horses in Canada.

“Out of the blue he called me to see if I had room to take two horses. I really didn’t but I made room and (Simple Kinda Man) was one of them.”

Howard Okusko in New York state had developed the pair of two-year-olds and gotten them started.

McEneny’s task was race them in the Ontario Sires Stakes program.

“There was some tinkering to do. Simple Kinda Man was a handful to rate. I actually called Doug and said we might have to castrate him in order to manage him but I kept trying some things including an open bridle and that turned him around. In the elimination, he raced OK, but in the Battle final he raced like a monster.”

This is a modestly priced yearling purchase at $30,000 who has won $105,000 for his connections and could add to that Saturday night in a $98,900 Ontario Sires Stake event at Mohawk Racetrack.

Regardless, the McEneny stable has won more than $700,000 and is already within sight of passing last year’s total season earnings.

Back in mid-June, McEneny pulled off a stunner when threeyear-old Bettors Up won the $440,000 Fan Hanover stake at Mohawk. The stable has clearly demonstrated a nose of money.

“It’s still a process for Simple Kinda Man. He has to learn to race out of a hole and if he does, that explosive speed he has will do some serious damage. Speed is not the issue with him.”

Interestingly, he also points to a two-year-old filly named Northern Lightning that he believes has big-time potential.

“All she shows is a third-place finish in her last start but trotted her final half in 56 and bit. If she is as good as I think she is, she’s a player.”

Putting all this in perspective is that fact that two years ago McEneny’s fortunes as a trainer appeared to have just about run the course. He was going nowhere in a hurry but then managed to secure some owner backing and did a rebuild.

Fate smiled kindly on him in January 2016 when his stable escaped the tragic barn fire at Classy Lane Training Centre in Puslinch, which claimed the lives of 44 other horses.

“Had the wind been blowing the opposite direct that night, I’d have lost everything with smoke inhalation. Since that time things have just better and better. It’s a crazy game.”

On Saturday night, Team McEneny has no less than five starts in Ontario Sires Stakes Gold events. That is no small accomplishment and speaks to the talent he has in the stable which means serious money earning opportunity in the next 10 weeks.

Better than most though he understands how fickle horse racing can be but for the time being, he is riding the crest as far as he can.