MacIntosh has a Courtly Choice to make
Retirement can be a bittersweet experience. One one hand it often offers new opportunities but on the other, it marks closure to a large chapter of one’s life.
While horse trainer Blake MacIntosh is a long way from his so-called golden years, he is having some mixed feelings about the potential retirement of his star three-year-old pacing colt, Courtly Choice, who may be headed to the stud barn.
Last Saturday night, the winner of just under $1 million lifetime finished a disappointing sixth in the Breeders Crown eliminations at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Pennsylvania. Having won the Meadowlands Pace and the Little Brown Jug, he was favoured, but it was not to be.
“I knew he was tired and the tough season had just caught up to him — he’d had enough,” said MacIntosh who is based at Meadowbranch Training Centre located behind Flamboro Downs.
“So he’s done racing for the year and next week will get testbred to see how his fertility is. Then the group of us will decided whether we bring him back at four or send him to stand at stud at Winbak Farm in New York state. There is a big opportunity for him there now with his own sire, Art Major, residing in Australia.”
Test breeding a horse right off the racetrack is always a dicey practice. There are many examples of the results showing a horse’s fertility is compromised but several months later, he turns out to be Romeo.
“I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I would be happy to see him get a chance at stud because he’s a special horse and hey ... there’s a potential for a lot of money to be made,” says the 40-year-old MacIntosh.
“But it’s pretty nice to be able to race one like him. It was a great experience and never once did I feel any pressure from the partners. They enjoyed every race despite a few downs to go with the ups.”
Like many before him who have raced premier horses, the season flew by with little time to enjoy the moment.
“With a barn the size I have, there is little if any down time. I look forward to sitting back and thinking about the year but before that comes there is still shopping for the next one. Buying yearlings and looking for a champion is a bit of an addiction.”
All around this was a career year for MacIntosh. The stable sits with more than $2 million in winnings having won 70 races from 506 starts, all personal highs. He anticipates that after the upcoming yearling sale in Harrisburg, Pa., he will have 35 yearlings and a total of close to 60 head to go into the winter.
“I learned a lot racing Courtly Choice. I suppose first of all to not be afraid to make stake payments which we did not do enough with him and it is expensive to supplement to these races,” he says.
“I can now say I have the experience of managing a top horse and he reaffirmed the strategy of buying yearlings in the $20,00050,000 range. Now, he was $60,000, and we did buy two six-figure yearlings this fall, but for the most part I want to stay with what seemed to work for me. ”
Touch Stone Farm of Guelph, Daniel Plouffe from Bromont, Que., Mac And Heim Stables of Cambridge and Hutt Racing Stable of Pennsylvania share ownership of Courtly Choice and will be faced with an interesting choice for their stable star. While his earnings are just under the $1-million mark he still is an interesting sire prospect. He is a great physical specimen and offers desirable bloodlines but that rush of racing at the highest levels is hard to duplicate.
The window of opportunity is a narrow in harness racing and the Courtly Choice gang had some great moments. How they decide on the next chapter will be interesting to see.