Trade Storm, Sheikhzayedroad hope Woodbine journey pays off

When a KLM flight landed at Pearson Airport on Tuesday night, the cargo area was filled with some serious horsepower: Rolls-Royce engines and two thoroughbreds. The pair of racehorses, Trade Storm and Sheikhzayedroad, have flown into town to compete on Sunday’s big day at Woodbine Racetrack. Trade Storm will run in the $1 million Woodbine Mile and his stablemate, Sheikhzayedroad, will try the $300,000 Northern Dancer Stakes. Both races carry Grade 1 status, the most prestigious in horse racing, and the winner of the Mile — Kaigun was installed as the 5-to-2 favourite in Thursday’s draw — is awarded a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup, the year-end championships held this year at Santa Anita Park in California. There’s a lot at stake on this trip for the two horses and with a round trip costing roughly $35,000 — and the fact they are living, breathing animals — there’s a lot of risk, too. It is the job of Ian Russell, travelling head lad for trainer David Simcock, to make sure the two animals get from their yard in Newmarket, England to the starting gate and back again in good order. “It’s about looking after them,” said Russell, 33, a native of England. “It’s not just the horses,” he added. “You have got to look after the staffing, and getting there, actually getting to the races, which is the important bit.” To get to Woodbine, Russell and the two horses left Simcock’s train- ing base in England at 11 a.m. Monday for a nine-hour van ride to Amsterdam to catch their flight to Toronto. Once landed, they spent two hours in customs and immigration (quick, according to Russell), before arriving at Woodbine by van. Russell arrived at his hotel at midnight on Tuesday, making his door-to-door journey roughly 40 hours. And there’s no kicking up his feet and watching a movie on the plane; most of his attention is with the horses. During taxing and takeoff, he’s in the stall comforting them. During the flight, he is constantly feeding the horses and making sure they are drinking plenty of water. As a travelling head lad (lass, for the female counterpart), Russell says he spends six days a week on the road taking horses to races. In Europe, unlike at Woodbine, horses live on trainer’s yards, not racetracks, so they must travel to every race meet, whether it’s local or international. “People always think you get to go to these amazing countries,” said Russell, who has also been to Dubai and California for races. “But the 36 hours I have worked to get here and my eyes look like they want to close, I’m tired and hungry. “A lot of it is getting on with people,” he added. “You’ve got to get on with truck drivers, customs people . . . it’s about building up relationships with people that hopefully make the trip easier to deal with.” When the plane lands, Russell must first go through immigration and customs. Horses travel with their own feed, tack and equipment, all of which has to be declared and checked by customs before entry into a new country. If there is an extra item, something as simple as a set of reins or an extra pail, which was not documented, it can cause a problem.

Then the horses are unloaded from their stalls and checked by a veterinarian to ensure that the horse is the horse Russell says it is on paper, and that the animal is fit and well.

Tuesday night went smoothly, but it’s not always the case. Last month, on the journey home from a race in Chicago, Russell and a horse were held in Amsterdam for 33 hours because of a misunderstanding with the horse’s paperwork.

Neither Russell, fellow travelling lad Daryl McLaughlin, nor the horses looked worse for wear Wednesday morning. By the time 10:30 a.m. had rolled around, Trade Storm and Sheikhzayedroad already had their breakfast, a bath and a hack around Woodbine’s acres to stretch their legs and get acclimated to their new surroundings.

“You try to make things as routine-like as possible,” said Russell. “You try to make them feel at home.”

Both horses, like Russell, are veteran travellers. Trade Storm competed in the Woodbine Mile last year, finishing third to Wise Dan, and both he and Sheikhzayedroad raced in Dubai earlier this year.

Should Sheikhzayedroad run well on Sunday he and Russell could be back next month for the Canadian International at Woodbine; Trade Storm could go on to California, for the Breeders’ Cup, or Asia.

But first he has to send the pair on their trip around Woodbine’s racetrack.