GAME CHANGER FOR ONTARIO
Marion Marauder has given standardbred breeding industry a huge boost.
Three months ago in this column it was suggested that if the connections of Hambletonian winner Marion Marauder made the decision to retire the horse to stud duty in Ontario, it would be a game changer for the province’s Standardbred breeding industry.
Amid the doom and gloom which has permeated the game the past six years, the announcement came last week that it happened.
A syndication of the horse was revealed with the owners Jean Wellwood of Stratford and her grandson Devin Keeling of Cambridge retaining 25 per cent of the horse.
The remainder is being gobbled up by breeders across North America with the plan to stand the horse at Tara Hills Stud of Port Perry. The value of the three-year-old trotter has been set at just under $4 million based on 120 shares priced at $33,000 each. If any breedings for non-syndicate members are available they would come at a cost of $10,000 a pop.
“It’s a pretty standard syndication agreement but keeping Marauder in Ontario played in big role in exactly what we did,” said Devin’s father Mike Keeling.
“It sounds a bit corny but Ontario is where our hearts are. Throughout this past year, we had so much support from people here whereas other jurisdictions maybe tried to find fault with him. He’ll still get plenty of breeder support from the United States but we hope people here give him a chance as well.”
Not surprisingly, talk about the horse’s future began immediately after the Hambletonian Stakes win at the Meadowlands Racetrack of New Jersey in August. (The Hambletonian is a major race for three-year-olds).
“Then, when we hit Lexington the end of September, we got a lot of breeders wanting to have a close-up look at him but we were firm that nothing would be addressed until the racing season was over. So when we hit the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania sales it got serious. David Reid of Preferred Equine handled the arrangements but, again, Ontario was always our first choice because we live here, race here and want it to be healthy.”
In 2010, the Ontario government announced it was ending the Slots At Racetracks revenue sharing agreement effectively changing the industry from the best in the world to a shadow of its former self. Since then it has come forward with subsidy money but it has not returned to its former self.
But interestingly, this year’s yearling auctions — which are good barometers for the state of the game — were very strong this fall, in no small part to the fact there were so much fewer horses bred and sold. Still, it was a bright note and following the news of Marion Marauder’s imminent arrival for the upcoming breeding season, Ontario people feel the best about racing for a long time.
Marion Marauder’s final start was the Breeders Crown which was a disappointing finish but he still concludes the year with $1.5 million in winnings and is the front-runner for Canadian Horse of the Year honours.
Also factoring into the decision of choosing Ontario is the fact that the province’s leading sire Kadabra is getting long in the tooth. Now 17 years old, he will be 21 when the first crop of foals by Marion Marauder hit the racetrack. History has shown that a stallion’s productivity wanes with time and the baton is passed to the next generation. The Ontario decision stacks the deck in Marion Marauder’s favour.
At the moment, the horse is in Maryland where he is being prepared for the next phase of his career which begins in mid-February.
Keeling meanwhile heads to Pinehurst, N.C., for the winter with a team of 13, including seven new yearling acquisitions. Marion Marauder was a $37,000 yearling purchase that earned just under $2 million lifetime and then was parlayed into a syndication with the promise of many returns for years to come.
For Ontario breeders the racing industry’s fortunes just got a lot brighter.