Isitfridayyet answers the question at the Preferred pace
Horses not competing in the big money stake races are more often than not the forgotten soldiers of the racing game, despite the fact that if they did not exist there would be no sport.
That oversight received a boost last Saturday night at Woodbine Mohawk Park, when the unheralded Isitfridayyet won the $34,000 Preferred pace at the Campbellville track. What makes this newsworthy is that this was the high water mark of the fiveyear-old’s career, after having been racing at the very pedestrian $15,000 claiming level at Flamboro Downs just 10 months ago.
His rise in fortunes encourages every horse owner that anything is possible.
Leonard Rosene, of London, owns Isitfridayyet who has now accumulated $134,830 this season, a truly remarkable amount. A combination of timing, trainer change and maturation of the horse all combined for this result.
Still, it is a story of beating the odds. Brian Doyle of Dundas sold Isitfridayyet as a yearling for a mere $6,500, so expectations were not great as he passed through a series of hands. In mid-February, he was claimed by trainer Colin Johnson for $15,000. Eight days later he raced the horse in a $20,000 claimer at Woodbine Racetrack, but not before Bill Rosene, Leonard’s brother spotted something.
“The night Colin claimed the horse, Isitfridayyet won. And then I saw he had the horse entered to race at Woodbine, but also to start just three days after that in a race there. That told me he had confidence in the horse and was out to make some quick money,” said Rosene.
“So, we thought here is an opportunity and we claimed him for $20,000, which he won. Then we raced him back three days later like Colin intended and he won five in a row for us paying for himself in no time. Credit goes to Colin for turning the horse around, because we just raced him more or less how we got him.”
Isitfridayyet was then relocated to the barn of Richard Moreau, who with nearly 300 winners captures more races than anyone in Canada. While not a dominant figure, Isitfridayyet climbed the ranks and actually started in the $150,000 Camluck Pace at London’s Western Fair in late May, but did not fare well.
“He did not race well the next start and we just decided to give him the summer off until the better horses pack it in for the season. There are all kinds of horses that have made tons of winter money when the competition is a little softer, so he did not return until October.”
It proved to be perfect strategy with Isitfridayyet winning three of his last four starts. But winning the Preferred class on Saturday is the most remarkable.
“He won the Preferred without realizing he is really not a regular Preferred horse,” said Moreau.
That may be true, but it is a feel-good story for all those connected, although there is one sour note. Isitfridayyet is not racing tonight because there were insufficient entries to contest the race and that is an embarrassment to the industry.
The industry leaders religiously preach that it’s all about quality of racing that is the engine of the game. Yet, here is a horse that is at the top of the game for the moment and he cannot get raced? Something is wrong with the system that allows that to happen and it is quite likely to happen again.
“It’s not a good situation and if it continues, we may look at sending him stateside. For whatever reason, he loves nasty cold weather,” Rosene said.
“We don’t want to go elsewhere, because this is where we race. And the horse is at the peak of his game. He’s a big, gorgeous fellow now with muscle on muscle. Sound as can be and it’s his time.”
There will be no awards or honours for Isitfridayyet. He is simply a working man’s horse, doing what he was bred to do. He is to be admired for these accomplishments and speaks to the heart of what horse racing is all about.