may/june 2011lambethmedia.com/edge/may.11.articles/pages1-14fromhe_0511.pdf · • took his 1:48.3...
TRANSCRIPT
May/june 2011
Kenny ArsenaultA Proud MAritiMer
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Regular Features
EDITORIAL NOTE | CHAMPION'S CLOSET ~ Art Professor | BARTER HOUSE
A Proud Maritimer
Kenny Arsenault recentlyturned 50 and makes no bonesabout the fact that he wouldchange little about his career inharness racing exclusively basedin his native Atlantic Canada. Acharacter man to the core, thereis little reason he should.
Team Zimmerman
In just a few short years Jan andSanford Zimmerman haveestablished Century SpringFarms as premier boutiquebreeding and boarding opera-tion with an emphasis on team-work and quality.
When Leonard Created Quite A Sensation
It’s been 25 years since Quite ASensation won the NorthAmerica Cup in very dramaticfashion and at age 28 theCinderella pacer continues togive his owners Linda and ClairePorter pleasure.
The View Downunder
Sushi Sushi has collared two ofthe big money three-year-oldevents in the SouthernHemisphere, has been the sub-ject of a serious offer of pur-chase and is managed expertly.A trip to North America couldcome next.
The European View
Birger Jørgensen is the 2009World Driving Champion whowill defend his title at theupcoming 2011 Championshipbeing held in the U.S. later thissummer and a better represen-tative would be hard to find.
CONTENTS • May/June 2011
Champions Choose Brooks
1580 hwy 7a, rr#4port perry, ontario L9L 1B5(905) 985-7992 Fax (905) 985-8297www.brooksfeeds.com
Photo by New Image Media
For a second time Define The World has established himself as a true international competitor by representing Canada in the olso Grand prix and elitlopp – an extraordinary accomplishment on the world stage.
Congratulations to owner Al Libfeld, trainer John Bax and driver Paul MacDonell.
Brooks and Durham Feed supplies are honoured to be the feed supplier of choice for this great champion and the many leading performers competing in Canada.
Champions Choose Brooks perFormanCe horse FeeDs
H E A T H E R M A C K A Y R O B E R T S
Note: The Harness Edge has not tested, nor does it endorse the products/services advertised within.
EDITOR’S NOTE • May/June 2011
Harold HowePublisher/Director Advertising Sales
Heather MacKay RobertsManaging Editor
Kathryn PatchettArt Director
Greg ReinhartWebsite Reporter/Writer
Jennifer VoNew Media
Marian HoweOffice & Circulation Manager
Contributing WritersTodd Beelby, Jay Bergman, Paul Delean,
Neale Donnelley, Bill Heller, Jonathan Huntington,
Klaus Koch, Nicole Kraft, Dave MacLean,
Gary McKay, Anna Meyers, Robert Okpu,
Kimberly Rinker, Kathy Rumleski, Beverley Smith,
Christy West, M. Kelly Young
PhotographersKevin Bissonette, Thomas Blomqvist,
Sylvain Gagnon, Chris Gallow, Jim Gillies,
Ryan Haynes, Therese Hebert, Laptime Photo,
Lisa Photography, Dale MacMillan,
Bonny MaKarewicz, New Image Media,
Christa Sanders, Nicole Sellers, Nigel Soult,
Time Capsule Photography, Peter J. Thompson,
Monica Thors, Kevin Tunney, Paul vanPeenen
This month’s cover:Photo by Ann MacNeill
1562408 Ontario operating as:
The Harness Edge112 Barrett Avenue,
Brantford, Ontario, Canada N3S 0P3
519-752-2800 • Fax: 519-752-2207
www.theharnessedge.com
Iwrite this just a few days after theNational Driving Championship wasconducted in Prince Edward Island to
select Canada’s representative to theWorld Driving Championship later thissummer in New York and New Jersey.
Jody Jamieson, who has repre-sented Canada three times in theWorlds, winning his first attempt in2001, emerged victorious and will wearthe maple leaf with pride in a couple ofmonths.
He made no secret prior to thecompetition that he was in it to win itand relished the opportunity to makehis fourth appearance in the event.
One of his rivals in the NationalChampionship was Kenny Arsenault,one of Atlantic Canada’s best driverswho is featured in this month’s issue.
We also have a story this month onone of Jamieson’s rivals in the upcom-ing World Championships, Birger Jør-gensen whose story is told in KlausKoch’s European View.
Jørgensen is the defending WorldChampion as he won the 2009 event. Inthe story he tells how when he firstbegan competing in the championshipsthey were friendly competitions and achance for the drivers from around theworld to get to know each other andsocialize a bit.
However, he says the tone haschanged considerably in recent years asthe drivers are taking the competition alot more seriously, to the point that at arecent championship Jørgensen had tobreak up a would be fight between twoyoung guns.
“You do not travel to the otherside of the world in order to beat eachother literally!” he says in the story.
Other drivers who will be compet-ing in this year’s contest have also beenfeatured in these pages including theUS representative Jason Bartlett, whowill have the home field advantage, aswell as the young pilot from NewZealand, Dexter Dunn.
Bartlett was featured in our Febru-ary issue of last year and that story maybe read by clicking here.
A year earlier, February of 2009, wecarried a story on the young drivingsensation from the Southern Hemi-sphere, Dexter Dunn who at 19 hadalready broken the record for the num-ber of wins in one season.
The story on Dunn, who plans tohave a bit of a busman’s holiday whilein the US and try his hand at drivingoutside of the competition, may beread through this link.
These four drivers also are all excel-lent ambassadors for the sport andshould provide the hosts, the UnitedStates Trotting Association, with greatopportunities for media interviews andappearances to obtain attention forthe competition and the sport.
Regardless of the sport, everyonewants the chance to meet a worldchampion. Best of luck to all of those inthe competition as well as to Define TheWorld who is in Europe as I type this forthe second year in a row representingCanada at the Olso Grand Prix and Elit-lopp.
Good health and racing to all,
9661 Trew Road, R.R.#1, Campbellcroft, ON L0A 1B0(905) 797-2124 • Fax (905) 797-2081Website: www.kendalhills.com • Email: [email protected]
SERVICE FEE - $2,500Multiple foal discount.
• Winner of $250,000 Molson Pace in 1:51.1h over Western Fair’s half-mile track.
• Took his 1:48.3 record at the Meadowlands winning the $85,000 Classic Series leg over Won The West, Total Truth, Mr Feelgood, Palone Ranger, Western Shore and Casimir Camotion.
• Won the $154,400 Clearwater Cup Final at Hiawatha Horse Park by 7 lengths in 1:50, a new track record.
• At three won an elimination of the Confederation Cup in 1:54.1h.
• Captured a $135,002 Simcoe Stake division at Mohawk Racetrack.
• Multiple OSS winner defeating the likes of Mister Big.
• Finished second in OSS Super Final at three.
• Paced 9 miles in 1:50 or faster.
• Fastest son of Camluck at stud.
Photo by New Image Media
“Eagle Luck raced against the very best in North
America for a number of years. He always raced with
incredible determination and was able to grind it out.
From my perspective he always gave me the supreme
effort and was always passing horses at the finish line.”
…dRivER JOHN CAMPbELL
EaglE luCkp,2,1:54s, 3,1:50s, 1:48.3-1:51.1h ($1,179,916)
Camluck – duncans Artsplace – Artsplace
When Leonard Created
Quite A Sensatio
Leonard still has his wintercoat and a muddy paddock doeslittle to attest to his millionairestatus. In fact, it would be safeto suggest that few realize thisone-time celebrity even resides
at this South-Western Ontariofarm.
It was 25 years ago this Junethat Quite A Sensation pulledoff one of the more memorableupsets in Canadian racing by
winning the $488,000 NorthAmerica Cup with Trevor Ritchiein the bike. Sent off at odds of30-1, few expected him to be aserious factor especially after hefinished third in his elimination.
It’s been 25 years since QUITE A SENSATION won the North America Cup in verydramatic fashion and at age 28 the Cinderella pacer continues to give his ownersLinda and Claire Porter pleasure. By Harold Howe
Photo by Smile For Smiley
n
Fate had a different idea thoughand to this day the horse’s owners Lindaand Claire Porter recall the night like ithappened yesterday.
The couple had never been in a sim-ilar situation before, it was by far therichest purse they had ever contestedand realistically they were hoping to belucky enough to get a cheque.
Claire, a mechanic by trade was apragmatist if nothing else and had noillusions about the racing game afterhaving dabbled in it for over 20 years.
“(The pre-race hype) was all aboutAmity Chef and Incredible Finale. Wewere just hoping to get fifth money,”admits Claire, now 69 and fully retired.
“I was standing on the turn wherethe horses came off the track to go backto the paddock at Greenwood. Whenthe field got half-way down the home-stretch all I could see were those whiteknee boots of his and he was coming forall he was worth down the outside.When they crossed under the wire I was-n’t sure if he won but I knew he got us agood cheque.”
Linda never did see the finish.“I never saw one of his races when
they happened. I just could not stand towatch…ever. Our son Jason came overto me right after the race and said hethought we finished second. I thoughtthat was wonderful and was more thanhappy until his number flashed up andwe’d won.”
“It was a big night for me because itwas by far the biggest win I’d ever hadto that point in my career. By winning itshowed for the first time I could competein the bigger races,” driver Ritchierecalls.
“I remember going into the raceand having it all mapped out which usu-ally never works out but it did this time.Amity Chef was favoured and I thoughtif I could get on his back I might do somegood. Down the Greenwood backstretchthat was exactly what happened.
“When we came off the turn thehorse was feeling so good that I beganto wonder if he had a shot to win it. I
waited as long as I could and then cameout but when we hit the finish I had noidea if I won or not.
“When Quite A Sensation’s numberflashed up on the tote board it was afeeling I will never forget, indescrib-able.”
To this day Ritchie retains an admi-ration for the horse.
“I guess what I liked most was thathe always wanted to go forward, some-times too much so. Any time he saw astretch his thought was let’s get rollingwhich may have cost him some wins.
“There was never any quit in himand he was never beaten without giving100 per cent. The Porters did as much asanyone could with him and were greatpeople to work with.
“Like I said this is the horse I givecredit to for putting me on the map,”adds Ritchie, Canada’s driver of the yearin 2000 who has 3,622 wins to his credit
May/June 2011 • The Harness Edge
WHEN LEONARD CREATED QUITE A SENSATION
When Quite A Sensation won the North America Cup 25 years ago atGreenwood, his story was front page news. The horse, now 28, enjoys a quietretirement at the home of Linda and Claire Porter.
CONDITIONS1. All events conducted under the rules and regulations of the Maritime
Provinces Harness Racing Commission, Standardbred Canada and Harness Racing PEI Inc.
2. Nominations close at 2:00 pm (AST) on Monday, August 8, 2011. All horses must be declared at this time.
3. The draw for the eliminations will take place Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm.
4. All races will be contested at a distance of one mile unless otherwise stated.
5. The consolation starting positions shall be drawn electronically using the electronic draw system provided by Standardbred Canada. Elimination final shall be drawn by lot.
6. The nomination fee must accompany all nominations. The Gold Cup and Saucer nomination fee is $500. The $350 starting fee is due one-hour prior to post in the elimination.
7. There will be no starting fee for the consolation or final.8. Payment for nomination fees, starting fees and supplemental nomina-
tion fees must be in Canadian Funds only. All fees must be made by certified cheque, bank draft or money order and made payable to Harness Racing PEI Inc.
9. Harness Racing PEI Inc. requires six (6) separate betting interests to start in any event or it may be cancelled.
10. Harness Racing PEI Inc. reserves the right to reject any entry and return entry fee, declare off any event if conditions warrant, call off any event not filling satisfactorily and place entries in their eligible class if entered incorrectly.
11. Should any unforeseeable conditions prevent the racing of this event, monies paid will be refunded.
12. Should any unforeseeable conditions prevent the racing of any or all events, Harness Racing PEI Inc. reserves the right to carry races to a future race date subject to MPHRC approval, or all monies paid will be refunded.
13. All horses shipping to the Charlottetown Driving Park Entertainment Centre must have a Negative Coggins and Equine Herpes Vaccination. The Racing Secretary shall require proof of such test. All horses ship-ping into Prince Edward Island must have current health certificates.
14. Horses must meet the qualifying standards of Harness Racing PEI Inc.15. There is no retention barn for the eliminations. All horses entered into
the final shall be in the retention barn at 2:00 pm on the day of the race.
16. Those nominating horses to these events are responsible for eligibility. No refunds will be made for ineligible horses.
17. If more than ten (10) horses are declared in to start, elimination races (trials) will be contested.
a) If there are sufficient entries for two trials, they will be held on Saturday evening, August 13 and Monday evening, August 15, 2011.
b) If there are sufficient entries for three trials, they will be held on Saturday evening, August 13, Sunday afternoon, August 14 and Monday, August 15, 2011.
c) If there are sufficient entries for four trials, they will be held on Sat-urday afternoon, August 13, Saturday evening, August 13, Sunday afternoon, August 14 and Monday evening, August 15, 2011.
18. Horses eligible for the Gold Cup and Saucer final and consolation are not eligible to race in overnight races during Old Home Week.
19. Declarations for the consolation and final will close at 10:00 am on Tuesday, August 16, 2011.
a) If only two (2) elimination races are required, the top four (4) official finishers from each elimination will race in the final of the Gold Cup and Saucer. The two horses finishing fifth will be drawn by lot as to determine AE1 and AE2.
b) If there are three (3) eliminations, the first three (3) official finish-ers in each elimination will advance to the final.
c) If four (4) eliminations, the top two (2) official finishers in each elimination will race in the final. The also-eligibles will be drawn by lot from the four (4) third place finishers. Horses that are listed as also-eligibles for the Gold Cup and Saucer will be programmed in the consolation race but will retain the right to start in the Gold Cup and Saucer final if there is a horse(s) drawn.
20. Harness Racing PEI Inc. accepts no responsibility or liability for any accident, loss or damage, which may occur on the property as a result of these races.
21. In the consolation or final, should there be horses with common owner-ship; Harness Racing PEI Inc. reserves the right (as per MPHRC rule 208) to uncouple horses for pari-mutuel purposes.
22. All owners, trainers, and drivers must be licensed with MPHRC.
THE SOBEYS GOLD CUP AND SAUCEROpen event for aged horses, geldings and mares. To be raced at CDPEC.
Nomination Date: Monday, August 8, 2011 @ 2:00 pm (AST)Nomination Fee: $500 Starting Fee: $350
Trial 1 Saturday, August 13, 2011 – $12,500 Trial 2 Monday, August 15, 2011 – $12,500Consolation Friday, August 19, 2011 – $20,000 Final Saturday, August 20, 2011 – $60,000
For complete information contact Kathy Carragher, Clerk of Course at:14 Exhibition Dr., Charlottetown, PEI C1A 5Z5
Tel. 902-629-6634 | Fax. 902-892-1052 | Email. [email protected] | www.redshores.ca
Photos by Gail MacDonald
one race, one nightyou’ll never forget!
lifetime to go with over $67 million inpurses.
At that time Quite A Sensation (barnname Leonard) was already a celebrityof sorts, at least in North MiddlesexCounty, Ontario. His was the stereotypi-cal ‘Little Guy Does Well’ fable thateveryone loves.
Twenty months earlier Claire andLinda found themselves having a differ-ent kind of Thanksgiving. They attendedthe Blooded Horse Sale staged at Flam-boro Downs. The auction no longer existsbut in 1983 it was a fixture on the Cana-dian racing calendar.
The couple came with a single pur-pose, to buy an Ohio-bred weanling coltnamed Quite A Sensation.
The late Jack Graham, squire ofShadowland Farms, had bought themother Genes Sensation at the long run-ning Blooded Horse Sale in Delaware,Ohio (not to be confused with theOntario auction). The unraced daughterof Gene Abbe was in foal to the Ohiostallion Chris Time.
Graham was famous for collecting
mares at auction and reselling them backin Canada. She was just one of many andat $1,800 the price was always right.Quite A Sensation was the resulting foaland Graham was shrewd enough toknow that for horses of this nature theprofit would lie in selling them as wean-lings rather than carrying them overanother 12 months to the yearling stage.
The four and one-half month oldcolt was just one of a number he con-signed to that particular auction.
Ontario was an odd place to offerup an Ohio-sired horse let alone a wean-ling. The Ontario Sires Stake programwas a decade old and well established.Who would want to go to Ohio to race?Claire Porter for one.
“I always like Ohio-breds becausethey were affordable to buy and I had
good luck developing them into horsesthat were easily sold. When I saw thecatalogue and he was for sale I said toLinda ‘let’s go down and buy him.’ Wetook $2,000 with us.”
Anyone who has ever attended ahorse auction knows how easy it can beto get caught up in a bidding war. Thatis what happened to the Porters whoended up spending $5,500 to secure theownership papers.
“I still have no idea how that hap-pened and we didn’t have the moneybut I guess we scrambled around andgot it. It seemed like everyone was bid-ding against us and maybe they werebecause when we got him racing I hadmore people come up and tell me thatthey tried to buy him but we were tootough that day.”
May/June 2011 • The Harness Edge
WHEN LEONARD CREATED QUITE A SENSATION
Just down the road from where the Porters and Quite A Sensation reside inParkhill, Ontario, this sign at Ailsa Craig proclaims itself the birthplace of JohnCampbell and Earl Ross.
The Harness Edge • May/June 2011
Today Parkhill, Ontario, where thePorters still live is largely unchangedfrom 25 years ago except for one notice-able fact. The fairgrounds where theydeveloped Quite A Sensation is no more.
“The number of horses beingtrained there began to drop off and twoyears ago the village just shut it down,tore down the barn (18 stalls) and gotrid of the track. There was very littleinterest in keeping it going in the com-munity,” Claire points out.
“Quite A Sensation was a big deal foreveryone when he was winning the North
America Cup but that is long forgotten.”His point is well taken. There is no
recognition whatsoever that the horseand his terrific story ever existed. Mean-while just a few kilometres down theroad at Ailsa Craig, that community hastaken great pains to proclaim it to bethe birthplace of John Campbell andNASCAR driver Earl Ross.
But a quarter century ago, this com-munity of 1,200 souls was captivated bythe exploits of Quite A Sensation. Thegarage that Claire operated was HarnessRacing Central.
“With all the travel and the otherhorses we had, we just closed down thegarage for a period. It was just too muchto raise three children, train and run theshop, we were killing ourselves with thehours.
“There wasn’t enough money in itall to hire someone to train the horses,”offers Claire.
At 16 Claire followed in his father’sfootsteps and took on a mechanic’sapprenticeship. It was a five year termand he moved right into the family shopbut his enthusiasm would come with thehorses.
“Bob McLinchey who was older thanI was, got me into it. He had a few at thefairgrounds and I got hanging aroundthe barn as unpaid help.
“I got my first horse in 1968 andstarted going to the Blooded Horse Salein Ohio where a person could buy ahorse for not a lot of money and have ashot at doing some good. But Quite ASensation was the first weanling I everbought.”
Even at age 28 Quite A Sensationremains a challenge. On the end of alead shank it remains questionable justwho is in charge. He was no different asa young horse.
“One night at Scioto Downs hereared up in the winner’s circle andsomeone from the grandstand shoutedout that he was definitely a Chris Time,”remembers Linda.
“Three times he fell down on us andskinned up his knees. He was just misbe-having and it happened.
“He did not have to be gelded butwe have three children and didn’t wantthe bother of a stallion. He was verysmart but sometimes just carried on.”
Through the winter of 1985 therewas no reason for Porter to get particu-larly enthused about his charge. It wasn’tuntil the colt made his first appearanceat Western Fair Raceway in June a lightbulb came on.
“He had been training fine and Ithought I might have a decent racehorse.But it wasn’t until he won his first starteasily in 2:07.3 over London that I felt hemight be even better than I had hopedfor,” he told the late Harry Eisen of TheLondon Free Press at the time.
Claire Porter poses with Quite A Sensation's North America Cup trophy,one of the most coveted prizes in harness racing. The purse for the WEGevent these days is $1.5 million but when they won it was just under ahalf a million dollars.
That led to a trip to GreenwoodRaceway for the Kindergarten Series.There were eight legs of this two-year-old series designed to be educationaland a perfect scenario for Quite A Sen-sation.
“That was a great event to developa young horse. Today I see these young-sters being gutted in major stakes rightoff the bat. I think racing has lost some-thing in not following along with whatwe had all those years ago,” says Claire.
The colt won six of those eight legsbefore finishing second to Amity Chef inthe final and actually set a world recordfor a juvenile gelding with a 1:57 mileover the five-eighths mile track.
With 11 starts and $25,200 in win-nings the Porters pulled the pin andstopped for the year. And they stillowned him.
“There were some inquiries. JackDarling called at one point and therewas some fellow from the U.S. who keptbothering us but we just more or lessdecided to keep him and race him our-selves,” says Claire.
“He was just an average sized horsebut had that big rear end you like to see.He did toe in on the right front andwould hit a knee on the small tracks.The fastest I ever trained him here atParkhill’s little track was 2:10 with a halfin a minute.”
The Porters have an affinity for Ohioand much of it due to Quite A Sensation.He made a number of starts in the threeand four-year-old sires stakes programthere. After the North America Cup hesurfaced at Cleveland’s Northfield Parkwhere he set an all-age track record of1:54.4 breaking Falcon Seelster’s stan-dard.
He also broke the standard at Race-way Park in Toledo with a 1:55.3 clock-ing.
“He had some bad races for variousreasons but he was a very low mainte-nance horse. Sore feet were a problemoff and on but I would say I never spent$1,000 in veterinary bills over his career.That’s pretty amazing by today’s stan-dards.
“I’m very proud of the fact that hedid what he did without being juiced,he raced as clean as a horse could.”
Quite A Sensation had his quirks. Hecould be rambunctious in the post paradeand was not happy at all unless he trav-eled with companion Kojak Seelster.
“He wouldn’t travel anywhere with-out his buddy Kojak. One time wedecided to leave Kojak home for somereason or other and on the way to thetrack, Quite A Sensation threw himselfthree times in the trailer. That was thelast time we went to a race withoutKojak.”
The night of the North America Cupwill always remain a wonderful memoryfor the Porters for many reasons, notjust winning.
“Do you know that back then theOntario Jockey Club put us up at theSutton Place Hotel and the mini-bar wasfull?” quips Claire.
“I don’t know if half of Parkhill wasthere that night for the race but therewas a heck of a lot of them and some ofthem did bet the horse so they did allright. It was a big group in the winner’scircle.”
Stake payments were a hefty burdeneven back in the 1980s and the Porterswere cautious. That is why they side-stepped the Meadowlands Pace and Con-federation Cup and were ineligible forthe Little Brown Jug. But they had noregrets.
“He still made about 25 starts thatseason which was plenty and I’ve stillgot a photocopy of the cheque fromthat North America Cup win. That was
pretty nice to take to the bank todeposit,” says Claire.
“He finished the year healthy andcame back to do some good things inthe following years. We especially likedracing in Ohio. People were so welcom-ing and it was a lot like racing in Ontariobut here it has changed so much. Now ifwe go to the races we hardly see anyonewe know.”
By the end of 1991 the best days forQuite A Sensation were behind him. Hewas eight-years-old and conditionedraces were just too much for him. ThePorters would not consider putting himin a claimer and simply pulled the har-ness for the last time after a start atWindsor Raceway.
“It was time. He made 155 startsand won 49 of them to go with$1,087,568. The money was nice but itdidn’t change our lives,” says Claire.
“Actually, it was nerve wracking andwith so much going on it was hard toenjoy some of it. The time just went sofast. Anytime we raced in Ohio meantbeing away three and sometimes fourdays.
“But the horse was wonderful to usand we’ve tried to look after him toothese years. It’s hard to believe he’s beenretired for 20 years now.”
Claire too is retired. He has nohorses and sometimes wonders what hedoes with his days. But there are thosememories when he and his horse createdQuite A Sensation. �
May/June 2011 • The Harness Edge
WHEN LEONARD CREATED QUITE A SENSATION
“He had some bad races for various reasons but hewas a very low maintenance horse. Sore feet werea problem off and on but I would say I never spent$1,000 in veterinary bills over his career. That’spretty amazing by today’s standards.” – Claire Porter