David Clancy has his early Queen’s Plate triactor picked out.
There are 195 calendar days, and loads of races to be run earlier than the gates open on the 162nd version of Canada’s most well-known horse race.
Whereas it’s miles too early to take a position as to which horses will go postward within the $1 million, 1 ¼ mile basic at Woodbine on August 22, the horseman with three early contenders hooked up to his title is sporting a giant smile nowadays.
“I believe it’s extremely particular,” stated Clancy, who bred the trio of Large Waters, Smiley Sobotka, and Stephen. “I am pleased and proud.”
Clancy owns one of many three Thoroughbreds, specifically, Large Waters. Smiley Sobotka, a chestnut son of Brody’s Cause, is owned by Albaugh Household Stables LLC, and Stephen, a bay son of Structure, is owned by father and son group Al & Invoice Ulwelling.
One would count on, understandably, that Clancy can be rooting for Large Waters to take all of the spoils within the oldest regularly run stakes race in North America.
Not so.
For the longtime horse racing fan, a win by any of the three can be a dream realized.
However that being stated, a victory by Large Waters can be cash within the financial institution – actually.
“I get as a lot enjoyment out of different folks profitable with horses that I bred,” provided Clancy. “On this case, I would not say it is [wanting Giant Waters to win the Plate] 100 per cent true. Given the cash half, I assume that will be higher for me.”
Skilled by two-time Plate winner Dan Vella, Large Waters has a report of 0-2-2 from 4 begins. Regardless of his maiden standing, the son of Large Gizmo-Inexperienced Waters has regarded sharp in all of his races thus far, together with third-place efforts in each the Cup & Saucer Stakes and Coronation Futurity, run final October and November, respectively.
Vella, who gained the 1994 Plate with Basqueian and the 2012 working with Strait of Dover, has excessive reward for his sophomore colt.
“Distance is his good friend,” stated the conditioner with almost 850 lifetime victories. “That is a giant factor for any racehorse. You possibly can win loads of races going brief, however you do not win the massive ones. He likes each surfaces, however most likely prefers the turf just a little bit. He handles each effectively. He should not be a maiden – he had such a tricky journey in his second race – however that may be a profit to us now. He is at Basic Mile [Florida] proper now and we’re trying ahead to seeing him get his first begin of the yr.”
A meticulous breeder, Clancy, proprietor of Clancy CPA & Co., a Toronto-based accounting agency, dedicates hours upon hours to homework in the case of including broodmares and planning matings to his band at his farm in Tottenham, Ontario.
The hope, as at all times, is to supply aggressive and versatile runners, horses that may flourish at Woodbine Racetrack and past.
Large Waters is a main instance of Clancy’s breeding blueprint method.
“I purchased his granddam, Countervail, on the Keeneland November 2011 sale. I believe it was a type of gross sales the place folks had been sleeping at that second, and I managed to purchase her at a reasonably low-cost worth in relation to her pedigree. Large Waters’ mom [Green Waters], I purchased her by means of a declare as a first-time starter as a racing prospect and clearly favored the household. Sadly, her racing profession had some damage points alongside the best way, however I had religion that Inexperienced Waters can be a profitable broodmare.”
Clancy’s unwavering perception and persistence paid off within the type of Large Waters.
He isn’t the one one in his household that grew to become an immediate fan of the horse.
“My grandson Jason instructed me to not promote him,” recalled Clancy. “He stated, ‘Grandpa, he will be a very good racer, don’t promote him!’ He loves that horse. His farm nickname is “Guinness,” however Jason calls him “Root Beer.” He actually likes Inexperienced Waters too. She’s his favorite within the paddock. She’s sort of the boss of the paddock.”
There is identical pleasure in Clancy’s voice when he speaks of Smiley Sobotka and Stephen.
Fashioning a win and a pair of seconds from 4 begins, Smiley Sobotka has but to race at Woodbine, contesting races at Ellis Park, Keeneland, Churchill Downs and Tampa Bay Downs, thus far.
He was ninth within the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis on February 6.
“I purchased the dam, Dance Thewayouare, at Fasig-Tipton in 2013. I at all times thought she had an amazing pedigree despite the fact that she wasn’t an amazing racehorse. Curiously, she is from the identical household of [breeder] David Anderson’s horse Gretzky the Nice, and he or she is in foal to Nyquist, the sire of Gretzky the Nice, arguably the current favorite for this yr’s Queen’s Plate. I actually thought that was a pleasant horse to choose up. I saved her first foal, a filly named Dance Prepared, who was claimed after which I claimed her again with my accomplice on many horses, Donald Whalen. I like that household quite a bit. I believe she’ll be a pleasant mare down the street as effectively.”
After an eighth-place end in his debut final August at Woodbine, Stephen completed second in his subsequent begin, following it up with an ultra-impressive rating within the Coronation Futurity on November 1.
The Kevin Attard trainee is in Ontario in preparation for the beginning of the 2021 Woodbine Thoroughbred marketing campaign, slated for April 17.
“Stephen, his dam is Naughty Vacation. I additionally owned her mom, Mrs. Coolidge. I actually, actually favored that mare and had her for a number of years. After I noticed Naughty Vacation on the 2017 November Keeneland sale – she was in foal to what would change into Stephen – I purchased her. I sort of lucked out shopping for her at a really affordable worth. I used to be pleased that I used to be in a position to get again into that household. I instructed folks that I favored the mom a lot that I purchased the daughter.”
Clancy, who would enterprise to Woodbine on weekends in his youthful days hoping to place some cash in his pockets by handicapping the races, additionally loves racing a lot that he determined to get into the game in a unique capability within the mid-2000s.
In 2005, he bought a pub in Burlington, Ontario, and shortly thereafter obtained an off-track betting parlour for the institution. He was later launched to Woodbine-based coach Steve Attard, and gross sales consignor and breeder Susan Foreman, who bought and partnered with Clancy on his first yearling.
The horse, Keino West, is a nod to Kenyan monitor legend Kip Keino, a gold medalist on the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.
Skilled by Attard, Keino West broke his maiden on the finish of his two-year-old marketing campaign.
At three, the son of Kissin Kris competed in all three legs of the 2009 Canadian Triple Crown Collection. He was sixth within the Queen’s Plate, fourth within the Prince of Wales, and fifth within the Breeders’ Stakes.
Now, some 12 years later, Clancy could possibly be again within the highlight as soon as once more, maybe with three probabilities to win the nation’s most coveted race.
An completed monitor & subject competitor in his day – he would classify himself as an honest allowance horse – Clancy does not should be reminded that pacing oneself on the trail to the Queen’s Plate is paramount.
“The breeding recreation is certainly a marathon and never a dash. It takes loads of persistence. It has its ups and downs like a marathon does. Typically you are working effectively and one thing occurs, you get a cramp and fall again, and breeding is identical factor with setbacks. You must have that fortitude to deal with the psychological points that include the territory in horse racing.”
None of it prevents Clancy from dreaming huge in the case of his trio of Plate hopefuls.
“The primary horse I ever purchased made it to the Queen’s Plate. The race is a giant aim and goal, for certain. It could be fairly cool to win it sooner or later, both as a breeder or an proprietor.”
Or, with just a little racing luck and the proper journey, maybe each.
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