by Garnet Barnsdale

Two horses caused a buzz in Ontario last Saturday (June 1), one for his exploits on the track, and the other for contributing to a feat that was achieved by a trio of her offspring racing at Mohawk Park that is believed to be unique.

The first horse, Bettor B Going, was ripping off an incredible mile rarely seen at five-eighths mile Kawartha Downs, located bout 60 miles east of Toronto. The other horse, the Camluck mare Transference (out of the Artsplace mare National Gallery), was sending out three of her offspring on the same night at Mohawk Park, and all three won.

Bettor B Going was making his second lifetime start in a $4,500 maiden race and coming off a debut effort where he showed some late pace, it was reasonable to expect improvement on his 1:58.2 fifth-place finish. But no one in the crowd could have predicted the incredible mile the son of Bettors Delight (out of the Western Ideal mare JK Letitgo) was going to uncork.

Sent right to the front from the inside post by Kawartha’s second-leading driver Nick “Ralphie” Boyd, the $50,000 Lexington purchase improved his position at every call, parlaying a wicked :55-flat opening half-mile time into a remarkable 29-length score in 1:52.1.

Teamster Boyd said he certainly had no plans on going that fast with the sophomore gelding in only his second start.

“Looking at the program, my intention before the race was to try to ease him away third or fourth and ease him to the lead at 3/8ths or the 1/2 depending on how it was setting up,” he said, which obviously didn’t materialize. “As the gate picked up speed, he began to hit the bike (he was hooked short) and was scaring himself. The more I took ahold, the more he would hit.

Boyd, who was quick to give credit to fellow horseman Rob Doyle for schooling and qualifying the gelding, said he had no intent to bottom out the field by such a wide margin. “Especially with a young horse, I never want to win in that fashion,” he said. “It was merely a circumstantial occurrence. If you watch the replay, you’ll see I didn’t move a muscle the whole mile.

Bettor B Going – owned by Grant R & Joanne E Curnow of Pefferlaw, ON and trained by Wilford Perrault – likely won’t see Kawartha Downs again anytime soon after showing he’s capable of that kind of speed.

Meanwhile, 100 miles west at Mohawk Park, there may have been a record being set by broodmare Transference, who was sending out the winners of three separate races on the same race card. While unconfirmed, it is believed to be a first. Interestingly, all three victors were sent out by trainer Ben Baillargeon.

The Transference Pick 3 of sorts was kicked off by a ½-lengtn 1:52.4 win by solid pacer Torrin Hanover in race 4, a $15,000 conditioned-level pace. The son of Well Said was steered to victory by Bob McClure. Next up was Somebeachsomewhere son Tyga Hanover winning a division of the race named after his sire. The 19-1 upset winner was driven by Sylvain Filion and the one-length win over some more-heralded rivals earned the gelding a trip to the North America Cup eliminations tomorrow night at Mohawk Park. Finally, the most predictable winner of the night came in the last race when 2014 Two-Year-Old Breeders Crown Pace winner Traceur Hanover dominated a field of conditioned pacers.

Considering that Transference has only three of four offspring currently racing based in Canada, to have all three show up at the same track on the same night and all win may be a feat we never see repeated.