by Melissa Keith

Woodbine Mohawk Park fan favorite Woodmere Stealdeal (p, 5, 1:48.4s; $290,753) has reached the finish of his five-year racing career.

On Thursday (Dec. 19), Camille Brundle told HRU that the decision followed the 6-year-old pacer’s start at Mohawk on Monday (Dec. 16). Despite setting the pace and leading to three-quarters, the Steelhead Hanover—Very Ideal Hanover gelding was overtaken late in the mile, finishing seventh as the beaten 6-5 favorite.

“He’s been through so much, we’re just going to retire him now, and maybe in the spring, turn him into a riding horse,” Brundle said. “He’s coming home today [Dec. 19] and he’s going to be at our house, permanently.”

Last Friday (Dec. 13) at Mohawk, driver Jonathan Drury remarked on the gelding’s atypical recent performances at Mohawk. 

“You know, I just don’t think he was himself [finishing sixth on Dec. 9],” Drury said. “He’s back in to go Monday [Dec. 16], but I had schooled him the week before and I was really happy with him. I’m not sure if it was just the ‘off’ [track] conditions or if he had a little sickness or something going on, but he’s a special little horse and I really enjoy driving him. I’m always looking forward to the next time I sit behind him.” 

Brundle has frequently looked after the record-setting Atlantic Canadian champion ever since Woodmere Stealdeal first came to the East Garafraxa, ON, farm of her father, Frank Brundle, in late 2021.

She stressed that the gelding’s retirement was not due to injury or illness.

“It’s not because he’s lame or has any issues,” Camille said, as she awaited Woodmere Stealdeal’s arrival at her family’s farm Thursday (Dec. 19). “He’s perfectly sound. He is good and healthy and happy. He’s done so well in his life and paid his way so much in his life for us.”

The gelding came to Ontario sporting an impressive resume from the Maritime provinces. He had gone 13-for-13 in an all-stakes season at age 2, setting several divisional track records, that still stand today. In his sophomore season on the track, Woodmere Stealdeal hit the board in all of his 18 starts, winning half. He stepped up from the Maritime stakes circuit to debut at Mohawk on Dec. 4, 2021, leaving the stable of Truro Raceway’s Danny Romo to join new trainer Carmen Auciello.

Racing for owners Frank Brundle; Glenn MacDonald of Ajax, ON; and Robert Sumarah of Halifax, NS, Woodmere Stealdeal had his first Mohawk victory on Dec. 26, 2021, overcoming older pacers and post position 10 to upset at 10-1 for driver James MacDonald.

Woodmere Stealdeal quickly rose to the Mohawk preferred level in January 2022, then ventured to Yonkers Raceway for the MGM Borgata Series, in which he went winless. He finished fifth after experiencing interference in a 2022 Charles Juravinski Memorial elimination at Flamboro Downs. Resting until August, “Steal” came back a winner at Mohawk on Sept. 17, 2022 with Drury in the sulky.

In 2023, Woodmere Stealdeal had three wins at Mohawk, taking his 1:48.4 lifetime mark for Drury on a June 24 class drop from the preferred. The pacer was scheduled to make an appearance on a special Woodmere Stealdeal Day at Truro Raceway before going to Red Shores Charlottetown to take his best shot in the 2023 Gold Cup and Saucer Trials, but he was found to have fractured a sesamoid bone in a hind leg.

After surgery at Ontario Equine Hospital, in Mississauga, ON, in Sept. 2023, Woodmere Stealdeal gradually recovered with help from his human family. Drury “played a huge part” in the decision to retire the gelding after 92 starts and 30 wins, said Camille.

“He’s the driver who knew Stealdeal as well as all of us did,” she said. “[Drury] had him for three or four months; in his first month post-surgery, he did all of that work. Stealdeal was with JD that entire time.”

Woodmere Stealdeal won the hearts of racing fans and those who worked with him throughout his career. His final win was Nov. 6, 2024 at Flamboro for driver Travis Cullen.

On the pacer’s last trip home from the Auciello Stable, it was fittingly Drury who did the driving.

“He’s the one who went to pick him up,” said Camille. “JD and his fiancée, Victoria, they frequently come up to our place to see the horses and hang out, because he and dad are good friends. They have another horse together, Dovuto Hanover [p, 3, 1:48.4m; $680,825], who’s retired at our house. [Drury] drove him a lot as well, and now the two of them [Woodmere Stealdeal and Dovuto Hanover] will be living out their days together.”

Camille said she looks forward to Woodmere Stealdeal’s next chapter.

“It will be just me who will be looking after him and caring for him, going forward,” she told HRU. “I’m going to break him [to saddle] in the spring.

“He’s such a happy-go-lucky, lovable horse that even in the [racetrack] paddock, he would fall asleep, he was so chill. Other horses would be freaking out sometimes, and he would be like, ‘I’m just hanging out. I’m good.’”

Camille said that standardbreds are often and unfairly overlooked as potential saddle horses when they retire from harness racing.

“My first-ever [riding] horse was a standardbred that I broke, showed, did the green hunter [horse show class] with, and everything; ‘Frankie,’” she said. “I think I was 14, but the first time I sat on a horse, I was 6, and I’m 23 now.”

She added that at the age when racehorses’ best performances are in the past, horses are typically just blossoming in other equestrian sports.

“Stealdeal is so young, and a lot of riding horses don’t have their big career wins until they’re 13, anyway,” Camille said. “That’s exactly when they start to show their true colors.”

Her dad maintains ownership of “about 30” horses currently racing, said Camille. Many are in partnerships with friends. Some recent success stories include a Dec. 7 Mohawk victory by 6-year-old Mystifying (p, 5, 1:49.1s; $219,047), co-owned with Glenn MacDonald, trained by Susie Kerwood, and driven by Tyler Borth. It was the mare’s second 2024 win, in just her eighth start this season.

Three-year-old Mikki Sixx (p, 3, 1:52.2s; $51,527) captured the first leg of the Niagara Series Dec. 6 at Mohawk for the same connections, her seventh seasonal win in just 10 starts.

“She had an injury, so she was at my house for two or three months, on stall rest,” Camille said. “My dad and his friend Ryan Bender bought her off Chris Bush, raced her once or twice, and then she hurt herself out in the paddock.”

Back with a vengeance at Mohawk, the filly Camille called “the big girl” finished second for trainer Gregg McNair and driver MacDonald in the most recent (Dec. 13) Niagara leg.

When it comes to standardbred retirement, the experienced English rider said many former racehorses make willing, adaptable saddle horses. Instead of wondering whether they can learn, Camille suggested giving a horse a chance.

“I say do it,” Camille said. “Probably one of the best things for a standardbred is to put them in a second career, because a lot of the time they’re still sound, just older. I definitely recommend it.”