The Indiana Trotter of the Year will breed some 40 mares and race under the tutelage of Nancy Takter.

by James Platz

Earlier this month, Daryl Bontrager found himself in uncharted territory. Standing before a group of breeders assembled at an open barn at Premier Acres in northern Indiana, the owner and trainer extolled the virtues of his champion trotter Gruesome Twosome. One week earlier, the now 4-year-old was crowned Indiana Trotter of the Year. Now, Bontrager and his partner, Ira Steinberg, have a plan to breed a limited book of mares and race the trotter on the East Coast in 2025.

“Our main focus is adding more money to his card racing,” Bontrager said. “My partner and I, we’re a little bit impatient. We want some babies on the ground, sooner rather than later. If we didn’t think the horse could do both, we wouldn’t do it.”

A year ago, such a plan would have been hard to fathom. At that time, Gruesome Twosome was training down in anticipation of his sophomore campaign. As a 2-year-old, the son of You Know You Do—All Set Lets Go collected victories in six of nine starts, earning just over $225,000, a tremendous return on a $17,000 yearling purchase. Bontrager and Steinberg laid out a stakes schedule that saw the trotter take selected shots at Grand Circuit competition. It was a learning experience for Bontrager, who shipped and piloted Gruesome Twosome in his starts outside the Hoosier State.

“It was a learning experience for me as a trainer and a horseman,” he said. “There are a lot of things I would probably do differently, but hindsight is 20-20. It was awesome to meet people and see places I’ve never been to before. Watching horsemen and how they handle horses and little tricks you can pick up here and there just by observing others. Honestly, I came home and tweaked things a little bit, and I think it helped him.”

Gruesome Twosome and Bontrager would forego three Indiana Sires Stakes legs while racing in the Stanley Dancer Memorial, Earl Beal, Jr. Memorial and Canadian Trotting Classic. The sophomore raced fourth at The Meadowlands and Pocono, while trotting seventh in the CTC final at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Bontrager was satisfied with his pupil’s performances, admitting that shoeing issues worked against Gruesome Twosome at times.

“We keep saying he threw in one bad line and that was at Mohawk when he trotted in :53 and :28 flat,” Bontrager said. “That’s the bad line. That just speaks volumes. I’d be happy if all my horses trotted that at some point.”

Upon returning from Canada, Gruesome Twosome closed out his campaign with an eight-race stretch at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing and Casino that saw him reach the winner’s circle seven times. His victories included the $250,000 Indiana Sires Stakes Super Final and five open stakes. The colt’s lone defeat during that time came to T C I in the $175,000 Carl Erskine Memorial. During that span of races, Gruesome Twosome banked over $290,000 and brought his seasonal haul to $468,228. He took his 1:52.1 mark in a six-length romp in The Pegasus at Hoosier Park in mid-October. The trotter finished the streak with a strong 1:53.2 performance in The Thanksgiving Classic, winning by nearly five lengths in bitter cold conditions.

“Trotting in :53.2 in that weather, I never asked him to do it,” the conditioner said. “He was on his own. I put him in a hole and he was fighting me the whole time. He wanted back out. He was really feeling it. I felt it when I warmed him up that night. He was on the bit; his ears were up. He was feeling good even though it was extremely cold.”

As the season wound down, the partners began to formulate a plan for 2025. Gruesome Twosome had shown he had the talent to compete outside Indiana, and Bontrager and Steinberg also were anxious to breed their talented trotter. They both agreed he should race on the East Coast, but Bontrager was not as interested in shipping out and campaigning the stallion himself.

“He’s going to move to the East Coast and I’m not going with him,” Bontrager said. “All the races for 4-year-olds are out east. Truthfully, my trip to The Meadowlands went fine, but I said I don’t ever want to go back. The East Coast is not for me.”

The partners will entrust their star to Grand Circuit trainer Nancy Takter. Bontrager will train Gruesome Twosome down and qualify him at Hoosier Park before sending to Takter on June 1.

“I’ll have him qualified in May before he goes to Nancy, that way she can get going with him right away,” Bontrager said. “She’s going to race him all summer. We’ve got the stakes schedule put together for him and I feel good about that… I feel very good with where we’re at. I know the drivers respect him from comments they made when we were racing together last year.”

The schedule mapped out for the near-$700,000 winner consists of 16 starts from late May to mid-November covering many of the top events. Targets include the Graduate Series, Hambletonian Maturity, John Cashman Memorial, Maple Leaf Trot and Breeders Crown, with a few Midwest opportunities also on the calendar.

Bontrager said that he and Steinberg had considered buying mares and breeding Gruesome Twosome. Instead, they settled on selling shares in the trotter and offering a book limited to 40 mares. At Premier Acres earlier this month he outlined the plan. Fifteen shares are available to breeders at a cost of $10,000 per share. Breeders that purchase a share receive a lifetime breeding to Gruesome Twosome plus the option to breed a second mare for half the stallion’s $4,000 stud fee this season. In addition, shareholders will receive one per cent of Gruesome Twosome’s 2025 earnings after trainer and driver percentages, and will not be on the hook for any bills.

“Within 24 hours we sold five or six shares,” Bontrager said of the offering. “The feedback has been very positive. People are really excited about it.”

Bontrager added one buyer doesn’t own mares, but wants to be along for the ride as Gruesome Twosome races this season.

“We’re just trying to make sure we take care of shareholders,” he said. “If they get in, they’re part of the team. We’re a team; I want them to do well and I want to do well.”

As Bontrager prepares his star for the upcoming season, he will make the quick ship to Premier Acres for collection when needed.

“I’ll be training him at my facility, which is 15 minutes from here,” Bontrager said. “On collection days we’ll bring him over here. The reason we are limiting it for 40 mares is because coming over here and collecting, that’s a little bit more stress. His semen counts are out of this world good. He could probably do more, but 40 is a good number.”

A year ago, Bontrager could not have anticipated managing a training schedule for his trotter while also making him available for collections. More uncharted territory. Gruesome Twosome’s on-track performance opened the door and made it all possible.