by Matthew Lomon

Horseman Scott McNiven has his fourth-generation trainee It Takes Two continuing the winning tradition that his ancestors set some 40 years ago with a hardware-filled 4-year-old campaign at The Raceway at Western Fair District.

After collecting nine wins and north of $55,000 across 21 starts (9-3-3) at the London, ON, oval in 2024, It Takes Two doubled down at Western Fair’s annual awards night on Feb. 22, capturing Horse of the Year and Older Pacing Horse honors.

All the credit, his trainer said, belongs to his homebred pacer.

“It’s always nice getting recognized and receiving an award like that, but it wasn’t about us; it was about him,” McNiven said. “He won the most money in that division. There were four or five horses that were in the running for it, and he’s the one that got it.

“He’s a nice horse to be around, and being a homebred is an extra bonus. It’s nice that we were there when he was born, and he’s still in the barn.”

McNiven has become an expert on the bay’s bloodline over the years, having trained and broken It Takes Two’s great grandmother Keystone Heron, her daughter Island Hussy, and his dam Shellace, who made nearly $370,000 for her career.

That familiarity was an asset when the time came to break It Takes Two, who was a tad lukewarm to racing as a youngster.

“He’s a big, strong, and good-gaited horse but he somewhat lacked the desire when he was younger; he went through the motions,” McNiven said. “He’d follow along.”

A helping hand from another familiar face, veteran reinsman Lorne House, also paid dividends for an unseasoned young horse trying to put it all together.

House stables at the same track as McNiven (Dorchester Fairgrounds) and has known It Takes Two from the beginning.

“He watched him train down as a young horse,” said McNiven, who enlisted House’s talents after conducting a few training sessions of his own from the race bike.

“I had been around 2:12 with him and I asked Lorne if he could go with him in the bike, which he did. He went around in 2:05. He even looked great out there by himself.”

The pair have since proven to be the perfect match, as House and It Takes Two have teamed up for 81 of the geldings 99 career starts – a partnership McNiven is certainly grateful for.

“Lorne sees him every day, and he knows him well,” McNiven said. “He’s obviously a good driver himself, but he gives him a chance every time.”

While even the Putnam, ON-based conditioner acknowledged that a path to Horse of the Year honors seemed unlikely at first, It Takes Two possessed too much natural talent for it to be squandered.

As the son of Artspeak—Shellace furthered in his progression, he became more versatile on the racecourse.

“He really clicked around his late 2-year-old, early 3-year-old year,” McNiven said. “He got more ‘racier’ and once you put him in position off the gate, he did the rest.

“You can lead with him every time off the gate, and he never gets hot. That’s a real bonus. A lot of horses, if you keep marching them off the gate, they’ll get to a point where that’s all they want to do. You can race him any way you want to, depending on the class you’re in or whatever the circumstance.

“He’s been a nice horse. The last 16 months or so, he’s really developed into what he is.”

The Western Fair faithful witnessed exactly who It Takes Two is in a preferred handicap tilt on March 18, 2024.

Locked into a tightly contested battle with heavy 1-5 favorite Wilcat Rocky, It Takes Two and House, at 7-1, showed incredible poise and resolve to slide ahead in the late goings to win by a nose.

That gritty performance punctuated what McNiven already knew.

“He’s tough,” he said. “If you look at all the wins he’s had in London, or even down at Mohawk, most of them are all way less than a length. He has a nose for the wire. He doesn’t over exert himself; he goes where he has to go. Even his last win was by a nose [March 25 at Western Fair]. That’s who he is.”

Off to a strong start in 2025 (2-2-3 across 10 starts, all at Western Fair), McNiven said the tentative plan is to keep It Takes Two at the preferred tier or the class below for the remainder of Western Fair’s winter meet.

Once the half-mile track’s season concludes, it’s most likely off to Grand River and possibly Mohawk, where It Takes Two was victorious twice in 2024 with driver Jody Jamieson at the helm.

“He got along great with him, and he liked a big track, too,” McNiven said. “He wasn’t the kind you could race in front down there. You had to bury him a bit and get him a trip and he responded well.”

Before any changes of scenery, It Takes Two will embark on his next start — number 100 of his career — currently scheduled for Tuesday (April 8) at his hometown track.

When he makes the milestone start, It Takes Two will get one step closer to joining a trio of McNiven greats in Bridge Street (361 starts, 58 wins, $676,317 earned), two-time Western Fair awards recipient Kendal Gustav, and Rackum Red, another former Western Fair awards winner, all of whom enjoyed long and fruitful careers.

With It Takes Two, McNiven is optimistic that the second act will be just as auspicious as the first.