Gutsy moves have made Karoline Nielsen’s life on fleek
by Matthew Lomon
Stepping into uncharted territory has never prevented Karoline Østergaard Nielsen from chasing her racing dreams.
It didn’t stop her from trading a comfortable life in her native Denmark for the chance to pursue racing under saddle opportunities in Ontario in July of 2015. It didn’t stop her from obtaining her standardbred trainer’s license in 2020, and it certainly didn’t stop her from breeding an eyebrow-raising mare — despite having no prior knowledge or experience — in 2022.
But even Nielsen, after an array of all-in moves, couldn’t help but wonder if she had made the right call to compete at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Friday (April 10).
“I’ve had a couple trotters and I’ve done the racing under the saddle, but I’ve never had a young horse – I’ve never trained a pacer,” Nielsen said. “It’s one of those things where it’s hard to be 100 per cent confident, but I think it’s because I’m in a race with all these prominent trainers and I’m like, ‘How am I going to beat them?’”
The answer, it turns out, was with the very pacer she bred — against the advice of others — to capture her first career training win at Mohawk.
The dominant display from 3-year-old filly On Fleek left Nielsen in awe.
“The feeling didn’t even come to me until a couple days later,” she said. “On Sunday [April 12], I watched the replay, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, she did that.’ It was very much like, ‘What just happened?’ She went a really good mile [1:53.3], it was the fastest mile of the entire night.
“It’s hard because you don’t want to get ahead of yourself, but it’s difficult to describe. I am so happy beyond words – it’s amazing, almost surreal.”
In the exhilaration, Nielsen still allowed her imagination to run free, if only for a moment.
“Imagine if she won a big stake?” she said, adding with a laugh, “I would have been a mess.”
Tracking down triumph number one at Canada’s premier harness racing venue was a significant accomplishment for Nielsen, who earned her first ever training win six years earlier with veteran Majestic Son mare Imjusticketyboo at Flamboro Downs.
As for how the pair of firsts compare, they don’t.
“It’s just so different this time around,” Nielsen said. “The win at Flamboro was with our manager’s horse. I was a big part of helping train her, and I was a big part of her daily routine, but I got ‘Fleek’ here myself. Don’t get me wrong, I got a ton of help from my partner Nick [Gallucci] and Bruce MacDonald, who works for us and has been on his own training for many years.
“But I feel like the wins are not comparable. I don’t mean to degrade the win at Flamboro, it’s simply that you can’t compare the two. Fleek has been a process since 2021. This horse was a long time coming.”
The Stouffville, ON-based conditioner’s connection to On Fleek, the “one and only” horse she’s ever bred, formed years before the pair had ever met.
During her early days working for Gallucci, Nielsen was the caretaker for a temperamental mare named Docs Sausalito.
“I developed a special bond with this horse, which is funny because she was really mean, but she trusted me, and I trusted her – to a certain extent,” she said with a laugh.
Long story short, in Nielsen’s words, they lost Docs Sausalito, or Saucy, to a claim, leaving her heartbroken.
“I was always afraid of what kind of landing she would have because she was not an easy horse to deal with,” Nielsen said.
Fortunately, Docs Sausalito ended up in the barn of respected Ayr, ON-based horseman Otis Hall.
Nielsen wasted no time acting on her next move.
“I had never talked to Otis before, but I left him a voicemail saying, ‘Hey, I really want to breed her,’” she said, adding with a laugh, “People thought it was nuts. But I always wanted to breed her to Big Jim.”
What Nielsen may have lacked in breeding experience, she made up for in hands-on experience with Big Jim offspring.
Fancourt, a now 13-year-old son of Big Jim—Catch A Wish, was a personal favorite of Nielsen and Gallucci for both his racing prowess ($313,770 in purse earnings) and off-track demeanor.
The calm, quiet, and successful horse provided the proof-of-concept Nielsen needed to zero in on Big Jim as the right sire match for Docs Sausalito.
Having millionaire Big Jim mare Prohibition Legal in the barn helped the cause, too.
With the formula set, Nielsen reached a lease agreement with Hall to breed Docs Sausalito for one year, after which she would be returned.
A pivotal moment then has evolved into a cornerstone of her journey today.
“I still remember when Otis called me and asked if I wanted to breed Saucy – I’ll never forget that,” Nielsen said. “Now, to be here, after she [On Fleek] won a race and the fact that she’s competitive at Mohawk is amazing.”
Nielsen never bred Docs Sausalito with the intention of producing a world champion – all she hoped was that one immeasurable trait would translate.
“A lot of people would probably wonder why I ever bred Saucy because she was an eight-claimer,” Nielsen said. “Yes, she might have been an eight-claimer, but she has heart like no other on the race track. That’s why I wanted to breed her.”
Nielsen still fields the occasional question from folks familiar with Saucy about On Fleek’s demeanor, but her answer is always the same, and usually followed by a laugh.
“She’s not timid like a kitten,” she said. “She still has a lot of quirks, but she’s not as bad as her mom.”
On Fleek, while watered down from her mother, is still your typical mare. If it’s not her idea, Nielsen said, she’s not game for it.
She was quite game, however, on that magical Friday night at Mohawk – so much so that she left her trainer stunned.
“When she first got pulled out, I wasn’t sure if she was just going to go with them and sit down or if she was going to accelerate and go by,” Nielsen said.
“At first, I thought ‘Okay, I’ll take a second or a third.’ I’m happy, she’s made nine lifetime starts now, and she never missed a check. I’ve been so beyond grateful for that, but I was mind blown by the way she blew away from everybody.”
The 3 ¼-length victory, with five-time O’Brien Award-winning driver James MacDonald in tow, felt like a logical progression of the momentum On Fleek had been building in recent starts.
“She suddenly seems to have come into her own the last two starts and is wanting to go,” Nielsen said. “As I said, she’s funny. James even said after we raced on Friday, ‘Wow, she was taking off. She really wanted to go.’ Sometimes he’s driven her, and she’s had no interest. It depends on what she wants.”
When On Fleek is on target, good things happen.
So, it was only fitting for the headstrong bay to deliver Nielsen’s maiden Mohawk win, after which she was met with an outpouring of congratulatory messages from friends, family, and fellow horsepeople.
“That always feels amazing,” Nielsen said. “People’s support means the world. There’s not a feeling that beats that. You want people in your corner, you want people to cheer for you. I appreciate it so much when people want to congratulate me. There were people congratulating me in the paddock, too… it feels amazing that people cheer for you.”
The milestone moment will live on forever in Nielsen’s mind, as well as on her fridge, where the winner’s circle photo commemorating her accomplishment was expertly hung by her young son, alongside his artwork.
“He’s a big fan of hers,” Nielsen said, adding with a laugh, “He says she’s his horse.”
In the wake of her dream win, Nielsen remains content right where she is.
“I work full-time alongside Nick for Millar Farms, and I am not going to ever have a stable of my own, nor do I want a stable of my own,” she said. “We’re so busy as is – this is just for fun for me.”
For Nielsen, having fun and On Fleek go hand-in-hand.
“I have my one-horse stable and I love it,” she said. “She made the fridge; she’s hanging right beside Prohibition Legal, so she’s made it… It might be a [Ontario Sires Stakes] Gold win compared to a maiden, but I’ll gladly take a maiden.”
