A tough Ontario winter worked wonders for Gary Hodgson and Cleopanther

by Matthew Lomon

There are a million clichés to describe the slight-of-stature athlete with a will to win more powerful than any physical attribute, but hobby trainer Gary Hodgson didn’t need any of them to realize he had something special in Cleopanther.

“She always seemed to be so competitive, she wanted to do it,” Hodgson said. “Even with the better horses, she’d never give up. One would go by her, and she just kept going. She doesn’t quit.

“She’s a small horse, really small. But she’s got a big heart.”

Hodgson never found himself questioning what he had in the daughter of Panther Hanover—Im Stunning, who made a lasting first impression with her mature demeanor.

“Her attitude stuck out to me right away,” he said. “From the start, she seemed to really enjoy going out on the track and that made her easy to break. The first time she was in the harness, we walked around a couple of times, and she responded so well that we put the jogger on and walked her around some more.

“The next day, same thing, back in the jogger. I had two leads on her, took her for half a mile, and we just unhooked her – away she went.”

Cleopanther’s natural instincts between the rails were especially evident during her time with revered father-and-son trainer-and-driver team Carl and Jody Jamieson.

Carl, who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2013, and Jody, a lifetime earner of more than $158 million in purses, helped season the bay pacer at their Florida training center in 2024.

“I had her down at Carl’s to put her on the gate the first time she was in a jogger,” Hodgson said. “Jody took her around and she was perfect.

“I’ve been really lucky to have Carl and his crew help me with every horse I’ve had. Jody’s been the first guy to put every horse I’ve owned behind the gate to help break them. To have guys like that in your corner, boy, it’s amazing.”

Encouraged by a strong showing at the Jamieson school of racing, Hodgson elevated Cleopanther to Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots competition in just her second career start.

The then 2-year-old pacer held her own, finishing third at Woodbine Mohawk Park on July 7, 2025.

Hodgson, despite being surprised by the level of competition in a debut Grassroots leg, elected to give Cleopanther another shot the following week.

After a seventh-placed result in leg 2, the London, ON-based conditioner decided a step down was in order.

“I didn’t want to dishearten her because she wants to win,” he said. “That’s why I chose to go into the [Ontario Sires Stakes] Prospect Series and see how she did.”

Sent off as the 4-5 choice in her Prospect debut last September at Hanover, the stars were aligning, at least, on paper, for Cleopanther.

However, it just wasn’t meant to be.

“Then, of course, we had some bad luck,” Hodgson said. “We had broken equipment in the one I thought we were going to win. I thought that was going to be a good move for her, but it didn’t work out.”

The unfortunate turn of fortune prompted Hodgson to press the reset button at year’s end – and change his approach for the first time in a quarter century.

“As a 3-year-old, I decided to start her out a little easier,” he said, adding with a laugh, “This is the first time I didn’t go down to Florida in 25 years – I’m not going to do that again.

“It was a tough winter, but on the bright side, she trained well all the way through and that made the decision much easier.”

While there wasn’t a noticeable physical transformation between ages 2 and 3 for Cleopanther, Hodgson wholeheartedly believes she already has everything she needs to be successful in her niche.

“She’s always had the will to go, and she’s always had the will to win, so there’s not much of a difference,” he said. “She didn’t grow much, and that’ll make things tougher on her, but I’m pretty sure she’ll race well at the smaller tracks.

“I really like the way she gets around the half-mile tracks, so I’m planning on sticking to them going forward.”

Hodgson’s plan, and faith, have both been validated through the early stages of 2026, as Cleopanther sports a 1-2-0 line from four starts this season.

The notch in the win column came in a true-to-form, gritty maiden-breaking triumph in the first leg of the Little Saratoga Pacing Series on June 7 at Dresden Raceway.

Finally, everything had come together for Cleopanther.

“I really felt good going in,” Hodgson said. “I really felt good about the driver [Lorne House]. He’s a great driver and he’s light. She’s a small horse, and he likes to leave a little bit and give her a chance. That’s what I liked about Lorne. He’d give her a chance. He’d get her in place to do something good, and boy did she.”

While his heart rate spiked on a few occasions, Hodgson was elated by the performance he knew his fierce filly was always capable of.

“I was pretty excited, there’s no doubt about that,” Hodgson said. “I think she still had a little more in her because she still had her earplugs in. I was really happy seeing her come around the bend with two lengths on them. When Lorne didn’t pull the earplugs, I thought, ‘She’s going to win this one easy.’”

The 2½-length victory gave Hodgson a glimpse of what the remainder of Cleopanther’s sophomore campaign may have in store.

“I’d like to get back into the Grassroots,” he said. “That’s what I’d love to do, but we’ll see. We’ll give her a shot if we have a half-mile to go on.”

With a plan in place for the leader of his two-horse outfit, Hodgson, at age 77, has no intentions of slowing down.

“I’ve been in it since the ’90s,” he said. “I retired in 2000 and got out of the game for eight years driving stock cars, but I got back into doing this because I like being around the horses and I like racing.

“Racing the stock cars got a little tough, getting knocked around there pretty good. But I enjoy getting up in the morning and coming out to the barn. It’s something exciting to wake up to every day.”

In the next few weeks, Hodgson will have Cleopanther’s half-brother Loucksy, a 2-year-old Sunshine Beach bay, also bred by Cynthia Graham, joining the mix.

“I really like the two horses I have,” he said. “They were both raised by Cynthia, who I had a horse from before these two named Miss Brickley. I’ll tell you, she must be something special because each horse is just unbelievable to handle.”

That reliability, says the hobbyist of 30-plus years, has shone through in spades with Cleopanther.

“I like to have a horse that’s going to compete and stay healthy, and she does that,” Hodgson said. “She’s a healthy, strong little horse. She hardly needs any vet work. She takes care of herself. She eats well, she travels well, she does everything right.

“She’s been one of the best horses I’ve ever owned.”