Writing The Next Chapter

Writing The Next ChapterAfter two vet visits just weeks after his purchase, one of his owners said ‘this colt is going to bankrupt me’

thus leading to his name Chapter Seven. However, the colt surprised them and won seven of eight starts last

year for $211,000 in earnings and this year could give trainer Linda Toscano her first Hambletonian starter.

By M. Kelly Young • Photos by Vicki Wright

Hambletonian-level horses don’tcome along every day, even for the besttrainers in the sport, so Linda Toscano isalready savouring the fact this Spring thatshe may be training back her first everstarter for the most illustrious event inharness racing.

Chapter Seven, a son of the now

deceased Trotting Triple Crown winnerWindsongs Legacy, had a late start andflew largely under the radar last year, soar-ing to seven wins in eight starts and$211,549 while his freshmen trottingcounterparts duked it out in high-profileevents along the Grand Circuit. In fact, itwasn’t until almost the end of his season

when Toscano herself was finally con-vinced of the talent her colt possessed.

So when Chapter Seven got sick thelast week in March, all her hopes for the horse and his owners hung in thebalance.

“He got sick and it was the kind ofsick that scares you,” she revealed. “He

was training great and then an upper res-piratory bug went through my barn. Iheard him cough a couple times and whenit runs through your barn you have totreat them all the same, even if they aregood horses.

“He wasn’t acting sick, he wasn’t offhis grain or anything like that, but some-one came in to take a couple pictures ofhim and after I trained him I thought hewas a little deader than he should be andhe had a dry cough.”

Toscano consulted her veterinarianand they decided to take him to the hospi-tal where he had an ultrasound, chest x-ray and they took all precautions.

“He had a high temperature andspent a week in the (vet clinic), but now he is cleared to come home andreturn to training,” she said the daybefore he was return home to Show-place Farms.

“He responded very well to theantibiotics and they tell me he’s obnoxiousas usual so everything is good to go.”

This wasn’t the first time ChapterSeven caused drama in the barn, in fact itwas how he earned his moniker.

“His name was Windsongs Proxy,”Toscano said of the colt when he was pur-chased by Richard Gutnick and first-timeowner Gary Cocco for $42,000 at Harris-burg.

“The first thing he did was promptlyjump over a fence and cut his hind leg andneed a few stitches three days after thesale.

“The second thing he did was go forthroat surgery. Rich said ‘this horse isgoing to bankrupt me’ and thus the nameChapter Seven.”

The colt, out of the Dream Vacationmare La Riviera Lindy, made terrible

breathing sounds when he began linedriving so they quickly found that he suffered from an entrapped epiglot-tis. He wasn’t a big colt, so after the surgery Toscano gave him a little moretime before starting with him in mid-February.

“He trained down without incidentand he overcame the fact that he wastraining by himself. He was a good gaitedhorse and a happy horse, but when hemade it to the races he was a pleasant sur-prise,” recalled Toscano.

“I thought he was okay, but I didn’tthink he was a great horse, I just didn’tknow. When you’re training one trotteralmost by himself it’s very difficult to get aread on how good they are.”

April 2011 • The Harness Edge

WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter Seven need stitches and then throat surgery not long after trainerLinda Toscaco welcomed him into her barn but he made up for his inauspiciousstart by winning seven of eight starts last year at two. He enters his sophomorecampaign with two new owners, Southwind Farm and Jerry Silva, added to hisownership papers.

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Mike Lachance directed the colt in hisfirst few starts and told Toscano early thathe had speed.

“He started him once at Chester for usand was parked almost every step of themile, it was an off track and he was out inthe center of the racetrack where he couldstay out of trouble. Mike said he was asstrong at the end of the mile as he was atthe beginning.

“Then through other prior commit-ments Mike couldn’t follow him and JeffGregory hopped on him in the Sire Stakesat Freehold and he really had a great run.”

Gregory was able to steer ChapterSeven to victory in both legs and the finalof the New Jersey Sire Stakes and theHarold Dancer at Freehold. The colt’s onlymistake was in the NJ Futurity on October7 when he broke in the second turn firstup, but recovered well for third, his onlyfinish not ending in the winner’s circle.

“I kind of wanted to shut him downat that point because he had beenthrough a lot and had overcome it all andthen his owners said what do you thinkabout trying him for the Matron?” admit-

ted Toscano. “He wasn’t eligible for Lexington or

the Breeders Crown, so the only thing leftwas the Matron and that was like sixweeks after the NJ Futurity.

“I said we’ll let him tell us. We’ll givehim some time off and qualify him and seewhat he’s like. So we qualified him at theMeadowlands and he won in 1:55 andthat’s when I really started to take noticeof him.

“When he qualified as strong as hedid on the big track, that’s when I said hewas tougher than I thought he was. Thenhe won the Matron, in both the previewand final he was very much on cruise con-trol.”

Lachance was back in the driver’s seatfor both of those Matron events andsteered the colt to an easy first-over, four-length victory in the $132,075 MatronFinal in 1:55.2.

“He has speed and he has no end ofthe mile,” explained Toscano. “He’s areally handy horse and his size might workfor him. Mike and I have talked about thisbecause I wish he had grown up over the

winter because obviously you want a big,strong, strapping horse, yet at the sametime, because of his size and handiness, hemay stay sounder, too.

“He’s a little bit smaller than Wind-songs Legacy from what I understand. He’sa medium-sized horse at best.”

Following the Matron victory, Chap-ter Seven was turned out at SouthwindFarm, which along with Jerry Silva, boughtinto the colt at the end of his rookie sea-son. With renewed faith in their charge,the connections began looking forward tothe big three-year-old events.

“Obviously, the Hambletonian is thebrass ring, that’s what we’re hoping for,but he has all the major races. We’vegiven him enough of an opportunity ifhe’s a good horse,” said Toscano.

Now well established and respected inthe sport, Toscano seldom makes referenceto the fact that she is a successful woman ina predominantly male field. But she didearn recognition as the first woman totrain a Breeders Crown champion whenMolly Can Do It scored in the Open Maresdivision in 2002. So far, no woman has sent

April 2011 • The Harness Edge

WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER

“One thing he does

know how to do is win.

He’s a very competitive

horse, he enjoys what

he’s doing. I’m a huge

believer that is some-

thing you can’t teach.

Some horses are just

winners.” – Linda Toscano

The Harness Edge • April 2011

out a Hambletonian winner, but Toscanocan’t even think about that.

“I think if you ask anybody who trainshorses for a living what it would be like tostart a horse in the Hambletonian, itwould pretty much be universal: it’s thethrill of a lifetime.

“I refuse to even let my brain go towhere he could be competitive and evenconceivably win it. I’m just going to do thebest that I can and hopefully he’ll rise tothe occasion,” she said.

Chapter Seven was able to rise to theoccasion last year, but he also didn’t haveto face the headliners of his class. Toscanois still considering whether to prep him forthe Hambletonian by testing him againstthose top horses along the traditionalroute of prep races at the Meadowlands,or whether she may try another path tomaintain his courage. He is staked foreither path.

“Mike Lachance’s feeling on going tothe Hambletonian is that they need toprep at the Meadowlands,” said Toscano,who has a lot of respect for the four-timeHambletonian winning driver. “It’s a dou-ble-edged sword.

“I don’t know what he’s going to dowhen he’s up against those horses, that’sone side. But the other half of it is, Ibelieve if you teach your horse to win theyfind a way to win.

“One thing he does know how to dois win. He’s a very competitive horse, heenjoys what he’s doing. I’m a hugebeliever that is something you can’t teach.Some horses are just winners.”

Like during his two-year-old season,Toscano plans to let the horse tell her whathe needs.

“We were hoping to start with theNew Jersey Sire Stakes. He has a prettydecent bottom under him at this point,but with him getting sick he’s going tohave to map his own schedule.

“He was a very easy horse to getready last year, I hope that will be the caseagain this year, but he will get howevermuch time he needs to make sure he’scompletely recovered.”

Toscano and the colt already have agood relationship with Lachance, andwhile she would love for him to drive thecolt, it was still too early to know his com-mitments.

“Mike and I kind of started togetherat Roosevelt and it would a fun thing tohave him campaign this horse for me andhave him go out there and win. I can’tthink of anyone I would rather have drivethe horse. When it comes to a trotter andan all-around horseman, I think he isheads above.”

So while Toscano does everything tokeep her Hambo-bound colt on track, sheis still thinking of her owners and the sportin general.

“It’s really a thrill to train a good trot-ter and I’m really looking forward to cam-paigning him this year. He’s a NewJersey-bred and I can’t think of anythingJersey needs more than a shot in the armand a good horse racing as a Jersey-bredwould be wonderful.

“Hopefully it will work out becausethis is why we get in this business, to gethorses of this level and then to be able tocompete.” �

The Harness Edge has moved . . . but not

far. Effective April 1, 2011, our headquar-

ters are located at 112 Barrett Avenue,

Brantford, Ontario N3S 0B3. The telephone

number of 519-752-2800 and fax (519) 752-

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