ELMIRA — Ty Henry, half owner of three-year-old trotter Canadian Banker, will get to see his horse race for the first time on Monday evening at Elmira Raceway — as long as his mom and dad allow him to stay up past his bedtime.
“He’ll probably be there, as long as we’re not in too late,” says Ty’s dad Trevor Henry. “He’s got school the next day.”
Canadian Banker will start from Post 2 in the fifth race, which should allow the young owner to watch his horse race live for the first time and still make it home to Arthur in time to get nine hours sleep before a full day of Grade 1 on Tuesday.
With a May 3 victory at Flamboro Downs on Canadian Banker’s resume, there is even a chance that Ty will have an opportunity to pose in the winner’s circle with his dad, who trains and drives the Evangelism gelding, and his partner John MacLeod of Ripley.
“He seems like he’ll be a nice kind of horse,” says Trevor Henry, adding that the inside post position should work in the gelding’s favour. “If he gets away near the front he seems to be a little better. I left with him in Flamboro and he raced his best that day.”
In addition to his son’s pride and joy, Henry will be shepherding eight other horses from the Henry Stable at Elmira on Monday. The 32-year-old horseman and his brother Wayne are the primary drivers for the stable and share day-to-day responsibilities on a string of 55 trotters with their father Ross.
Among the other charges Henry will steer through six Grassroots divisions on Elmira’s 7:30 pm program is Hidden Profits, who makes his second start of the year from Post 4 in the sixth race.
“He had problems last year with sore feet,” says Henry. “But he’s a high speed horse if he stays sound, and the post should suit him.”
The Henry’s share ownership on Hidden Profits with Jean Ferguson of Croton, who decided to give up her share of the colt after a brief and lacklustre freshman campaign, but changed her mind after he delivered a sharp runner-up performance at Hiawatha Horse Park on May 10.
“It’s a funny story,” says Henry. “She decided she’d just give him to us so we took him to Florida for the winter and trained him down. Then she saw him race in Sarnia so she paid all her training bills for the winter and bought him back.”
Hidden Profits will share the spotlight in Race 6 with his stablemate Rueben Syn, who will start from Post 2 for NGA Powerline of Brantford.
The other colts carrying the Henry’s brown and gold colours are Kuruption from Post 1 in the first race, Grand Turk from Post 5 in Race 3, Odee Tantie, who will start from Post 7 with Canadian Banker in the fifth race, Earl Vic Dol from Post 1 in Race 7 and Tara Ballyduff and Brisk Success from Posts 2 and 5 in Race 9.
Elmira Raceway’s Victoria Day program gets under way at 7:30 pm and, while celebrating the triumphs of the Ontario Sires Stakes colts, fans and horse people will also be remembering the 18 horses that died in a tragic barn fire just hours after racing ended on Monday, May 12.
The evening will be especially poignant for Bryan and Donna Wick of Elmira, whose three-year-old trotting gelding Streak Shower would have been one of the favourites in Monday’s Grassroots event after a successful run in the Tie Silk Series at Mohawk Racetrack in April.
Fundraising efforts for the owners of the 18 horses include a dinner and silent auction at Elmira Raceway’s Carriage Hall on Wednesday, June 11, a White Ribbon Campaign and the creation of a trust account which will be accessible for donations through any branch of a major bank.