CAMPBELLVILLE, OCT. 30, 2001 — The Liberty Balance fan club has grown so large that owner Thomas Rankin feels like he ought to charter a bus to Mohawk Racetrack for the remainder of the three-year-old trotter’s starts. It seems that no matter where he goes in and around St. Catharines everyone has been following Liberty Balance and would like to see the Breeder’s Crown winner perform live.
“I’m just flabbergasted that people are showing so much interest in the horse,” says Rankin. “We have a construction company with over 200 employees and over half of them saw the Breeder’s Crown race. We took a bus up to the Breeder’s Crown and I feel like I should be taking a bus up every time he races. I’m amazed that so many people want to see him.”
The Balanced Image gelding and driver Randy Waples will attempt to score their ninth straight win from Post 5 in Gold Series Final action at Mohawk on Saturday night, and Rankin has finally reached the point where he believes the odds of another trip to the winner’s circle are fairly high.
“Right now I’m pretty confident that the only thing that will beat him is if he beats himself, if he gets sick or something,” says the owner. “In the elimination the horses were right on his tail and just didn’t stay with him. We had a horse in Windsor and Ron Waples, Randy’s dad, said to us, “Well that was a good training mile for him.”
Rankin was not always so confident in Liberty Balance, deciding not to keep the trotter eligible to a number of stake events when the novice trotter failed to show much speed in the spring.
“In March it didn’t look like he was going to make it as a racehorse so in April I didn’t make some of the stake payments. I didn’t know if he’d even go in 2:05,” explains the horseman, who shares ownership on Liberty Balance with his wife Elizabeth. “Then the end of April or the first of May Pat (Hunt) said maybe we should have a groom on him steady, that he had really high speed.”
The gelding proved trainer Pat Hunt right, recording a personal best of 1:55 in the Breeder’s Crown Final and scoring a 1:58.3 victory over a track rated three seconds slower than normal in last weekend’s Elimination round.
With a record of 11 wins and four seconds in 16 starts Liberty Balance is poised to reach the million dollar mark with wins in Saturday’s $100,000 Final and the $250,000 Super Final at Mohawk on Nov. 10.
Mohawk also features the last three-year-old pacing filly Gold Final on Saturday and Elimination winner Silver Seven has developed her own fan club since she went on a six race win streak through August and September. Named for a group of elite welders, the Albert Albert lass has a cross-Canada following that owner Catherine Whittaker of Longacres Ranch keeps up-to-date via email and phone calls.
Randy Waples also drives Silver Seven and Whittaker and her partners Murray Cox and Sharon Roden Cox of Rockwood are quick to credit the reinsman and trainer Shawn Robinson with the filly’s progression into the top ranks of the Gold Series.
“They made a racehorse out of her,” says Whittaker. “We keep saying “Thank you” to Randy and he just says, “Don’t thank me, it’s her. Thank you for the drive.”
“I don’t get down to see her as much any more, but she looks great and she feels great. They (Robinson) really look after their horses,” adds the Rockwood resident.
Silver Seven will attempt to add a Gold Final victory to her pair of Gold Elimination wins from Post 2 in the seventh race on Saturday, one of three fillies that will head onto the track from the Robinson barn. The other Elimination winner, Cueless, will also be looking for her first Gold Final win from Post 4.
Mohawk Racetrack sends its first race behind the starting gate at 7:40 pm on Saturday night. The Ontario Sires Stakes trotting colt stars take centre stage in Race 3 and the talented pacing fillies take over in Race 7. Mohawk wraps up the Ontario Sires Stakes season next weekend, Nov. 10, with eight $250,000 Super Finals.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SANDRA SNYDER AT 519-656-2017 (TEL./FAX) OR smsnyder@sentex.net.