Page 26 - The Game February 2006

26 The Game, February 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
New Calgary Trainer Ready to “Cache In”
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Trainer Diana Feuerhelm with "Speedy", one of her two-year-old prospects, Shant Speed
by Cache In out of Shantasize. Some may remember Cache In who ran at Woodbine for trainer David Bell. He was the winner of the 1998 Jacques Cartier and the Autumn Stakes with career earnings of $250,000, and is currently standing at stud in Alberta.
between training facilities. No, Diana at twenty-seven doesn’t have her own training center, but she has the next best thing, the Olds Agricultural Society. Diana spent the fall of 2005 breaking and training year- lings there. The facilities were state of the art with indoor and outdoor arenas, new barns able to house 67 horses and a half- mile training track. Diana was a “test project” for the Society. They wanted to see if it would be feasible for them to offer theses facilities to the thorough- bred industry for two-year-old winter training. So far there are plans underway to survey trainers to see if there is enough interest to use the facilities from
November through to April.
In conjunction with her mother, Susan Roth, they also run a lay-up and breeding facili- ty called Horse Abode, located south-west of Olds, Alberta. Slowly, Diana has started to convert her mother’s Warmblood breeding operation over to the thoroughbreds. There have been some selective broodmare purchases for the operation with long term planning set in place. This winter Diana put together a partnership to purchase Northern Skeeter, a three- year-old stallion from Ontario. He will race the 2006 season and then they will consider standing him at
stud.
As you can see, this young trainer has her fingers in
all the aspects of the thoroughbred industry, breeding, owning and training. Her mentor, Laurent Dupont, says that Diana is always laughing and having fun. She’s willing to learn, and will get on any horse, because she understands them and can gallop the tough ones.
As for her plans for the 2006 season, Diana says she still has lots to learn but wants to get out there, run some great horses, start the two-year-olds and have piles and piles of fun.
As Calgary prepares for a brand new, state of the art racetrack in 2007, Diana is just what Alberta needs. An enthusiastic, energetic and determined young trainer.
I’m sure we all wish her great success and we’ll look for her in the Winner’s Circle soon.
Trainer Tom County Jr.
Thank You to Woodbine & Fort Erie Racetracks and my clients and staff for a great season of racing in 2005. I’m ready to do it again! Accepting new clients for 2006
• Personally Gallop & Work the Horses • Second Generation horseman with
6 Years Training Experience • Consistent Race Record
• Hands-on & Knowledgeable
Call Today! 905-708-7195
WHERE ARE THEY NOW
by Pat Gauvreau
Nothing had ever come easy for Diana Feuerhelm, a horse crazy girl from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Growing up Diana never got to ride a well broke horse. From the time she could remember, she was breaking and fixing any challenge her father could throw at her.
Diana’s mother, Susan Roth, remembers that her daughter was always being off riding somewhere. Never spoiled with well-schooled horses, she made competition mounts out of ex-broncs, PMU and other auction market rejects des- tined for the meat packers. Sure she made her mistakes through trial and error and lots of injuries, but through it all, she learned how to make a horse an athlete.
After raising a son and
pursuing a short and successful
career in Geographical
Information Systems (Map
making) Diana returned to the
world that she was passionate
about since childhood, horses.
It was by accident that she came
to the racetrack, her intention
was to sell a possible pony
horse that she had fixed up.
After camping on this horse at
the track for three days she was
hooked on the passion of the racetrack. Nobody would let her gallop because “it was too late in the year to learn the technique of galloping horses” so she took a job as a groom in April 2004.
By the fall of 2004 the idea of becoming a trainer was starting to sprout. Initially denied permission to write the test by the Racing Stewards in 2004 and in the summer of 2005, Diana wasn’t discouraged in her pursuit. She did gain a B-track trainers’ license in the spring of 2005 and ran a few races in the bush while exercise riding on the A-tracks in Calgary. She shipped her horses in for the B-track races and then came home after they were cooled out. One of the biggest challenges she faced was where to run them so they were competitive. Finally, at the end of October 2005 the Stewards granted Diana permission to write the A-track trainers test and she passed on the first try. Diana couldn’t thank just one person on the track for helping her pass the trainer test. She received help
from every- one that had time to answer her ques-
tions; from other trainers, the gate crew, vets, stewards, exercise riders, jockeys, owners, breeders and handicappers. The knowledge that they shared was overwhelming and greatly appreciated.
Before Diana had a license she already had a barn full of horses to train and owners standing in the doorway. With five stalls at Stampede Park and 16 horses in training there was some juggling
By Pat Gauvreau
For all of you who remember Viva Ruckus, here's a look at her from the front, because it was the other end you saw if you ever raced against her.
This 1995 chestnut mare
by Highland Ruckus out of
Vivacious Viking had
blinding speed. “Viva”
earned $253,926 in her
career from 64 starts, 18
wins, 14 seconds, 11 thirds.
She won the Wild Rose
Handicap in 2002 when she
was 7 years old. She was
bred to Devonwood in
2003 and raced up until
August of that year. She had a filly in 2004 which will be in training this spring at Stampede Park in Calgary. Viva Ruckus is owned by Bar None Ranches in Calgary and is expecting a foal by Tempered Appeal this spring and will be bred back to Cobra King.
First Foals of 2006
This feisty Tempered Appeal colt out of the mare Spirit of the Dance was born January 12, the first foal born in 2006 at the Chouinard brothers’
Bar None Ranches in Alberta.
Only 2 days old, this colt by Captain Bodgit out of the mare Sweet Creek was born January 16,
the first foal of 2006 born at Dave Monroe’s Highfield Stock Farm in Alberta.
The Game’s Health & Nutrition Special Section Publishing March 2006 - Deadline February 22
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