Page 14 - August/September 2007 The Game

14 The Game, August/September 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
HUNTINGTON STUD FARM
C.T.H.S. 2007 Canadian Bred Yearling Sale September 4 • Select Session
Whiskey Wisdom - Mrs. Fisher (filly) Hip 64
Bold Executive - Native Geisha (filly) Hip 66 Montbrook - Regal ‘n Bold (filly) Hip 96
Stephen Got Even - Regent n” Flashy (filly) Hip 97 Cape Canaveral - Scarlettotara (filly) Hip 110 Yonaguska - Countess Of Mine (filly) Hip 193 Where’s The Ring - Crusty Duck (colt) Hip 196 Doneraile Court - Diamonds To Me (filly) Hip 203 Ten Most Wanted - Do Ye Well (colt) Hip 207 Domasca Dan - Executive Diamond (colt) Hip 222 Tiznow - Flashy n Smart (filly) Hip 229
C.T.H.S. 2007 Canadian Bred Yearling Sale September 48 • Preferred Session
Tomahawk - Jazzy Hill (colt) Hip 257 Tomahawk - Pleasureindancing (colt) Hip 304 Najran - Shadowofyoursmile (filly) Hip 323 Megas Vukefalos - Solina (colt) Hip 334 Where’s The Ring - Stylize (filly) Hip 337 Ascot Knight - Bracelet (colt) Hip 393
High Stakes Rollers
The following consignors of 2-year-olds are the
leaders by percentage of stakes winners offered at North American sales between 1999 and 2003
(24 or more offered - Consignor %SW)
Huntington Stud Farm, agent 17.9% Clear Creek Stud 17.4% Weatherly Horse Farms 17.1%
Sequel Bloodstock, agent 16.1% Welcome Gate Farms 13.5%
As printed in the February 10, 2007 The Blood-Horse MarketWatch http://marketwatch.bloodhorse.com
For inspection prior to the sale please call Dan Mooney or Mary Cudizio
HUNTINGTON STUD • FARM • CORP
11231 Huntington Rd. Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada 905-893-1742 fax: 905-893-1745
At Home on the Racetrack
By Harlan Abbey
Robert Johnston started his second year as a head trainer at Fort Erie with three wins in the first week of the season. Wins have been slow to come since then, but the 34-year-old isn't in a quandary, explaining "They've
simply been losing to
better horses, so it
doesn't leave you
scratching your head,
wondering 'Is it the
food? the groom? the
rider?' Every stable
goes through periods
like this."
daughter, Alexis, now 10, and then Samantha, now 7, came along. The farm was a great place for a family and I was learning more about training, and also about breeding. When I started there we
And if he doesn't
stand out on the
backstretch physical-
ly, he's at least
individualistic in his
own family. Because
Carlton "Joe"
Johnston, who began
his training career in Jamaica, and his wife Ann Marie named their other children Marilyn, Michelle, Mike, Margaret and Mark. "I'm the only one whose name doesn't begin with 'M,'" he pointed out.
Joe Johnston currently trains a seven-horse string and Rob has about 14. Ann Marie, Rob's wife Laura (who comes from a non-racing family but became a hot-walker one summer), Marilyn (who also holds a head trainer's license) and Mark still work at the track. Mike, a former gate crew worker, Margaret and Michelle now are "civilians."
"Horses and racing get in your blood," Rob Johnston emphasized. "It's where the heart is. Dad dropped out of racing once, but he came back after a year. I knew I wanted to do this and left school at 15. I rode ponies at the farm at the age of six or seven, and was breaking colts at 13 or 14. I was grooming horses at the farm until I got my license at 15 and came right to the track. I was a groom, hot-walker and pony boy. Then I went to Woodbine because I wanted to see how other trainers did it.
"I worked for Mike De Paulo and he was great. What I appreciated was the business-like atmosphere and learning how he ran the stable and his training and feeding programs. After four years I went with John Cardella, whose methods were different. I did some traveling with Key Spirit and some other good horses for good races, which was another important learning experience.
"My greatest moment in racing so far was when Key Spirit defeated King Corrie, who was undefeated in six races at the time, in a stakes prep that should have been a stakes race."
Later, he went to Florida with Mike Wright Jr., who then recommended him to Bruno Schickedanz, who was looking for a farm trainer:
had 90 horses; when I left we had 420, about 100 mares, 80 babies, 80 two-year-olds, four stallions, plus the horses we purchased at sales.
"Now I learned more about the business side; I wasn't only dealing with grooms, hot-walkers and riders but with maintenance people, tractors, suppliers. I learned how to negotiate instead of
"By then Laura and I had our first
Trainer Rob Johnston with Garret's Gulch at Fort Erie
Photo Lorrie Scott
just signing a check. Then our two hors- es, Samlex, named after our daughters, and Not So Romantic (recently sold), were of racing age. At first I thought of sending resumes to top trainers like Bobby Frankel and Todd Pletcher, but Laura urged me to have my own stable.
"We started last year with six horses, had as many as 15 during the summer, and eight or ten at the season's end. We won 12 races and I was very happy with that, it was 25 percent of our 48 starts."
Rob Johnston believes his seven years at Schickedanz's farm were an asset because, "I was able to observe Thoroughbreds from when they were foaled and then as they grew up. I think that helps me get inside a horse's head and give them what they think they want, and to know when to go on with their training and when to stop."
He intends to keep upgrading his stable, which has several maidens and young horses and has high hopes for a recent claim, Garret's Gulch, who was second at the $12,500 level at Woodbine. "I waited six weeks to find a horse to claim and I'm glad I waited. He's the kind of horse I"m looking for," he added.
The longer-distance future is undecided. Johnston admits he's going to take a long look at Presque Isle Downs, the new polytrack-surface track opening near Erie, Pa., this fall. "If it looks like it's going to take off," he said, "I could wind up living and racing there for their five- month season, and be able to take horses to Mountaineer Park the rest of the year, which would be only a couple of hours away.
"I don't want to be away from my family all winter long. Family is important to me and I don't want to miss any of my daughters' birthdays or family holidays."