Mike Campbell has been training horses for almost fifty years but he’s not quite ready to rest on his laurels.
That’s
because the 66-year-old Prince Edward Island native believes he has yet to
train his best horse even though his resume already includes developing and racing numerous Invitational
and Stake winners in the Maritimes and New York since opening up a public
stable in the late 1960’s.
Up to
this point, his best horse has been Igoddago, a $212,298 money earner
considered by many to be one of the greatest Maritime-bred performers of all
time. The four-time Fredericton Raceway
Horse of-the-Year retired in 2010 with a record of 1:54h and 62 lifetime wins;
four of them better than 1:55 on Maritime soil, which is second only to
Dunachton Gale.
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| Mike Campbell with IGODDAGO |
Tidy Point was another great horse who raced the Invitational circuit for Campbell and won 73 races over a long career, the most ever by a Fredericton-developed horse.
In
fact, Campbell can lay claim to developing seven
horses who won over 40 races during their careers including Pipe Major (53),
Knightime Roger (48), North Wind Mac (47), Vulga Wil (45) and Starson (41). Some of those horses were $100,000+ winners -
Igoddago, Tidy Point ($110,264) and Pipe Major ($123,106). Knightime Roger ($110,225) completes a list
of four on that money list.
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| KNIGHTIME ROGER |
And you can add Rose Valley to that stellar group of names after she won six stake races and earned in excess of $40,000 during her 2013 sophomore season. She paced to a lifetime best of 1:56 in the Lady Slipper Gold Stake during Charlottetown’s Old Home Week cementing her and friendly New Brunswick-rival, Ramblinglily, as the two best three-year-old fillies in the Maritimes.
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| ROSE VALLEY winning the Lady Slipper Stake in a record of 1:56 - Frankie L photo |
Rose Valley’s performance highlighted a gratifying season for the veteran Campbell, who recorded his first driving win 45 years ago with the classy Free-For-All veteran, J Scotch Hal, at the now-defunct Ocean View Park in Shediac.
The daughter
of Brandon’s Cowboy was a $5,500 purchase by Dawn and Ted Bremner at the 2011 Atlantic
Classic Yearling Sale in PEI.
Over
the previous 25 years, Rose Valley’s owners had enjoyed quite a bit of success
raising and racing many of their home-breds under the moniker “North Wind”; the
name coming from a famous turn-of-the-century horse from their hometown of
Gagetown, NB. However, on this
particular occasion Dawn and Ted Bremner chose to go a different route by
purchasing a yearling and they asked their long-time trainer to pick out
a horse he liked.
“I
have to give my brother, Jimmy, credit for helping select her,” Campbell said
from his barn at Fredericton Raceway where he has been stabled since 1974,
though he did spend a few years in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s in Moncton racing
at NB Downs. “He went around to some of
the breeding farms in PEI prior to the sale and saw her at Meridian and told me
to take a look at her. I had picked out four
or five horses at the sale but when I saw her I said, ‘This is the one I want.’
“I
knew Dawn and Ted liked fillies and I really liked her overall look so I bought
her.”
Rose
Valley was an easy filly to break and although she didn’t necessarily standout
in the early stages, it wasn’t long before Campbell began to sense that he
could have a decent filly on his hands.
“Once
she started to train a few miles I started to feel that she may be good enough
to race in the stake races,” Campbell recalled. “She loved her work. Sometimes fillies have a mind of their own
and don’t take to training as easy as a colt might, but she had a great
attitude.”
Early
on he realized that he had to make some adjustments to her jogging and training
routine which have also carried over into her racing career the past two years.
“She’s
a little bit flighty with high energy so it takes a little more work than it
would for some fillies to keep her at a certain level," he said. "She always got a little extra jogging but always
took to it well.”
Although
Rose Valley trained down good, she didn’t necessarily show more than any of the other good
horses Campbell had trained over the years. Rose Valley was a just a few weeks away from qualifying when he came in one
morning and she had injured her hind leg in the stall. It was bitter irony as he had been trying to
temper his enthusiasm as the stakes season approached.
“She
had gone some training miles better than 2:20 and her owners came in to watch
her one day,” he said. “I told them, ‘I
have a feeling that we got a really good filly’ but I remember thinking that I
didn’t want to say too much because there is nothing worse than overrating a horse
and getting your hopes up and then, all of a sudden, something happens and
you’re in for a big disappointment.”
Campbell’s
thoughts had been prophetic.
It was
almost two months and another minor setback later before she would be ready to
race and by then she had already missed a large part of the stakes season. After making a pair of starts in the maiden
classes during FREX, Rose Valley won in 2:03 on September 18, 2012 by 17
lengths.
It was
an indicator to Campbell that she was finally ready to make her presence felt. Even though it was getting late in the
season, he decided to take Rose Valley to Charlottetown to see how she would
handle the track in anticipation of a Lady Slipper Grassroots Stake at the end
of October. She ended up easily winning in
a lifetime best of 2:01.3 for new driver Ken Arsenault. Rose Valley carried that momentum into the Lady
Slipper three weeks later, winning in 2:03 after which Arsenault told him, ‘I
think we got an “A” filly for next year.’
“I
knew long before that,” Campbell laughed.
It
would be the final start of the season for Rose Valley and with three wins in
five starts and encouraging words from Arsenault, Campbell started to plan
ahead for her three-year-old season. It
was a group decision to keep Rose Valley at the track in Fredericton and part
of the strategy was to keep the high-energy filly from potentially hurting
herself if she had been turned out.
“I already
felt that she was the best filly I ever had and I have had some good ones over
the years,” he said rhyming off names like Vulga Wil and Misty Hill Mary. “In the day they were my heroes but I felt this
filly could be better than them.”
Rose
Valley resurfaced in May of this year and after winning an overnight race in
Fredericton, she promptly went to Truro and won her first Atlantic Sires Stakes event of the season for Arsenault, who would drive her in all but two of her stake
starts this season.
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| ROSE VALLEY winning the Atlantic Sires Stakes at Truro - Kyle Burton Photo |
Over the summer she went on to win divisions of the Bill Quigg Memorial in Fredericton (1:59.3), the Carl and Marg MacKenzie Memorial in Truro (1:57.2) and the Lady Slipper Gold Stakes in Charlottetown in that record-setting 1:56 mile and Summerside (1:57.3). She closed off the year by winning the Atlantic Breeders Crown consolation at Charlottetown in 1:56.4. (Click on the highlighted links to watch the race replays)
Winning
the consolation made up for the disappointment of losing out in the draw for
the $22,000 final. Rose Valley was one
of three horses who had tied for seventh with ten points earned in Atlantic
Sires Stakes events. With only the top
eight point-getters qualifying for the final, one of those three horses would
draw out of the final.
That
horse ended up being Rose Valley.
However,
Campbell takes some of the responsibility for not earning enough points. He said himself and the owners were very
deliberate when mapping out a racing schedule for Rose Valley’s sophomore
campaign. Even with only five Atlantic
Sires Stake events (the number cut short by the withdrawal of New Brunswick on
the eve of the season) they still chose not to go to North Sydney or Inverness which
more than likely cost them valued points needed to secure a place in the
championship final. After winning an
overnight event to start the season, Rose Valley only participated in specific
stake races close to home, sometimes going two or three weeks between
starts.
It was
a management strategy that was executed without exception.
“There
are only so many quality starts in a horse, no matter how good they are,”
Campbell said while making no apologies. “We picked our spots and took no chances with
her and she raced consistently all year.
We had a plan which we stuck to, though it did cost us an opportunity to
race in the final but we still won the consolation.
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| ROSE VALLEY winning the Atlantic Breeders Crown consolation - Frankie L photo |
“I believe a good horse is born and not made but I do think that you have to manage a good horse a certain way to keep them that way over a long season.”
Unlike
the previous year, Rose Valley was mostly injury free which helped maintain
that consistency through a long season.
If she had any issues at all, it was her random tendencies to make
breaks in the first turn that probably cost her some points and earnings as
well, though she did manage to come back and win two races in Truro and
Fredericton after doing just that.
It was
a bothersome issue Campbell dealt with throughout the year.
“That
was her only problem,” he said. “She can
leave fair but doesn’t have a lot of real gate speed and most times Kenny had
to be careful when he drove her. That is
probably why Ramblinglily beat her as many times as she did, though I felt that
we were the closest to beating her of any filly in the Maritimes.
"We had to adjust to her racing style because once you start ‘Rosie’ up there was no changing plans. She can get overanxious - that’s just the way she is.”
"We had to adjust to her racing style because once you start ‘Rosie’ up there was no changing plans. She can get overanxious - that’s just the way she is.”
There
was a three week gap in her schedule prior to Old Home Week in Charlottetown
and Campbell took the time to work on trying to correct the problem.
“I
didn’t want her making breaks so I made some minor adjustments, including her
shoeing, and trained a fast trip just to see how she would be. She ended up
going a mile in (1:)56 and a piece.”
The
long-term plans for Rose Valley sees her staying in the Maritimes next season,
at least in the beginning.
“We’re
still not certain about next year but we will pay her into the (Atlantic Aged)
Mares Series and see how things progress,” Campbell said looking ahead. “We are open to changing our plans and maybe
sending her to Ontario down the road.”
* *
* * *
Campbell’s
foray into harness racing came naturally, being the grandson of Walter
Hennessey and nephew of Joe Hennessey (father to Wally, Danny, John, Jody and
Gordon), both legendary Prince Edward Island horsemen, and the way he sees it, “I
was destined to be in the horses.”
He started out with a small stable on PEI in
the late 1960’s and brought them to Fredericton and Woodstock to race in 1969.
“I drove
a real good horse named J Scotch Hal and ended up winning the Earl Avery race
one night and I met Bob McCain who I later had horses for,” he said. “Wilmot Downs was underway about the same time
and a few people wanted me to come back and train a few horses. I thought it was a good opportunity to have a
better stable so I ended up moving here.
“At
the time I felt it might be easier getting started here than back at home.”
One of
the first horses he had was Warbucks Pick who developed into an Invitational
horse for owner Russell Embleton.
Warbucks Pick was to become a catalyst for an early change in career direction
for Campbell.
“I was
racing him in Saint John one day and I saw this fellow come through the paddock
door and it was Dr. (Lloyd) McKibbon from Ontario and he said to me, ‘That’s a nice
horse you have there but he has a problem doesn’t he?’ I told him he had bursitis in his shoulders
and he said, ‘I can help you with that.’
So he did and after that the horse just started winning.”
Warbucks
Pick became a force in Maritime racing. He
went on to earn over $10,000 that year (1970) and won 13 races - including the
B C Cruickshank - and was second to Firebolt in the Gold Cup and Saucer after
winning the Inaugural the week before.
He also won a heat of the Alexander Memorial, finishing second to
Senator George.
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| WARBUCKS PICK with Brian Embleton and Mike Campbell after winning the Gold Cup & Saucer Inaugural in July 1970 |
It was shortly after that when Campbell received a phone call from McKibbon who let him know that a friend of his had a stable of horses at Yonkers and if ‘you want them, they’re yours.’
“He
made an offer I couldn’t refuse and I moved to New York,” Campbell said.
Campbell
says that some of his greatest memories took place in the Empire State and
pointed to a picture of a young trotter named Bob Collins on the wall of his
tack room.
“I had some real good horses when I raced at Monticello and Bob Collins was a New York Sires Stakes winner in 1972 and aged trotter of the year in 1973," he said. "He won the Free-For-All at Freehold seven weeks in-a-row that year. He won a United States Harness Writers Award too. For his day he was as good as any horse there was."
“I had some real good horses when I raced at Monticello and Bob Collins was a New York Sires Stakes winner in 1972 and aged trotter of the year in 1973," he said. "He won the Free-For-All at Freehold seven weeks in-a-row that year. He won a United States Harness Writers Award too. For his day he was as good as any horse there was."
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| BOB COLLINS winning the New York Sires Stakes at Monticello in August 1972 |
After a few years racing the New York circuit, he and his wife, Joan, who has been by his side from almost the beginning of a nearly half-decade career, returned to Fredericton to start a family. “My Uncle Joe (Hennessey) though I was crazy to return home after all the success but I didn’t want to start a family in New York. When I came back I ended up with some great owners and I have always been fortunate that way,” he said.
Some
of the great owners Campbell refers to include names like Gerald Goodine and
his sons, Albert and Roy, Donald Stevenson, Bob McCain and Dr. Jed Sutherland, Ron Goguen, Ronald Roy and the Bremners, to
name but a few.
And as
long as there are owners who like to have good horses, Campbell believes there
can be another great horse which is why he felt that his harness racing career didn’t peak a
few years ago with Igoddago and won’t end now with Rose Valley.
“I
still think I’m going to get a better one than them before I’m done.”
* *
* * *
MIKE
CAMPBELL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
1ST career driving win – J Scotch Hal 2:11.1 at Ocean View Park in Shediac on May 25, 1968
1000th career driving win – Dusty Lane Diva 2:08.3 at Fredericton Raceway on September 6,
2006
1,107 career driving wins,
$1,024,329 career driving earnings
1st Invitational winning drive – Warbucks Pick 2:04.3 in Cruickshank Memorial in 1970
Winner of Gold Cup & Saucer Inaugural – Warbucks Pick 1-1 2:07.1-2:06.4 in 1970
Drove winner of first Dr. J.A. Williamson Memorial – Foolish Pleasure
$100,000+ horses developed
– Igoddago ($212,298), Pipe Major ($123,106), Tidy Point ($110,264), Knightime
Roger ($110,225)
Winningest horses developed – Tidy Point (73), Igoddago (62), Pipe Major (53), Knightime Roger
(48), North Wind Mac (47), Vulga WIl (45), Starson (41)
Sub-2:00 winners developed
– Igoddago (1:54h), Rose Valley (1:56h), Pipe Major (1:56.1f), Grabanabe
(1:57.4f), Certified (1:58.1), Igoddarocket (1:58.1h), North Wind Molly
(1:58.2), Knightime Roger (1:58.2f), Tidy Point (1:58.3f), Charlottetown
(1:59.1f), North Wind Mac (1:59.3h), W W (1:59.3h), Vulga
Wil (1:59.4f), North Wind Tilley (1:59.4)
Other notable horses – American
Captain, Bayside Pirate, Beyond Compare, C J Spudland, Counterfeit N, Crown Rd, Hortons
Blaze, Leading Writer, Marion Bridge, No Joke, North Wind Sandy, North Wind
Jamie, O Hare O, Peace On Earth, Priceless Eagle, Roanie Mine, Rust Remover, Shalom Yancy,
Simon Midwatch, Skipper Point
* *
* * *
ROSE VALLEY (Brandon’s Cowboy-Fox Valley Shadow)
p.2,2:01.3h;3,1:56h ($44,267)
Lifetime
record: 22-10-4-2
$5,500
yearling purchase at 2011 Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale
Owner: Dawn & Ted Bremner
Trainer: Mike Campbell
Career
Highlights
At 2, winner
Lady Slipper Grassroots Stake at Charlottetown
At 3,
winner Atlantic Sires Stakes & Carl & Marg MacKenzie Memorial at Truro;
two-time winner Lady Slipper Gold Stake at Charlottetown; winner Atlantic
Breeders Crown consolation at Charlottetown; second in elimination and final of
The Maritimer Stake; second in Atlantic Sires Stakes at Charlottetown; second
in Maritime Breeders Stake final at Charlottetown; third in Island Breeders
Stake at Charlottetown; third in Maritime Breeders Stake elimination at Truro
IGODDAGO (Drop Off-Sakra Posey)
p.3,1:56.2h;7,1:54h ($212,298)
Lifetime
record: 236-62-56-38
Homebred
Owner: Mike Campbell, Brian Lean, Ronald Roy
Trainer: Mike Campbell
Career
Highlights
At 2,
awarded top two-year-old colt at Fredericton Raceway
At 3,
winner $25,850 early closer at Montreal (1:56.4); Duck Acorn at Charlottetown
(1:56.2); awarded top three-year-old colt at Fredericton Raceway
At 4,
awarded top four-year-old at Fredericton Raceway
At 5,
winner Johnny Conroy at Truro (1:55); awarded Horse of-the-Year at Fredericton
Raceway
At 6,
winner Governor’s Plate at Summerside (1:55.3); winner Premiers Pace at Charlottetown (1:54.4); winner ABC final at Charlottetown
(1:56)
At 7,
winner at Charlottetown (1:54) – Maritime record; awarded Horse of-the-Year at
Fredericton Raceway
At 8,
winner at Charlottetown (1:54.4)
At 9,
winner of Wal Hennessey Memorial at Charlottetown (1:55.3); awarded Horse of-the-Year at Fredericton Raceway
At 11,
awarded Horse of-the-Year at Fredericton Raceway
Won 4
races in 1:55 or better, 9 races in 1:56 or better – second best Maritime-bred
of all time
Retired
August 2010
Fredericton
Raceway Hall of Fame 2009
TIDY POINT (Set Point-Tidy Lobell)
p.4,1:58.3f ($110,264)
Lifetime
record: 352-73-77-55
$3,000
yearling purchase at Octoberfest Yearling Sale in New Jersey
Owner: Roy Goodine
Trainer: Mike Campbell
Career
Highlights
At 3,
won 13 of 26 races
At 4,
winner Robie Kaizer Memorial at Truro; winner Abbeland-Pepsi early closer at
Moncton; second in Gold Cup & Saucer consolation at Charlottetown; third in
Walter Dale Memorial at Fredericton;
At 5,
second in Governor’s Plate at Summerside
At 6,
winner Pepsi Invitational at Sydney (1:59.1) new track record; winner Dieppe Classic
at Moncton
At 7,
winner leg of Alpine Autumn Gold Series at Saint John; second in Gold Cup &
Saucer consolation at Charlottetown; second in Alexander Memorial at Saint
John; second in Ferguson Memorial at Sydney
At 8,
Aged Pacing Horse of the Year at Saint John
Winningest
horse ever developed in Fredericton
Last
raced February 1995
WARBUCKS PICK (Gene Abbe-Enchanted Lady)
p.5,2:04.3h ($22,921)
1969
Record: 27-7-8-3-$3,651
1970
Record: 36-13-5-9-$10,219-2:04.3
1971
Record: 36-9-2-5-$4,452
Career
Highlights
1970 Cruickshank Memorial - Warbucks Pick 2-1 2:04.3 besting Victory Creed 1-5 2:05
1970 Alexander Memorial - Warbucks Pick 1-3 2:07 to Senator George 2-1 2:14
1970 Gold Cup Inaugural - Warbucks Pick 1-1 2:07 – 2:06.4
1970 Gold Cup & Saucer - Warbucks Pick 2-6 to Firebolt 1-2
2:03.4 & Jimbo Thomas 5-1 2:04.3
1970 Walter Dale Memorial - Warbucks Pick 4-3 to Firebolt 1-1 2:04.2-2:04.3
1971 Cruickshank Memorial - Warbucks Pick 5-8 to Victory Creed 1-2 2:05.3 & Andy’s Son 7-1 2:03.4
1971 Governor’s Plate - Warbucks Pick 5-8 to Gon’s Butler 1-1
1971 Walter Dale Memorial - Warbucks Pick 5-4 to Firebolt 1-2 2:04.4 & Victory Creed 2-1 2:05.1
J
SCOTCH HAL
(N D Hal-Franny Hanover)
p.5,2:04.2h ($39,820)
Career
Highlights
1961
Donnie Turner Memorial – J Scotch Hal 2:10
1965 Walter Dale Memorial - J
Scotch Hal 2-6 to Andy’s Son 1-1 2:06.3-2:06.3
1966 Alexander Memorial - J
Scotch Hal 7-4 to Andy’s Son 1-1
1966 Monctonian - J Scotch Hal
4-8 to Borderview Roy 1-2 2:05 & Andy’s Son 2-1 2:07.3
1966 Lobster Carnival Pace J Scotch Hal 7-5 to Andy’s Son 1-1
1967 Alexander Memorial - J
Scotch Hal 3-4 to Andy’s Son 1-1
1967 Monctonian - J Scotch Hal
5-6 to Amortizor Direct 1-1
* * * * *
Thanks to Patrick Eastwood for his statistical contribution to this blog
* * * * *
For more blogs on New Brunswick harness racing go to thefrederictonscene.blogspot.ca
* * * * *
Thanks to Patrick Eastwood for his statistical contribution to this blog
* * * * *
For more blogs on New Brunswick harness racing go to thefrederictonscene.blogspot.ca
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