After spreading out his ownership interest in mostly American-sired horses in 2019, Steve Heimbecker made a conscious decision to reverse that investment strategy at the 2020 yearling sales in hopes that he can help do his part to strengthen the Standardbred racing and breeding program in Ontario.
Heimbecker, whose bread and butter is providing money through mortgage lender Nestig Inc., made a splash at the yearling sales this fall although it's not necessarily evident at first glance of the sales results. The longtime racing fan and owner, who's tasted success with horses the likes of Courtly Choice, purchased three of the four highest priced yearlings from the 2020 London Virtual Yearling Sale.
At the London Virtual Yearling Sale, Heimbecker collared sale toppers Goldrush Seelster and Shanghai Seelster from the first session as well as second session headliner Addison Seelster.
"I want to support Ontario big time, and I think there are a lot of challenges going on," Heimbecker told Trot Insider "We’ve got a sire in Bettors Delight for an example that people are able to step up into some Grand Circuit stuff; he’s a proven sire. ...I think there is so much good opportunity in Ontario that I’m doubling down in Ontario. In London I got aggressive with a few of the Ontario sires and we continued that into Harrisburg."
A handful of trainers will be handling the training duties for those Heimbecker hopefuls, from proven stakes winning conditioners the likes of Gregg McNair and Blake MacIntosh to up and coming trainers such as Aaron Byron and Amanda Fine.
"I’ve got some history with Gregg, he’s obviously a great horseman [and] when you get Gregg you get Doug McNair, and I like Doug McNair so it was just a good fit.
"And Amanda’s newer — her dad Marty’s been around for a while. I actually introduced myself to her last year when I was at Classy Lane watching some of my other horses go and train down. She seemed like a young lady who was looking at getting involved. And sometimes they just need an opportunity, so we let her do some shopping at the London sale and she got a couple she really liked. Hopefully we get some luck."
With close to 20 Ontario-sired yearlings heading into the 2021 season, Heimbecker admitted his change in focus to the local product is a virtual 180-degree shift from where he was this time last year.
"I wanted to put more in our own backyard; I wanted to get some with the Ontario trainers, kind of spread it around a little bit and really focus on the program. I just think Ontario’s a great program. I’m actually going to make a conscious effort to get involved a little bit more in this business from that perspective. I think we really have to nurture what we have and make sure it stays good, because even the Grassroots program is a great program. The Gold program is an awesome program, and if you’re fortunate enough where you’ve got one that steps up, there’s potential for Grand Circuit. And guess what: some of the biggest Grand Circuit races, races like the Metro and North America Cup, they’re both in our own backyard."
Strengthening the local product is important to Heimbecker, who recognizes that while Ontario-sired horses compete successfully on the Grand Circuit the numbers when compared to a jurisdiction like Pennsylvania are still relatively small.
"There’s lots of Americans that buy the Canadian horses because it’s a great program. On the other foot we buy the U.S. horses because traditionally the stronger breeding is usually in the U.S.," said Heimbecker. "If you’re buying a Grand Circuit horse on the pacing side, you’re probably looking at Pennsylvania. That’s just the way it is.
"What I would like to see is it kind of teeter off and we get more representation in the Grand Circuit with the Ontario stuff. I think to that point we need to get some better sires. We’ve got to pick up the breeding — I don’t know if quality’s the right word because I think we’ve got great breeding in Ontario. Adding a few new sires or the right sire in Ontario I think could do a lot for the racing here and make it sustainable."
Upgrading the local broodmare stock also factors into that potential, and Heimbecker did his part by securing the most sought-after pacing-bred yearling filly to sell in 2020.
"My favourite horse in the Lexington Sale was Lightnier. I don’t know who I got into a bidding contest with. When the smoke cleared I was swallowing pretty hard, but I ended up paying I think it was $375,000 for this filly," said Heimbecker of the sister to millionaire Medusa and O'Brien Award winner Alicorn. "I own her myself, but here’s the thing: my thinking behind that is that now I’ve got potential for a broodmare, whether she races or not.
"What’s stopping me from breeding her to something in Ontario, making sure the cross is right and everything else. Why wouldn’t I do that? Instead of handing it over to the Hanovers of the world, and I like Hanover. Hanover’s great — they’ve got an absolutely top-shelf operation. But I’m starting to think maybe some of these are going to be saved for some breeding potential. I have an interest in Lady Lou as well -- she’s a Sweet Lou. She’s a top performer, she’s maybe one or two steps behind the best in North America right but it was a really tough group of three-year-old fillies. But she might get the nod in the breeding shed too."
Thinking ahead, both of those fillies could easily find themselves in the court of a stallion with the pedigree of Bettors Delight but Heimbecker would like to see more Grand Circuit-lock options for those mares in Ontario.
"I’d like to just take the quality we have now and just have it so that there’s two or three sires similar to what they have in the U.S. that can be home runs. Right now I think we’re fairly limited to Bettors Delight but it doesn’t mean there won’t be one that just surprises or shocks or comes out of the woodwork. It’s just there’s better chances when you’ve got better broodmares and then you’ve got more legitimate sires.
"I don’t know what the next step is but I am going to try and get involved in this because I think this is important."
The harness racing industry isn't immune to the realities of the global pandemic, and it's an understatement to say that there were a number of notable differences in terms of the schedule and travel restrictions that the sport faced in 2020. Despite the announcements of multiple vaccines over the past month, there are no assurances that the 2021 racing season will look drastically different than what transpired in 2020.
"With COVID you just have to make sure the horsepeople are still able to work, people are still getting horses; we’re still supporting the people in our own backyard, I think that’s really important. I know that there’s been a lot of challenges for a lot of these trainers -- because I’m talking to them -- about looking at yearlings and even getting across the border and providing them with letters so they can leave and come back.
"It’s going to be a big challenge but I don’t think this is isolated. I think this thing’s going to be around for awhile and for safety reasons and precautions, we’re going to want to stay here if we can. If I can’t travel to the U.S. to watch my horses race ....I would love to hit the grand slam on one of these things, but if you can’t go watch them, I’m still a fan of horse racing. And if it’s going to be problematic for me to cross the border or to even get across the border to watch my horses race in these big events, it’s kind of frustrating. I usually don’t go -- I’m very superstitious, but at least I had the option of going. Now I don’t have the option."
Given all the challenges the industry faced once the pandemic hit, Heimbecker was quick to credit industry executives for the job they did to get harness racing back and operational.
"I think Jim Lawson and the whole crew [at Woodbine Entertainment] did an amazing job, they really did. Just to get things started up and to create some buzz around some of the events. I thought the Mohawk Million -- I was part of the purchase with Brad Grant on the [slot] we sold to Julie Miller -- and we were just elated to see her win. We were hoping to use it ourselves, but it didn’t quite work out that way. I bought a few trotters that hopefully can get involved with that event next year. Honestly, [with] protecting the investment, the owners can’t complain about that because most of the big races that needed to happen happened. Of course they had to juggle some dates, that’s just what you’ve got to do. But at the end of the day, I thought it was a very successful 2020.
"They had challenges not only from political fronts but they also had a lot of pressure from the backstretch. All the people that work there, people at the tracks, grooms, everyone. Everyone was under a lot of stress, and there was a lot of doubt and concern. To get it going when they did -- I thought they got it done in fairly short order."
What's not going to happen in short order, unfortunately, is the electric big-race atmosphere on nights like the North America Cup or Gold Cup & Saucer that we all took for granted. Heimbecker definitely misses that part of the racing experience.
"This is probably what I miss the most in the horse racing business: seeing the people, shaking the hands, little hugs, whatever your deal is...we’re not getting to do that right now and I hope that doesn’t become commonplace. Hopefully we can kick this COVID thing to the curb and then everybody’s back to shaking hands and that sort of thing.
"I have a feeling that this is going to leave a little stain, and that stain’s going to be that people are still going to be a little more introverted and less sociable...Once we get the green light to go I think that’s going to be the real emphasis. And unfortunately that’s always been the big challenge -- getting the younger crowd out, getting the right people to the track. And I don’t mean going to the casino, I mean watching the races, families, groups of people... there’s always been a struggle to market to that genre. I think that’s going to be a big challenge.
"You have to make that a destination above and beyond the thrill of horse racing. At the end of the day you might see people will crave interaction and maybe racing can capitalize on that," continued Heimbecker. "If we get the green light and everything’s back to normal, I’ll make some calls and put up some of my own chips and I’ll contribute to a great opening night or something. I think it would be great if people started commuting again and hanging out, but it will be awhile; it won’t be overnight."