All Star effort for Barrieau
Published Thursday July 2nd, 2009
All's well that ends well for Gilles Barrieau - and for Mike Stevenson too.
Barrieau, the veteran harness driver from Saint John, won the first race of the day, the last one of the night, and three others in between on a double card of holiday harness racing at Fredericton Raceway on Wednesday.
He topped off a pretty good night at the track with a wire-to-wire victory in the 54th edition of the Walter Dale Memorial Pace, steering All Star Dragon to a 1:57 pacing of the mile.
Stevenson had a pair of winners on the nine-dash evening card - the most impressive of which came after a scary accident on the backstretch in which four-year-old gelding P H Catman collapsed after completing the quarter turn.
"He choked off," explained Stevenson. "There were horses in front of him and he had no place to go and he was a lot of horse. He was pulling and pulling and pulling (on the reins) and he just pulled so much that he wasn't getting any air. It was a lack of oxygen.
"He didn't get enough oxygen to keep him going. just got weak and he fell."
Horse, driver and bike all escaped intact and went back to the barns under their own power.
"The only thing that worried me was the horse just completely shut himself down," Stevenson said. "But when I got up over his head, I could see that he had colour in his eyes and his gums and he was breathing. So it was just a matter of him getting his wind back."
Stevenson was back on the track for the sixth race about 10 minutes later and back in the winner's circle 1:57 after that behind War Dancer.
He steered the three-year-old gelding to his eighth straight career win with part-owner Charlie Seymour of Fredericton looking on.
"I left with him and I kind of dropped to the rail and let everybody get situated up front," Stevenson said. "As soon as they lined up, I just came with him going to the quarter and he made his way to the front. And once he made his way to the front, he's a real tough horse to beat."
Indeed. The records confirm it. One-for-one last year and now seven-for-seven this season.
Stevenson obviously wasn't shaken, physically or mentally, by the mishap with P H Catman.
"It's just another day at the races," he shrugged. "It's like the proverbial old saying "¦ you fall off, you get right back on. You don't even think about it. It's just second nature. Whenever you and the horse both walk away, it's lucky."
Stevenson was glad to be able to deliver War Dancer to the winner's circle and keep his win streak alive, especially with Seymour in the stands to watch.
"After we won the seventh last week, I said "Not to be greedy or anything, but I'd like to see him win one more for Charlie at his hometown track. I don't think Charlie has owned a horse like him before. Charlie has been great for harness racing in New Brunswick.
"I can remember being here as a kid and he always had the same parking spot and he always sat over there every night there was a horse race. I said I'd like to see him win for Charlie."
If it was a good day for Seymour, it was an even better one for Barrieau, who brought R Es Andrew back to the winner's circle shortly after 1 p.m. after the first race of eight afternoon dashes, and finished up with the win behind All Star Dragon shortly after 9 p.m. It's a long day at the office, for anybody.
He went to the front with All Star Dragon and cruised to a comfortable win in the 54th Walter Dale, three lengths in front of second-place Melodys Cookie Boy, cutting the fractions in 28 seconds, 58 seconds at the half, 1:27 for three-quarters and 1:57 coming home. It was the fourth time Barrieau's won the Walter Dale, the most prestigious race on the Fredericton calendar.
"I enjoy winning races, whether it's a claimer or the Walter Dale "¦ it means a lot," Barrieau said.
"I didn't know how it was going to unfold," he said. "I was going to leave out and just take it from there. Things worked out. One horse made a break and I was home free. To be honest with you, I thought he was my best shot of the day."
He also won one of the Atlantic Sires Stakes A division colt races, steering Saulsbrook Quick to a 1:59.1 new lifetime mark.
"Today was tough," said Barrieau, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a year and a half ago. "A double card, and I wasn't really up for it. But it feels good. I got the day in and hopefully I'm on an upswing. It's been a real good day for me."
Stevenson's win with War Dancer was also an Atlantic Sires Stakes A Division race. Stars Xample also won the third Stakes race on the evening card for Terry Gallant in a new mark of 1:56.1.
Barrieau steered three winners on the afternoon card, including Run Them Down in the first of two Atlantic Sires Stakes races for fillies, in 1:58.1. He also brought home Life of Roddy in 1:58.3.
The other A division race for three-year-old fillies was won by R Es Mary for driver Andrew Smith in 1:59.3.
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