Tim Gordon flying high with Cal Expo success

Being an owner of a harness racing horse can be a bumpy rollercoaster ride with extreme ups and devastating lows. Owner Tim Gordon is experiencing one of those extreme highs as of late with the success coming from his horses. Gordon swept both stake races last Sunday evening (Jan. 22) at Cal Expo and the recent success he and his business partners have had are setting 2023 to be another good year.

Gordon’s first major win of the year came when HF Flower (Ameripan Gigolo) won the Jack Williams stakes. The four-year-old mare paced the mile in 1:57.2 in the winning effort and won by a full six lengths margin on the rest of the field. This was only her 8th lifetime win and it puts her over $46,000 in lifetime earnings. Gordon knew that the talent was to be competitive but when ask if he was surprised about her performance this is what he had to say.

“She kind of an interesting one” Gordon said. “We claimed her last year and she’s for sure had ups and downs. We took her to Miami Fair and that is where she got her first start for us. You never really know what you have sometimes when racing at a fair track, but Trevor (Williams) has been always high on her. I wasn’t overly surprised by her performance on Sunday because of the times she’s put up before, but I was a bit surprised based on her form at Cal Expo leading up to the stakes race.”

Gordon’s next big victory game was when Flying Officer (Riverboat King) won the Horowitz final by only a head and gave the fans some late-race theatrics. The seven-year-old pacer earned his 14th win and is no stranger to the track with 107-lifetime starts. The Alberta-bred pacer has had difficulties finding his form as of late. He only made it to the winner’s circle once and earned $15,685 in 2022 but Flying Officer has already matched his last year’s totals in just one start.

“Some pretty good horses made it through to that final,” Gordon said. “He only won one race for me last year and it was in Lacombe at Track on 2. I feel like he runs better on the mile so the expectation is the Cal Expo would be a good fit for him. I was surprised he went off as one of the favourites in that race but it worked out. He isn’t that flashy, but he can get it done.”

The success on last Sunday’s card did not end with the two stake wins for Gordon. Two of his other horses, Lisplaced (Lis Mara) and Mystic Dragon (Mystician) finished second place in both of their respective races. Lisplaced is in his 11th year of racing and has made over 250 appearances on the track. He won his first start of 2023 and followed that up with the previously mentioned second-place finish. Mystic Dragon’s second-place finish was his first start of the new year. The six-year-old gelding has only made 52-lifetime starts but will be looking to build on success as of late.

His father was a standardbred breeder and introduced a young Gordon to the sport. Gordon has been a thoroughbred owner for a while and now is deep into owning standardbreds. Gordon has partnered with Trevor Williams over the last year and things have been clicking for everyone involved. The two meet through a mutual party and things have continued to work out.

Gordon’s horses will remain in Sacramento and continue to race at Cal Expo for the remainder of the meet. After the conclusion of the Cal Expo meets, the plan is to move north to Running Aces in Minnesota and hopefully back to Manitoba for the opening of the Loop.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink