Hildebrandt reflects on Silk Lace Final winner

The Silk Lace Stake is the premier harness racing event in Manitoba for three-year-old Manitoba-bred fillies. This year’s winner, Ak Black Badger (Andreoli Hanover), was bred by Kevin Hildebrandt and Aurel Vodon. Hildebrandt co-owns the horse with his mother, Aline. Hildebrandt has been training horses since 2012, and he can add this big win to his resume.

Ak Black Badger might not have the prettiest stats, but she did do enough when it mattered most. Her performance in the Silk Lace Final was the best in her career. She paced the mile in a strong 2:02, beating out five tough fillies. However, Hildebrandt was unsurprised and thought his filly had a great chance heading into the finals.

“She is faster than AK Nite Lady, but she also needs a good trip, too,” said Hildebrant. “I knew she would get a good trip from her post position, and luckily, Michel Rey knew the game plan. It was best to let Ak Nite Lady cut the mile and see what happens at the end.”

Ak Black Badger had a quiet rookie campaign in 2022, as her best finishes were a pair of thirds to start her career. She made four starts during her two-year-old year, and she never was able to find the winner’s circle. The start of her sophomore year was a different story. She kicked off 2023 and the Miami Fair meet with back-to-back second-place finishes. She finally broke her maiden at the third start of the year and her seventh lifetime. She posted a solid 2:04.2 mile on the half-mile oval in southern Manitoba.

However, once the meet moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the recently opened Ak Black Badger’s performance, it fell off a tad. She earned a cheque in all but two in her next eight starts. However, she could not find herself back in the winner’s circle during that time. She kept floating around but never could fully break through in her class.

“We were battling many issues with her this summer,” Hildebrandt stated. “She started well in Miami, but then she started to have a bunch of issues that we were finally able to resolve. It was good timing because everything cleared up before the second and final leg. Now, she seems to be a completely different horse.”

Her best mile time record was 2:01.3 in a second-place effort in leg two of the Silk Lace Stakes, just one week before the finals. She lost out to her stablemate, Ak Nite Lady, who was one of the favourites heading into the final. Ak Nite Lady had the early lead in the finals, and it came down to a late stretch drive that Ak Black Badger got the better of.

SILK LACE FINAL REPLAY

“It was a good feeling because we had big hopes for both of them at the beginning of the summer,” Hildebrandt said proudly. “For them to finish one-two in the finals was great.”

Since the racing season ended at the Loop, Hildebrandt moved his stable westward to Century Mile. Although his horses will now match up against stiffer competition, Hildebrandt believes his sophomore fillies will fit fine on the larger oval.

“I think both of them will like the big track because they are pretty big horses,” Hildebrandt chuckled. “The half-mile tracks aren’t the easiest on horses their size. Ak Black Badger should fit in perfectly here (Century Mile), and Ak Nite Lady is such a nice filly. She is pretty handy and can do anything you need from her.”

So far, Ak Nite Lady has had a better time in Alberta as she has earned a cheque in her first three starts and even finished as high as second place in her debut in Edmonton. The Silk Lace winner, Ak Black Badger, has had a tough start to her time, but no one should ever count her out as she proved she could win at any time regardless of how her race lines looked.

Hildenbrandt himself has had one of his best years as a trainer. Although the wins were hard to find, he still managed to post a new career high for yearly earnings. He currently sits at $63,889 in profits, a solid number for a trainer who spends most of his time in Manitoba. He only has seven wins to his credit so far, but he has accumulated 49 top-three finishes. With just 107 starts, that is still an impressive 45.7% top-three finish rate.

“It was good. We didn’t win a lot, but we were in the money a lot, which is still good,” said Hildebrandt. “We just kept plugging away, and we’re just hoping it keeps going that way.”

Ak Black Badger and the rest of Hildebrandt’s stable will continue racing in Alberta and will continue to showcase the racing talent that has come from Manitoba.

by Trey Colbeck, for Harnesslink