Lochinvar name goes global

They already lay claim to one of the best-known monikers in Australasian harness racing, but enthusiastic Newcastle businessman Kevin Gordon and his wife Leonie are now taking the “Lochinvar” name to the northern hemisphere.

The couple paid $29,000 for superstar millionaire pacer Lochinvar Art as a yearling, but they had to go a fair bit higher last week to get a magnificent Sweet Lou colt knocked down to them at the 2021 Lexington Selected Sale in Kentucky, USA.

“We paid $150,000 for him, but he is beautifully bred, and he looks incredible,” Gordon said.

“We’re excited to have a horse race under the ‘Lochinvar’ brand in the States-it’s something we’ve always wanted to do,” he said.

Not surprisingly, the horse will be trained by former Sydneysiders, husband and wife team Lauren and Shane Tritton, who are now based in New York State, and who have had sensational success since relocating about 18 months ago.

“When they moved over to Pine Bush, we always said one day we’ll have one with you. Lauren helped us pick him out. She went down to the sales and looked at them and got it down to three,” Gordon said.

“There was quite a bit of interest in the colt, and we were lucky enough to get him.”

By Sweet Lou out of Uffizi Hanover (Well Said – Up Front Dragonfly) the youngster’s dam was a winner of three-quarters of a million (best time of 1.50) and his grand dam earned in excess of $500,000.

The stunning bay colt went under the hammer as “Medici”, but Gordon said there was no doubt he would race under another name.

“They are all pre-named before the sale, but buyers are allowed to rename them after they buy if they want to. We haven’t thought too much about it, but it will definitely include Lochinvar.”

Gordon said the Trittons’ move to the USA provided an ideal opportunity to take up race interests in North America.

“Lauren has been a friend for a long time. I’ve known her since she was a teenager because she was born and bred up here at Valentine, which is right near us in Warners Bay (in the Newcastle region). You could say we’re both Novacastrians!” Gordon said.

“Lauren actually got her first metropolitan winner driving one of my horses in Our Crown Law. I think he’d won five in a row at Tuesday meetings in Sydney and he was actually a real good horse.

“But he was a bit like that famous galloper Vo Rogue-he would be 20 lengths clear, then would get very tired over the final stages and just hang on!

“Lauren was still one or two drives away from getting her metro licence, but somehow my trainer at the time Darren Binskin and myself obtained special permission for her to drive and she made the most of it by winning.”

Kevin and Leonie Gordon have had huge success in both the harness racing and greyhound codes, with most of their horses and dogs carrying the Lochinvar name, but Gordon said they were excited at the prospect of having a pacer race in the US.

“We did pay a lot for the colt, but the stakemoney on offer over there is crazy. Over here we race mostly for $7000 whereas over in the States it’s more like three times that,” he said.

“The Trittons are one and a half hours from four tracks-one of these is Yonkers in New York City and they race six days a week with a minimum purse of $20,000.”