A much-needed big night for Teesha Symes

Harness racing trainer Teesha Symes already had her first career triple locked up as she came down Queen Elizabeth Way from Buffalo Raceway last Saturday (Apr. 8).

But Insanity (Muscle Mass) made it even sweeter as he rocketed up the rail to win the ninth race at Flamboro Downs to give her a perfect four-for-four night.

“It was just relief,” Symes said. “All the hard work paying off. It’s them rewarding you for all the rubs and all the hard work and early mornings.”

The evening of triumph brought catharsis to a trainer who has worked through a tough start to the season. She and her partner, Beau Brown, have worked hard together to prepare the 11-strong stable for success but have faced injuries – one broken sesamoid, one broken P1 bone, one popped abscess – and poor luck. Come Out And Play (Dali), one part of Symes’s grand slam, drew outside three times to begin the season. A perfect night, which Symes called “one I’ll never forget,” was an important high to contrast with a string of lows.

Come Out And Play was her first winner of the night. The seven-year-old mare tipped three wide turning for home under the command of Brown and motored past the pacesetting Big Diamond for her first win of the year in 1:57.3.

Symes said it was a marked improvement in racing luck for a project horse.

“She’s been a project, we got her as a project,” Symes said. “She was at Richard (Moreau)’s and did really well during the summer, but then they got to leaving really hard with her, and she just got mad. She’s a very finicky horse – she wears a snake cord and a choke plate – and so Beau has done a hell of a job taking her off the car, letting her relax, and racing her from behind.

“So that’s what we’ve been doing, but she’s been drawing so freaking bad that she’s been coming off the gate and sitting last. Every week, she’s three-, four-, five-high at the end of it, whereas on Saturday there was a short field and she did end up getting away fifth, which was a lot closer. So that was a little bit easier on her. But yeah, she’s been a project. She’s what we call a psychopath.”

COME OUT AND PLAY REPLAY

Symes missed the race while warming up Casimir Richie P (Astronomical) at Buffalo Raceway but caught the next victory as she stripped the horse down when Brown and Theory Seelster (State Treasurer) went wire-to-wire in 1:58.1.

Casimir Richie P did his job with a front-stepping victory at Buffalo – a drive of an hour-and-a-half from Symes’s home base – to the delight of the trainer. Symes then put him away, loaded him on the trailer home, and cheered home Insanity as she traveled home to secure the quadruple.

INSANITY REPLAY

Symes said it was an important evening to savour, given the previous difficulties of the season. Brown had been responsible for the work in Flamboro for the night while Symes took care of Casimir Richie P, who won his second straight at Buffalo after making his first visit there on Apr. 1. She said her and Brown make a good team.  Though a small difference is that Symes “brings the barn home with her” while Brown can leave it behind, they combine for a strong operation.

Symes is now 10-for-45 this year, a win rate of 22.2 per cent. Casimir Richie P has been one of the stable stars with four wins from nine outings and $20,040 in earnings so far. Insanity and Theory Seelster have each made two visits to the winner’s circle. Truckem (All Bets Off), a Symes homebred, recently returned to her care after racing until now in the Maritimes. He is yet to win for the trainer but goes again tonight (Apr. 13) at Flamboro. Another member of the fleet, Shes Truckin Now (All Bets Off), will join the fray soon after qualifying on Saturday. True That (All Bets Off) is also set to go this evening, looking to break her maiden in the Ontario-sired Spring Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Symes said she’s excited to see her barn full steam ahead as the season goes on.

“I can’t wait for these two- and three-year-olds to get rolling and get qualified, and the nice weather – I’m super excited,” she said.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink