Lochinvar Art arrives in U.S.A.

Superstar Down Under pacer Lochinvar Art (Modern Art), whose racetrack brilliance is etched in the minds of Australasian harness racing fans, has arrived at the Team Tritton stables in the U.S. in tip-top condition after an 18-hour flight.

“He’s come through it really well. We’ve given him a few days to get over it, but he’s bright and went straight to his feed bin,” new trainer Shane Tritton said.

“The flight included a leg from Sydney to Anchorage, Alaska, and from there a shorter one to Chicago. Usually, it can be a seven to 10-day trip, but it was a bit different that it could happen over just two days,” Tritton said.

“He had all his vaccinations and we made sure we got some fluids into him. There’s no rush so he will have a break and then we’ll go from there.”

Lochinvar Art had a minor bleed and was stood down from racing for 28 days after the Gammalite Free-For-All at Melton last month, and owner Newcastle businessman Kevin Gordon elected to send him to North America where the rules allow horses to race on an anti-bleeding agent.

Tritton, an expat Aussie, and his reinswoman wife Lauren have swept all before them since moving to Pine Bush, 15 minutes from Goshen, in March 2020 and are thrilled to be given the opportunity to prepare Lochinvar Art.

“It’s an exciting time because we’ve always had a lot of respect for the horse. And we know a fair bit about him after racing against him when we were back home in Sydney,” Tritton said.

“He will be right up there if we are able to get him back to somewhere near his best. It’s probably been 12 months since he was at his top, but he will go straight onto Lasix which will be a huge help.

“Bit Of A Legend won 20 of 50 and then dad (Peter) got him over here. He treated the horse with Lasix and it blossomed and won about $2 million.”

Lochinvar Art joins a growing list of southern hemisphere stars being sent abroad later in their careers, lured by the comparably huge purses on offer in North America.

“You only have to look at what Let It Ride did and also Amazing Dream,” Tritton said.

“Lazarus created a huge impression and hopefully Lochinvar Art will be alongside him as the best from Down Under to come here. Lazarus was sort of on a hit and run mission for a season.”

Tritton said the main aim would be to get “Arty” through the first three months health-wise as he only needed to be at his top around March.

“The one thing I’ve learnt is to concentrate on keeping them healthy. You don’t have to kill them with work over here—just bring them up slowly with a little less work and they’re a lot happier,” he said.

“We are very excited because the mile races at Yonkers should suit Lochinvar Art nicely. They race five times a week and there will be suitable $A70,000 events for him so he can certainly generate some stakemoney.”

Tritton said while his season had been good, it was more of a building season.

“We’ve moved some of the older ones on. Two new additions, which we really like, are a South Australian-owned pacer in Belladona Girl (He’s Watching) and a mare from New Zealand in Mabalene (American Ideal),” he said.

“Belladona Girl is owned by the Cormack family in Adelaide and I think she may have beaten Amazing Dream on one occasion. We like her a lot.

“We are racing a horse called Nandolo (Betterthancheddar) at the moment and while it hasn’t won any grand circuit events, it’s earnt nearly $A300,000. So people Down Under are starting to understand that they really don’t need to sell their horses to the U.S, just retain them and send them over.”

Nandolo will have its next start in a $US250,000 race at Yonkers.

“We are proud to be trying to give Lochinvar Art a chance. It came out of the blue, with Kevin reaching out to us, but we’re stoked to try and help out.”

Kevin Gordon had a long association with Lauren Tritton and now has a Sweet Lou two-year-old in Lochinvar Dundee (which cost $A150,000) with Team Tritton.

Gordon said his decision to send Lochinvar Art to the U.S. was reached after he considered what was best for the horse.

“If he stayed out here we’d have to space his runs and he couldn’t go in the big features because you’ve got to race back-to-back,” Gordon said at the time.

“I’ve known Lauren for a long time.  She grew up in Newcastle not far from where I live, and her first metropolitan Menangle winner was on a horse I owned in Our Crown Law.”

Lochinvar Art has had a career 56 starts for 28 wins; 16 seconds and six thirds for earnings of $A1,405,516.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink