He's yet to win the Mohawk Million but Brad Grant has certainly had the Midas touch in the race for two-year-old trotters.
Grant, one of Woodbine's most prominent harness owners, has made a deal for his slot the last two years to the eventual race champion. So it's not surprising Grant committed $100,000 for one of the nine available spots in the '22 Mohawk Million, which goes Sept. 24 at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
But the trucking magnate from Milton, Ont., was emphatic his involvement in the Mohawk Million has always been with idea of fielding his own race contender.
"I've had a bit of luck the last couple of years but every time I buy a slot it's with the full intention that it's going to be one of my own trotters that gets there," Grant said during a telephone interview Monday. "It hasn't worked out that way but the other option was to do what we did and we've been lucky.
"It's a long way off but I do have some very nice trotters and my trainers are very pleased with them so again, keeping my fingers crossed that I get one of my own there and hopefully I don't have to go through the process of picking the winner."
Should Grant choose to keep this year's slot, he might want to consider reserving it for a horse with the letter V starting its name. After all, Venerate captured the inaugural race before filly Venerable topped the 10-horse field last year.
"If that's the case I'll have to maybe change the name of a couple of mine," Grant said with a chuckle. "Hopefully I can break that spell."
The connections of Venerate raced in 2020 in the slot that was previously owned by Grant, Toronto real estate businessman Marvin Katz and partners. Venerable got into last year's event after the connections made a deal with Grant to use his slot.
Nine spots in the race are available for purchase at $100,000 each. The 10th and final slot will go to the winner of the William Wellwood Memorial on Aug. 27.
Slot owners can keep their spots for their own horses or opt to sell/trade/lease them.
Grant-owned horses earned 30 wins at Woodbine Mohawk Park last season and more than $700,000 in earnings. Grant and Montreal-based Determination Stables both have slots in the Mohawk Million for a third straight year.
"I believe in what (Woodbine Entertainment) is doing and I think others believe the same thing," Grant said. "Obviously, the Mohawk Million is a race you want to be a part of and win and that's really the reason we do look at buying into it."
Like all facets of life in Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly affected the horse-racing industry, with shutdowns in both the thoroughbred and harness-racing circles. And that, Grant said, has dramatically impacted many horse people.
"Listen, as an owner it has been tough but it's been a heck of a lot tougher for the people that look after these horses and the trainers," Grant said. "As an owner, it's not my livelihood … but for those who look after these horses, the caretakers and people like that, it's a big, big part of their lives and when racing was shut down, it affected them more than it did me as an owner.
"I think Woodbine has done the best job you could possibly ask … I think their due diligence was second to none and they did everything they could to ensure everybody was in a comfortable and safe environment."
With Ontario's government loosening COVID-19 protocols, Grant is hopeful 2022 will mark a return to some state of normalcy for horse racing. And with Woodbine Mohawk Park hosting the US$6.7-million Breeders Crown on Oct. 28-29, it's an opportunity for standardbred racing in the province to end the season on a positive note.
"It would be nice to finally be able to give it the full shot that it deserves," Grant said. "It's great at the end of the year to have the best two-year-old, three-year-old and aged horses racing in one spot and it's great to showcase what they (Woodbine) do up here.
"There's nothing like trying to win it in your backyard."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2022.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
