by Greg Gangle, WEG Communications

Toronto, ON — There was no reading between the lines when it came to Chapter Seven and his place among the top sophomore trotters last season on the Grand Circuit.

The bay posted a sophomore record of 5-2-0 from 10 starts with $720,392 in earnings and proved he could come up with a big effort in the big events.

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Chapter Seven was a 1:53 winner in the Breeders Crown.

His top performance came when it counted the most, specifically in the $610,000 Breeders Crown at Woodbine. The son of Windsong’s Legacy came from off the pace to score a convincing seven length victory in 1:53 for reinsman Jeff Gregory, who picked up the catch-drive for trainer Linda Toscano.

“He’s trained down to 2:18 right now and he’s coming into form,” Toscano said. “He’s a sounder horse this year. He’s also taller and filled out quite a bit. He had a tough year last year, so he’s going to start this year out a lot easier.

“He had pneumonia for the better part of the year, so we had to deal with that as well as some soundness problems. Since we had to look after both those issues, it was hard to keep him tight for race day. It wasn’t until the Canadian Trotting Classic night and Lexington that he came around. Finally, he was 100 percent ready on Breeders Crown night and it showed.”

The conditioner is looking for Chapter Seven to make his return in June.

“We’re aiming him for a June start, but so far, so good,” said Toscano. “We paid him into everything we could. We decided as a group to give him all the time he needed to come back. We’re hoping to see him race in the Maple Leaf Trot, but we won’t rush him back.”

Toscano is also taking into consideration the tough transition from three to four.

“It’s never easy going against older horses,” she said. “The 4-year-old year is a really tough year because it’s a transitional year for any horse. When you look at the list of top older trotters like San Pail, Lucky Jim, and others, they perform at the top level each and every week going tough miles. The good thing about Chapter Seven is that he finished up really well. He’s not a one-dimensional horse.”

In his early lessons, Chapter Seven proved he was certainly no fluke.

As a freshman, he recorded a 7-0-1 record from eight starts, including a world record-equaling performance of 1:57.2 on a half-mile track at Freehold Raceway in the $100,000 New Jersey Sires Stakes championship. Other victories included the Matron Stakes, Matron Preview, Harold Dancer and two legs of the New Jersey Sire Stakes.

Richard Gutnick, Jerry Silva, Southwind Farm and Gary Cocco own Chapter Seven, who has banked $931,941 in his career with a 1:52.4 lifetime best taken at The Red Mile.