by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — During his first few years of life, it didn’t appear 7-year-old pacer Well To Do Guru would ever collect more than $450,000 in purse money and pace more than 100 miles.

“He was born right here at Brush Creek Farm,” said Terry Leonard, who resides in Harvard, Illinois, and has conditioned the gelding throughout his career. “We raced his dam (Guru’s Girl) for the Gormans (the horse’s owners) and she wasn’t a special mare at all; just a good racehorse. They got this colt from her, well he’s not a colt anymore, and he was a frail little guy as a young horse. He’s still not a big, strong horse, but he’s the kind of horse people dream about having, especially for small owners like the Gormans. They have been in the business for decades and it’s been a dream come true to have a horse like this come along.”

A son of Richess Hanover and Guru’s Girl, Well To Do Guru has banked exactly $453,708 and has a record of 114-27-27-20 while competing mainly in the Prairie State. The gelding set his lifetime mark of 1:49.3 last year at age 6 and has earned more than $100,000 in each of his last three seasons of racing for owner James and breeder Marilyn Gorman of Schaumburg, Illinois. This year has been his best yet, as Well To Do Guru, who is piloted by Leonard’s son Casey, has put away more than $120,000 from 17 starts and possesses an 8-2-3 record.

He is the only foal from the five his dam has dropped of racing age to break the $100,000 barrier, although the Gormans now have a weanling filly named Déjà vu Guru that is a full sister to this horse.

Balmoral Park photo

Well To Do Guru would go over the $500,000 mark in career purses with a win in Saturday’s Tony Maurello Pace.

Well To Do Guru’s next engagement is the $120,000 Tony Maurello Pace which is carded as the 12th race on Saturday (September 17) at Balmoral Park. The gelding will leave from post two and is 5-2 on the morning line.

Leonard feels the reason the star of his stable has enjoyed such a successful career isn’t because of his speed, which he definitely owns, but because of his mind.

“He’s very even-tempered and he’s very content to just be on the farm, which I see as being so helpful to him,” he explained. “Last year we sent him down to Indianapolis because things were so terribly bleak here, and he wasn’t the same horse at all. He didn’t eat good and as a matter of fact, when I jogged him one day he was trying to run away on the racetrack. He would also just stand in his stall and kick. He was just a mess and he didn’t race well down there at all. He had never been away from the farm before, so I think he was like a farm boy that didn’t like the big city. A lot of us farm boys are that way.”

Another advantage Well To Do Guru was able to enjoy was how patient his connections have been with him throughout his career.

“As you can see, he’s pretty lightly raced and that’s a tribute to my son and the Gormans because they work so well together,” Leonard, who has earned more than $2 million as a both a reinsman and trainer, said. “The Gormans have never pressured us to race him. If we felt he was a bit off and needed time between races they were wonderful and completely understood. They have been totally great people to work with.

“Another thing is we have a pool here on the farm and he spends a lot of time swimming,” he continued. “I think that’s helped the longevity of his career.”

Leonard thinks Well To Do Guru’s best racing scenario is to come from off the pace, but this year he has been getting the job done by cutting the mile.

”Because he isn’t a real stout horse, racing from behind has suited him much better, but this year so many of our good horses in Illinois have gone East,” he said. “My son and I were just talking about this yesterday, that now he is going to the gate and he’s 9-5, where the last few years he would be 5-1. It is hard to put him on the front end, but when you are the favorite, you can kind of dictate what you are going to do more so than if you are the second, third or fourth favorite.

“We’ve also been fortunate this past year to race with short fields of five or six horses,” Leonard continued. “In the past, there were always fields of eight or nine at Maywood and ten at Balmoral. This year, even if you draw the outside, you might be five or six instead of 10. It’s a hell of a difference.”

His connections aren’t exactly sure what the rest of the year holds in store for Well To Do Guru, but ultimately the horse will tell them in which direction to proceed.

“We have always played it relatively by ear,” Leonard said. “I know that is a cliché, but if he stays sound we will probably race him right up until the weather starts to turn. All I do know is it’s been so rewarding to see people like the Gormans who have stayed in the business, especially here in Illinois through these tough times, to have a horse like this. He really is wonderful for all of us.”

Below is the field for the $120,000 Tony Maurello, part of the Illinois Super Night program on Saturday.

$120,000 Tony Maurello Pace
PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-ML
1-Thisbigdogwilfight-Dale Hiteman-James Eaton-12-1
2-Well To Do Guru-Casey Leonard-Terry Leonard-5-2
3-Southern Sport-Michael Oosting-Rob Harmon-6-1
4-Omaha Survivor-Eric Carlson-Tom Harmer-15-1
5-Drive ’em Cowboy-Kyle Wilfong-Danny Dubeansky-15-1
6-Doubletrouble-Brian Carpenter-Donna Lee Ozment-9-2
7-Power Of A Moment-Marcus Miller-Erv Miller-7-2
8-Lets Getit Started-Brandon Simpson-Nick Giberson-10-1
9-Glass Pack-Matt Kakaley-Jason Robinson-8-1
10-Big Daddy Woo Woo-Ridge Warren-Nick Prather-8-1

To read preview stories of all of the Illinois Super Night races, click here.