by Frank Salive, for Western Fair Raceway

London, ON — He’s had a flair for the dramatic when undergoing shoe changes and trotter Loose Change Louie will need to be on his best game again to help overcome London’s outside post seven in the C$18,400 Preferred on the Monday evening (November 12) card.

Last Monday, the career winner of $321,543 raced barefoot in behind as trainer and co-owner Mike Robblee ordered the rear steel shoes removed. He could only muster a seventh place finish but it brought back fond memories of March 2006.

Nineteen months ago, Robblee made the gutsy decision to remove the horse’s rear shoes at four minutes to post time. On March 6, 2006, he went out and won with a wide sweeping backstretch move to mow down the field.

“After we took off his shoes that night in 2006 our driver Ross Battin said he was good to go even though he’d warmed up and post paraded terribly,” Robblee recalls.

Fellow trainer and trotting specialist Dan Creighton praised Robblee at the time, saying the only comparable moves he’d heard of in the last 20 years were trainers Blair Burgess and Dr. John Hayes tinkering with equipment between heats before winning major stakes races.

“Last Monday removing his rear steel shoes to race him barefoot didn’t work out nearly as well. So for this Monday I’ve added what trainers call ‘spider pads’ to his shoes. He’s tricky to keep sound up front so that’s why we sometimes have to remove all grab from him in behind,” Robblee explained.

The Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Series graduate is a 6-year-old gelding by San Pellegrino out of Celtic Merizi, co-owned by George Cuthbert and Ron Thomson. Loose Change Louie has already won twice in Western Fair’s Fall Meet, including a top class tally on October 15.

The 5-2 morning line favorite in Monday evening’s top trot is Indiana Hall in post two, sent into London by trainer Rob Fellows for S S G Stables. Interestingly, at the time of entry driver Brad Forward was offered either Surfing Angus in post one or Indiana Hall, and he chose Surfing Angus.

The ‘Moreau Move’

An emerging pattern by trainer Richard Moreau is repeating at Western Fair on Monday evening in the C$18,400 Preferred Pace in the ninth race.

Moreau is sending 10-year-old gelding Wobbly Legs into London’s top class and he’s been assigned 5-2 morning line status on the strength of ten wins in 29 starts this year for the Dobe Stables.

Last week Moreau had veteran pacer Franco Catapult N in London for a front end score in the weekly top pacing class.

Of Ruhl and radio specials

Trainer Jim Ruhl has been featured in a special segment by Sports Director Fred Wallace on Owen Sound, Ontario radio station CFOS (AM 560).

Wallace devoted extra air time to the story of Ruhl winning with his first eight consecutive starters at Western Fair in the 2007 Fall Meet. Wallace put into context the fact that Ruhl amassed the rare win streak with three different horses and without the benefit of a well known or dominant horse in his stable. The report went on to salute the 46-year-old trainer’s accomplishment with the sports comparison that it would be almost unimaginable for a goalie to score eight straight shutouts, for a pitcher to amass eight straight no-hitters, for a NASCAR driver to win eight straight races, or for a pro golfer to win eight straight tournaments.

During the May through September period, Wallace often works as trackside interviewer and host during live programs at Hanover Raceway in the CFOS home market area in Ontario’s Grey-Bruce County region and his sportscasts frequently include news on harness racing.

In November, post time at Western Fair each Friday, Saturday and Monday is 7:35 p.m., and each Tuesday, post time is 4:05 p.m. From November 12 through November 21, Western Fair is holding a ‘Playing The Ponies’ contest with a wide range of prizes in association with one of Southern Ontario’s most popular classic rock stations, 103.9 FM The Hawk.