by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Just call Joe Therrien the unsung hero.

When Massachusetts trainer Mike Eaton and his partner, Bob McHugh, bought trotter Howe’s Magic at the Tattersalls Summer Mixed Sale in July for $3,000, he wasn’t in racing condition.

“He was pretty fast, but the problems were, he was bleeding and hitting his elbows,” said Eaton, who had the horse priced at $7,500 at the sale. “I gave him Lasix to get him healthier, and took him over to a blacksmith in Plainridge.”

The blacksmith happened to be Therrien, who fitted the 3-year-old trotter with aluminum shoes.

The result has been six wins in six starts and $35,700 in purse money. Prior to his purchase, Howe’s Magic won one of 14 races this year.

Tom Berg photo

Howe’s Magic has won six straight races since being purchased in July.

“I give the blacksmith most of the credit,” Eaton said. “The guy had experience with horses like that. I told him what the issues were, he said ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve seen this before and I know how to handle it.’”

He handled it all right.

Howe’s Magic qualified the following week in 1:57.2 at Plainridge, went to Saratoga and won, and has been winning conditioned races at Yonkers ever since with Brian Sears primarily doing the driving.

“He talked to that blacksmith, because the horse didn’t show much,” McHugh said. “It was a turnaround story overnight. He won his qualifier at Plainridge and hasn’t lost since we bought him. And he’s a really nice horse to be around; he’s well behaved.

“I wouldn’t say it’s like a dream come true, but it’s like hitting the lottery. I’m not going to say we’ll win a million dollars, but for me as an owner for 30 years, this is like hitting the lottery. It’s just fun to be involved with.”

A gelding by Deweycheatumnhowe and the first foal out of the Ontario-raced mare Feels Like Magic, Howe’s Magic is stabled just down the street from the George Ducharme-trained Hambletonian winner, Royalty For Life, in Plainville, Mass.

“He’s been winning and he’s getting used to it,” Eaton said. “He used to be a front-end horse; he wanted to roll. You could always tell his whole attitude is he wanted to race.”

And while Eaton gives Therrien a lot of credit, McHugh said, “Mike has done an amazing job with him.”

The two have been going 50-50 on purchasing horses since 2011, just after McHugh retired from his government job.

“I always owned horses and I still had one; I asked Mike to work with him,” McHugh said. “I wanted to get more involved, and he’s an easy guy to work with. He’s a hard worker; he’s willing to try different things.

“He’s patient, he asks for advice. He’s smart enough to ask suggestions on what should be done. He’s smart enough to know his limits and his ability. His family is very involved in the sport, his son Mark is an amateur driver, and I just sort of tag along and learn a little more about the sport every day.”

McHugh isn’t making any grand predictions for Howe’s Magic, who will be moved out of his class (non-winners of four or $40,000) with a victory at Yonkers next week.

“Being in the Northeast, we hope to race him at Yonkers or the Meadowlands,” McHugh said. “He’s good, but we don’t know how good he’s going to be. All I know is there’s a lot of ups and downs in this business, and right now, I’m just savoring the ups.”