by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — Since Machapelo was not at all energetic preparing for his racing career, Linda Toscano, the colt’s conditioner, could not provide his connections with a firm opinion as to whether they should open their wallets to stake him or simply bide their time, but after his first start everyone associated with him began to think he could quite possibly be a very talented individual.

“We always ask Linda when a horse is training down if she thinks that horse is special and nine out of 10 times Linda will say no,” said Gordon Banks, the colt’s co-owner and breeder. “When it came to this horse, she didn’t say no, but she didn’t say yes either. She actually said she couldn’t give us a reason to put him in the big races and I asked if there was any reason not to and she said no.

“He didn’t show anything special that would make you think he would be a $500,000 winner when he was in training,” he continued. “He was a lazy horse but in his first race, which was an overnight at Mohawk rather than the Grassroots in Canada, he had the 10 post, got away last and came home in :54 and change. He was running over other horses and was monstrous. That’s when we realized he could be a pretty good horse.”

A son of Mach Three and the unraced Camluck mare Capelo Rose, Machapelo is a grandson of the New Zealand champion Tupelo Rose N, who Banks and his cousin Marc Hanover imported to this continent after two championship seasons as a freshman and sophomore.

Iron Horse Photo

Machapelo reached the winner’s circle for the first time in the $315,000 Battle of Waterloo Final last August.

Machapelo broke his maiden after four prior trips to the post in the $315,000 Battle of Waterloo Final at Grand River Raceway on August 1, 2011, at odds of 26-1. A month later he finished second in the $102,000 Metro Pace Consolation at Mohawk, then captured a $150,506 Champlain Stakes division, also at Mohawk, annexed a $164,900 Ontario Sire Stake Gold Final at Grand River Raceway and closed out his season with an eighth in his $25,000 Breeders Crown elimination and a second in the $294,000 Ontario Sire Stakes Super Final at Woodbine.

Machapelo kicked off 2012 with a third in a $15,000 non-winners contest at Harrah’s Philadelphia on May 11 and followed that performance with another third in his $24,500 elimination for the Upper Canada Cup at Georgian Downs on May 19.

To date, the colt has earned $513,974, boasts a career line of 16-3-5-4 and possesses a lifetime mark of 1:51.3s.

His next engagement is the C$600,000 Upper Canada Cup Final on Saturday (May 26) at Georgian Downs. He has drawn post seven in the field of nine and will be driven by Jack Moiseyev.

“He has matured this year and knows what he is supposed to do now,” said Banks, who also owned Maltese Artist and Breeders Crown victress Molly Can Do It. “He’s more business-like.

“According to Linda, who has trained him other than when he was in Canada with Mike Keeling, he’s the easiest horse in the world to be around,” he continued. “Mike confirmed this too. He’s just a sweet horse that can race any way you want him to. He’s won on the front and he’s won from behind.”

After Machapelo competes this coming Saturday, he will be prepared for an ambitious 2012 campaign.

“He’s staked to everything except the Somebeachsomewhere and the North America Cup,” Banks explained. “He’s in the Breeders Crown and every major race in Canada. We decided to skip those two, because he has the final this weekend for C$600,000 and then the Canadian Sire Stakes start in about five weeks, so he will be primed for that. He has a full run through with the Simcoe, the Breeders Crown, all the sire stakes, the Confederation Cup and I think he might even be in the Matron, too. You do have to take it one week at a time, but if he’s good enough and healthy enough, he will have a long season.”