by Greg Gangle, WEG Communications

Toronto, ON — When Nowucit Nowudont entered the Per Henriksen barn earlier this year, it was nothing new for the O’Brien Award winning conditioner.

Nowucit Nowudont, a son of Kadabra, earned $17,950 as a rookie with a 1:57.1 speed badge, but coming into this season the gelding wasn’t performing as expected and as a result he was off to Henriksen’s barn.

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Nowucit Nowudont enters the Autumn Stakes final with eight wins in 19 career starts and earnings of $56,768.

“He had a decent 2-year-old season and I believed the owner (Patricia Stable) had certain expectations for him this season, but he was making breaks. Often times when horses have issues like that, they’re sent to me and he was no different.”

It didn’t take long for Henriksen to find the recipe for success.

While in the conditioner’s care, Nowucit Nowudont crafted a 6-0-1 record from nine starts this season and $38,818 in earnings.

Nowucit Nowudont could be in store for the biggest payday of his career when he goes postward in the C$60,000 Autumn Stakes final on Monday night (Dec. 3) at Woodbine.

This past Monday, Scott Zeron guided the eight-time winner to victory in 1:55.3.

“Scott raced him absolutely terrific in his elimination,” Henriksen said. “He’s not the easiest horse to sit behind, but Scott was calm with him and drove him accordingly.”

With the end of the year quickly approaching, Henriksen believes Nowucit Nowudont’s best days are still ahead of him.

“He’s certainly going to make a much better 4-year-old,” the Norwood resident said. “He’s got the speed, he can take some air and he’s got talent. He’s also fairly lightly raced and that all sets up well for next year.

“We are going to continue to race him throughout the winter months. I believe within time, he’s going to be able to race against some very good horses.”

This division of the Autumn Stakes is for Ontario-sired 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters, who were non-winners of C$50,000 lifetime or non-winners of C$30,000 in 2012 as of midnight, Oct. 31.

The field will line up as follows: 1. Six Bax, 2. Jetcrest, 3. Tyrone Showstopper, 4. Nowucit Nowudont, 5. Noble Warrawee, 6. Legal Herb, 7. Duke Of Vegas, 8. Ima Magician Too, 9. Woodruff, 10. Windsong Ingenius.

St Lads Zoom Zoom scratched from Autumn final

St Lads Zoom Zoom, who cruised in his Autumn Stakes elimination in 1:52.4, has been scratched in the C$60,000 final on Saturday (Dec. 1) at Woodbine.

The son of Apaches Fame suffered an injury during his elimination victory and has been sidelined indefinitely according to co-owner and breeder Bob Ladouceur, who received confirmation earlier this week.

“He broke his navicular bone,” Ladouceur said. “It must have happened during the race. Maybe going into the first turn because a horse made a break in front of him, which made him go wide. He wasn’t right when he got on the trailer that night and was even worse the following morning.”

The sophomore gelding has won eight of nine starts this season and has $62,055 in the bank for trainer Greg Horn along with co-owner Diane Stephenson.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Ladouceur continued. “He raced tremendous in his elimination and we expected another fine performance in the final. We will take the necessary steps to get him back 100 percent.”

With the scratch, P L Fighter will move into the race and begin from post five.

This division of the Autumn is for Ontario-sired sophomore colt and gelding pacers, who were non-winners of C$50,000 lifetime or non-winners of C$30,000 in 2012 as of midnight, Oct. 31.

The field will line up as follows: 1. Mississippi Hippy, 2. Bandicoot, 3. Pass The Deuce, 4. Autumn Gottem, 5. P L Fighter, 6. P L Faststrike, 7. True To Mach, 8. Curious Phoenix, 9. Winbak Carl, 10. Fire Up The Mach.