from the Breeders Crown

Campbellville, ON — Racing against the boys is nothing new for Giant Diablo, the lone mare in the seven-horse $726,000 Breeders Crown Trot, the richest of the four events for racing’s elder performers on Saturday night (September 1) at Mohawk.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Giant Diablo (with her caretaker Malin Boman) will be looking to beat the boys on Saturday in the Breeders Crown Trot.

“She has been racing against the boys since she was a 4-year-old,” caretaker Malin Boman said on Monday afternoon as she took her 7-year-old charge out for a late morning walk around the Mohawk barn area. “She was actually the favorite to win the Swedish Derby as a 4-year-old when she raced against the boys and everyone was disappointed when she finished second in the final.”

CR Kay Suzie and Moni Maker are the only two mares to win the Trot. CR Kay Suzie won in 1996 and Moni Maker captured the title in 1998. The Mare Trot was merged with the Open Trot from 1996-2003 before the Mare Trot was reintroduced in 2004.

Boman said that Giant Diablo had little problem in adjusting to her Mohawk surroundings or any of her North American surroundings after the initial quarantine period.

“She really enjoyed Showplace Farm in New Jersey the best,” the Swedish caretaker said. “When we first get to a new location she can be a bit cautious until she gets comfortable with her surroundings. But she can be a real handful some of the time. Like the rest of us, as we get older we get set in our ways. She is no different; she likes to do things her way.”

Boman has spent five years with Giant Diablo, taking care of the mare since she was a 2-year-old.

“We have been all over the world together,” Boman said. “We raced in Germany, France, Italy, Norway and Sweden in Europe and now the United States at The Meadowlands, Montreal in Quebec and now here in Ontario at Mohawk. We are not going home anytime soon. We are staying here to race in the Maple Leaf Trot and then we will be going to Lexington.”

Boman, who has been in complete charge of the training and caring for Giant Diablo (trainer Roger Walmann has remained in Sweden and is not expected to be here for the race on Saturday), said the mare’s future after this year is unclear.

“I don’t think they have made the decision yet whether she is going to become a broodmare or race one more season,” Boman said. “They will probably make that decision when we get home later this year. But this has been an amazing adventure. I don’t know if I will ever have a horse like this again.”