By Abe Winter
(Special to the Weyburn Review)
Robert Landry didn’t need much time to realize Weyburn was a special horse — even though he finished out of the money at first.
“Weyburn had shown signs of having some ability very early in his training, once he started working you could see he had a lot of natural talent,” said Landry, general manager of racing operations for Chiefswood Stables in Schomberg, Ontario. “He had trained well up to his first race and the result was disappointing, but that does happen a lot with first time starters.
“The first race seemed to pick his head up, the addition of blinkers also got him more forward.”
Since his debut, Weyburn placed second and then won his next two races, including the Gotham Stakes, which pocketed $165,000 for owners Robert Krembil, who is from Grenfell, and his son Mark Krembil. They are owners of Chiefswood Stables.
Trainer James Jerkens said Weyburn “has come out of the (Gotham) race well,” Landry said. “If all is well with Weyburn, the logical spot to run next is the Wood Memorial.”
That would be April 3, also at Aqueduct, where the three-year-old notched his two victories in raising the earnings to more than $227,000.
More races are being considered. “We will also nominate him to other races around the same time — Bluegrass, etc.,” Landry said.
Weyburn earned 50 points for taking first on March 8, which are more than enough to get into the Kentucky Derby, which is a possibility.
“His last race was a big step up, but I did not think he should have been as high of odds (46-1) as he was,” Landry said. “I did nominate him to the American Triple Crown, and his next race will give us a lot more answers, as he has never run around two turns.
“That being said, I do not think distance will be a problem for him,” he said.
So, the GM was asked, what do you foresee from Weyburn?
“I think he has a good future in front of him,” Landry said. “He is a beautiful horse with a lot of upside and I would have loved to be able to ride him, but we will leave that to the younger guys.”
