Driver Alfie Carroll can remember the exact moment his career changed for the better.
In late-November of 2013, Carroll’s name suddenly appeared on the Nov. 29 entry sheet for The Raceway at The Western Fair District to drive a horse named The Big Bite for top trainer Vic Puddy.
Carroll said he immediately knew it was a fantastic opportunity, even though The Big Bite had drawn post seven on the half-mile track in a $10,000 claimer. It was the first time he drove for Puddy. Carroll won easily with the son of Shark Gesture—Ivys Wine that night and has a vivid memory of heading back to the paddock with The Big Bite’s caretaker riding on the side of the bike.
“On the way back from the winner’s circle she was talking to (Puddy) on the phone and Vic said, ‘Tell Alfie thanks.’ And I said, ‘Tell Vic I said thanks.’ She did and then said, ‘Alfie’s got a big smile on his face.’ And that’s how it got rolling with Vic,” Carroll said. “Then I started winning a lot of races for Vic. Then other people started using me. It just snowballed from there. I was lucky I had success with him right off the hop and that’s what helped to get me going.”
In 2015, Carroll won Canada’s dash crown with 408 victories after finishing third in the national race in 2014. The 30-year-old who lives in Iona Station, ON about 30 minutes southwest of Western Fair, also was named that track’s driver of the year for the second straight year.
“The key to me being successful is really just having good trainers like Vic Puddy and Richard Moreau and Bob McIntosh and all the other guys. There’s a bunch of other guys, too, but those are the big three that I drove for. Without them, I never could have won as many races,” Carroll said.
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