(Canadian Sportsman file photo of Larry Ainsworth working with an unknown horse in the 1990s)
Longtime owner and trainer Larry Ainsworth of Petrolia, ON wouldn’t go quite as far as to say a horse changed his life, per se, but one horse certainly gave him the perspective as to what to do when a good one comes along.
In May of 1977, Ainsworth’s Adios Pick mare Senga Connie delivered an Alley Fighter colt that came to be named Beau Jim. Two years later, the pacer was in the midst of a rookie year in which he won eight of 16 starts and just shy of $50,000 when Ainsworth received a call offering to buy the colt.
“Somebody offered me quite a bit of money for him,” Ainsworth said. “I checked with my wife and she thought we should sell him and I said, ‘Which would you sooner watch? Would you rather look at a picture of that cheque on top of your TV or would you rather look at some Ontario Sires Stakes trophies?’ She said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘We’re going to live the same way whether Beau Jim lives or dies or whether we sell him.’ So, we kept him and all he did was make a lot of trophies.”
As well as a lot of money. Beau Jim raced eight years and earned $233,653 with a record of 33-25-21 in 162 starts. He retired with a mark of 1:57 taken in 1982 at age five on Windsor Raceway’s five-eighths mile oval.
Beau Jim also set Ainsworth and his son, trainer Jim Ainsworth, on the path to a successful Ontario Sires Stakes career, which, indeed, proved to be more lucrative than a one-time sale.
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