When Neil Husbands is asked about the horse that changed his life it doesn’t take long to answer since that special equine was recently a big winner at Ajax Downs.
“Country Boy 123, my first stakes winner,” said Husbands, 29, in a recent chat with Ontario racing. “I have been on a lot of good horses but had never ridden a stakes winner. He’s my best horse and I am excited to ride him.”
Husbands rode Thoroughbreds for the first six years of his career as a jockey and joined the Quarter Horse jockey colony at Ajax this year. After seven cards of racing, Husbands is right at the top of the leaderboard with six wins. Two of those victories came on the horse he considers the best equine to happen to him so far.
Neil Husbands had not ridden a horse in three months when he returned to Ontario this spring from Alberta to gallop some horses for Ajax Downs’ power couple of Christine and Joe Tavares. On his first day of work with the family, he got on 18 equine students and was immediately signed on by the Tavares’ to work for them.
Born in Barbados, Husbands came to Canada at age 3 has been riding horses for as long as he can remember. Of course, most racing fans know Neil’s uncles, Patrick and Simon, both top rides, and the youngster discovered a love for Quarter Horse racing while competing at Northlands Park in Edmonton.
“It’s a different sport [than Thoroughbred racing],” said Husbands. “You let the horse take you out of the gate as they leave more with their hind end. Everything is a split second faster; it’s an adrenaline rush that keeps me going.”
Husbands met the white-faced, chocolate coloured Country Boy 123 on a training day at Ajax when trainer Bryn Robertson wanted the rider to get the 3-year-old a test spin,
“I broke him out of the gate and I was wowed by him,” said Husbands “It was the fastest I had ever broken out of the gate in my life.”
Owned by Dr. Ruth Barbour, Country Boy 123 and Husbands won a trial for the AQHA Ajax Challenge maiden stakes on May 22 and then romped in the $25,296 final three weeks later.
“I knew right out of the gate we would be in the top three. He finished so hard. He’s my best horse.”
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