“I have been blessed with some good horses in a short amount of time, but I'd have to say the horse that changed my life is Kara's Orientation. My second year training, I came into Woodbine with no horses. My owners had money to claim, to replace the horses we didn’t have from my previous year. But, I had two stalls to fill and didn't know with whom. The second horse I claimed was for $20,000, Kara's Orientation. The day I claimed him, he didn't come out of the gate so well and spotted the field 20 lengths and ran second – we just got beat. The stewards put up an inquiry to see if he received a fair start. If he didn't, the claim would have been void. Luckily for us, it worked out.
Four races after having Kara, we were flying out to Edmonton for the Canadian Derby. The horse was now owned by a new group, who had enough faith in me to claim a horse. I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was incredible. Each owner flew out to be part of the race. We were installed as the second favourite, and in it with a live chance. That day in the paddock, I couldn't believe how a horse could bring so many people together as a team, as a family. I watched five adults with a grin on their faces as if they were children on Christmas Day. We ended up second in the race and it was one of my biggest thrills to date.
One of my fondest memories of Kara's Orientation was going to visit him one day at Steve Owens’ farm when a newlywed couple stopped and asked if they could take some wedding pictures with the horses. They chose Kara. I remember watching them take pictures with the horse and remembering how he brought so much joy to us as a racehorse and now being retired, waiting to go to stud, he was bringing so much pleasure to others on their most special day!
When I think about Kara, I wish he only knew how much he did for me as a person, as a trainer, and how much closer he brought my family together. He is an amazing animal in more ways than one and I'm now so happy that he will be a stud. I hope one of his babies can bring as much joy to them as Kara did to me.”
By Steven Chircop, for OHR
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