October 10, 2024
By Ontario Sires Stakes Communications
Being naturally talented can take you very far, but can it take you all the way to a championship?
That’s a question we’re going to find the answer to during Saturday’s $300,000 Gold Super Final for two-year-old trotting colts.
A quick look at the leaderboard in that division will show Galen Erso (Green Manalishi S) leading by 25 points, but that really doesn’t tell you the story of how the rookie trotting colts have played out this season as the horse in second place, You Got It Kemp (Muscle Mass), has been every bit as good, just doing so in a different way.
You Got It Kemp has started just five races this year, but has earned four victories, all in OSS Gold action, including the $150,000 Gold Mid-Season Final. His only loss was second in the only other race he participated that wasn’t part of the Ontario Sires Stakes in his debut back on July 16.
By comparison, Galen Erso has had six starts this season and has amassed a 3-2-1 record, including a 3-2-0 record in five OSS Gold starts, a strong showing, just not as eye-popping as what You Got It Kemp has done, who is particularly green and doesn’t like leading the way Galen Erso goes about his business.
“We don’t train him a lot,” said Dan Lagace, You Got It Kemp’s trainer. “He’s barely ever trained. Since the first time he’s qualified he’s trained maybe twice and he’s only had five starts. …
“It’s all natural talent. Even if he’s out two weeks or sometimes two-and-a-half weeks and we’ll put a qualifier in – and that’s why we qualify him, because we don’t train him that much and he needs the experience – we’ll just jog him about 35 or 40 minutes a day on the sand track and that’s it.
“The thing about him is he just knows how to do it. He just knows how to get to the wire.”
You Got It Kemp’s natural abilities have allowed him to win a fair amount this season, but he still has lots of learning to do.
“He was very, very green when I first sat behind him. He really didn’t know what to do, but he’s progressed a lot and the more he races, the better he is,” said You Got It Kemp driver Sylvain Fillion. “But he’s still the type of horse that needs a target. Last time, when I went to the front with him, he was trying to pull up. So, he’s not ready to race on the front end yet.”
This is an issue that Lagace, who also partially owns You Got It Kemp with his son and daughter Brady and Brooke in Cambridge, Ont., and Suojalampi Stable Inc. (Delray Beach, Fla.), is aware of, but it hasn’t mattered because racing two- or three-over seems to do him just fine.
“He has a natural turn of speed, like he can just move fast when it doesn’t feel like it,” Lagace said of You Got It Kemp.
Added Fillion: “As soon as he hits the top of the stretch he’s willing to go through the wire and all that. No problem there. It’s just down the back-side he tries to pull up a bit.”
Suojalampi stable also bred the colt with Kemppi Stables Oy Inc. of Delray Beach, Fla.
Purchased for a mere $12,000 during the 2023 Harrisburg November sale, You Got It Kemp’s natural ability has been nurtured by Brady Lagace, who has done a ton of work caring for him.
“My son, Brady, I have to give him all the credit for [You Got It Kemp’s success],” said Lagace. “So I’m glad he owns a piece of him. I don’t think that horse would be anywhere near as good as he is without Brady. Brady does a phenomenal job on him – he spends hours a day on him.
“It’s easy for me [to take credit] because my name is down, but Brady’s name should be down. He does all the work for him and I’m just somebody that’s there with him.”
There’s no denying the natural talent You Got It Kemp has shown this season, but a big aspect of talent is making things look easy when, in actuality, blood, sweat and tears have been poured in. That appears to be the case for the people behind You Got It Kemp, who will be looking to score another big win in his young racing career Saturday.
FEATURED PHOTO: You Got It Kemp winning an OSS Gold Series race for two-year-old trotting colts on Sept. 30, 2024 at Woodbine Mohawk Park (Clive Cohen/New Image Media)
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