Ayr Corleon has made a name for himself in harness racing abroad and will now look to achieve the same in North America.
Ayr Corleon, a 5-year-old male pacer bred in Great Britain and owned by Irishman Robert Barry, was a three-time Group 1 winner at age 3, including a Breeders Crown, and a British Harness Racing Club prizewinner. Overall, the son of BHRC Hall of Fame stallion Hasty Hall out of the Western Ideal mare Sold Out achieved 10 wins, three seconds and a third in 19 races in Great Britain and Ireland.
At the end of last autumn, Ayr Corleon landed in the USA and in trainer Per Engblom's stable. He won a qualifying race at The Meadowlands on December 21 in 1:56.1 and made his North American debut two weeks ago at The Gigantic M, where he finished a close second in 1:52.2. He returns to action on Saturday at The Meadowlands, where he is the 9-5 morning favorite at a conditioned pace of $15,500. He will start from eighth place with Jason Bartlett in the sulky.
“He qualified well and ran a really good race the first time,” said Engblom. “He drove in (1:52) in his first start and I hope he takes another step forward after that. It was a really good mile.”
Engblom, who finished second among trainers in North America last year in wins (357) and third in prize money ($7.35 million), was contacted via Facebook to see if he would be interested in coaching Ayr Corleon .
“He won a lot of races and the people I spoke to said he was a nice horse,” Engblom said of the gelding, who was bred by Ryan O’Neil of the respected Ayr Standardbreds in Scotland. “We trained him for about a month before we started toning him and he responded well. Of course he has to get to know our track types and our racing style, but so far he has adapted very well.
“He has a lot of strength and endurance. He lacked a little speed, but I think that worked out very well with our training and the faster kilometers he did. He has a bit of a mind of his own, but he's super nice to be around. He is very pleasant.”
Engblom will spend time with Ayr Corleon to give him the opportunity to start his career in the USA.
“Plan A was to get him to the races and see how he develops and adapts to our style of racing,” said Engblom, who has set a career high for the purse in 2024. “I think we're filling those shoes pretty well, but we'll see.
“It feels like The Meadowlands is a really good place for him at the moment because it teaches him a bit of speed. Then we'll see later where we can take him and compete against him. At the moment I'm really looking forward to competing against him in The Meadowlands. He is a gigantic, mighty horse. Because of his size and his gait, I don’t think there’s a better place out here in the East than The Meadowlands to grow a horse.”
The race begins at 6:20 p.m. (EST) at The Meadowlands. Free Gigantic M programs can be found at Track website.
from Ken Weingartnerfor the USTA
