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Equipment change for Art Colony in Crown final

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November 26, 2008

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Almost two months ago, trainer Casie Coleman was predicting that Art Colony might be the horse that could take British businessman Tom Hill to a �big dance,� and her prediction has proven true as the colt earned a spot in the $700,000 Breeders Crown for 2-Year-Old Colt Pacers.

Despite being saddled with post 10, Art Colony, driven by Tim Tetrick, is rated the 4-1 second choice in the final, carded as the seventh race.

The Artsplace colt now has four wins and two seconds in six starts, earning $202,490. He closed to finish second by a nose to Captain Sir in their Breeders Crown elim last Friday.

�I�ll be making an equipment change for [the final],� said Art Colony's trainer, Casie Coleman, after the Crown elims. �He�s been wearing a blind bridle with a Murphy outside. He didn�t see the winner coming. I thought that was the case in his last race [the Governor�s Cup] and should have made the change after that race but I will now. I�ll go to blinkers with slits and cut a hole in the Murphy Blind so he can see a horse coming up on him."

This is the first Breeders Crown starter for Hill, 56, who is from Lancashire. He owns and operates trailer parks in the United Kingdom.

�I believe he has 25 parks right now, and he also owns one park here near Flamboro [in Canada] that he bought about a year ago,� Coleman explained. �My mom and dad actually live there now and love it. It�s a modular home park.

�He deserves to have some nice horses,� said Coleman, who also has an entrant in the $610,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Pace, A And G�sconfusion, for the A&G Stables of the Bronx, NY. �He spent over a million dollars last year and this year he spent almost another million on six yearlings.

�Art Colony cost $157,000,� she recalled. �I really fell in love with him but that was more than I was expecting to spend for him. But Tom wouldn�t stop bidding! This is his first Breeders Crown horse, and he is likely to come in for the final.�

Despite coming from a country where cricket pitches and rugby fields outnumber harness tracks, Hill has leaped into the North American standardbred game with enthusiasm. He has become Coleman�s primary benefactor for buying stakes quality yearlings.

�I met Tom by fluke,� she recalled. �I was at the Canadian Open Yearling Sale three or four years ago. I was just sitting there, and he came up and asked me if I had a business card and if I would train for him one day. He�s been with me since, and if I can have some luck for him, I�m sure he will be a huge asset to the stable for years to come.

�He doesn�t like claimers or aged race horses but he is willing to spend the dollars to try to get a top notch horse to race and, hopefully, win the big dances,� added Coleman.

Hill travels to North America every few months and has attended the sales with Coleman, who splits her stable between Ontario and New Jersey. Art Colony is one of six two-year-olds Hill has entrusted to Coleman.

(Meadowlands)

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