| Oct. 22, 2004. 01:00 AM
When the field of eight comes around the bend and hits the homestretch tomorrow night, hooves pounding and hearts hammering, their anxious owners will be watching from the sidelines, hope quivering in their bellies. Among them, an NFL receiver, a former member of the Connecticut state legislature, a CEO of a national retail chain, a New Jersey real estate developer, venerated horse breeders from both sides of the border — and two old friends from Cobourg, watching the race of their lives. Gordon Irwin, a retired millwright and part-time farmer, and Murray Ross, a retired dairy farmer, are taking on the bluebloods of trotting and pacing with a small brown filly bred on Ross' own farm. Their horse, Invitro, is competing in the 3-Year-Old Filly Pace, one of eight championship races in the $5.6 million Breeders Crown at Woodbine racetrack. Standardbred racing, long known as the sport of the people, has been shifting upscale into a realm that thoroughbred business has inhabited for years — that of money. Paul MacDonell, Invitro's regular driver this season, says there isn't much room left for little guys like Irwin and Ross, who co-own just a handful of promising horses. "There's so much bigger money involved in the sport now MacDonell said. "The people who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at breeders sales usually show up at these races." People such as New York Jets receiver Wayne Chrebet, who owns Apple Krisp, one of the fillies competing against Invitro, and New Jersey developer Frank Baldachino, co-owner of L Dees Val. For Irwin and Ross, having a local, homebred filly in the $762,500 Crown final is the culmination of decades at the racetrack. "It's a lifetime dream to be here," said Irwin. "We've waited almost 35 years for this. This year is beyond anything we could have hoped for."The dream first took form three years ago when Irwin saw an embryo glistening under the veterinarian's microscope. "It looked like a round satin contact lens," he said. It was Invitro. Irwin and Ross had bred their mare, Keystone Trinidad, to Camluck, a top standardbred stallion who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2003, by in vitro fertilization. A surrogate mare carried the embryo while Keystone Trinidad continued to race. Invitro was born on the Ross dairy farm in April, 2001. Irwin broke the strong-willed yearling himself. During the summer he got her used to the harness on the dairy farm and took the filly to Florida for the winter where he got her in the bike. "She has a mind of her own. She's the toughest break I've had up to this time," said Irwin. "She still has that determination and that grit in her and that makes her a good race horse." Irwin's wife of 42 years, Pat, says her husband used to come home black and blue from being dragged back to the barn by a spooked Invitro. "She's feisty. But Gord never lays a hand on her, he doesn't want her to become a sulky mare. He knew right when he broke her on the farm that she was fast, that she was smart." While still training Invitro in Florida, Irwin called his partner and told Ross, "She's the best we've ever had." He's never spoken truer words. Back home at Kawartha Downs, the 2-year-old Invitro won her first race. "She sat dead last for much of the race and she was well back by 20 lengths," recalled Irwin. "But then she lapped the field and won the race with open lengths." For her racing season as a 3-year-old, Irwin and Ross asked MacDonell, who has more than 3,000 wins and career earnings of more than $50 million, to take the seat behind Invitro. The partnership has brought 11 wins in 16 starts and $686,831 in winnings. Over the last three years, Irwin has continued to look after every aspect of Invitro's training and care. Pat says Irwin's family calls the filly Princess "because she gets more attention than anyone else." Irwin has been giving his attention to horses ever since his father bought a racehorse 40 years ago. Beginning as a groom with his dad, Irwin soon got his training and driver's licence. Although he worked full-time as a millwright with General Motors, he spent his evenings with the horses and at the track. "Every night after coming home from work I spent almost seven hours working in the barn," he said. "It was my hobby, but it was demanding. It took a lot of time away from the family." At 66, Irwin is long, lean and bounding with energy. After retiring from General Motors, Irwin sold his farm, got out of the horse business and lived on the edge of a golf course. Ten years later he returned; the romance of the racetrack beckoned. The 60-year-old Ross retired from dairy farming last year. This week he and his wife Pat went on their first non-business holiday — ever — to visit their son in Ukraine. Ross will fly back home late tonight to watch Invitro race. Even though Irwin and Ross are the little guys racing a little horse, the diminutive filly has a big spirit and a strong chance to beat overwhelming 3 to 5 American favourite Rainbow Blue. Invitro is rated at 5-1. "Invitro's very small compared to her competitors," said Irwin. "But what she loses in body size, she makes up in heart size. She's got tremendous heart and she loves to race." When race day dawns, Irwin will be wearing his lucky kit, old blue coveralls and a faded green ball cap. "I won't take them off until she's had a bad race," laughed Irwin. "And she hasn't had a bad race yet. |