That sound of a racehorse whooshing past his rivals with great, late speed at huge odds could have been RICH STRIKE winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) last weekend. Or it could have very well been SEVENTYSEVEN STONE, the eight-year-old bay gelding who blew past some very nice horses in a 1 1/16 mile allowance race a week earlier, May 1, posting the best Beyer Figure of his 55-race career and setting a new track record to boot.
At almost 68-to-1, Seventyseven Stone trailed the field early and then, when given his cue by jockey Omar Moreno, rallied wide and won by more than 5 lengths with his ears pricked over some fancy allowance types such as Mark Casse trainee Milano. His time of 1:41.63 was a track record and his Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form, was 92, bettering his previous top Beyer of 80.
“He’s just getting better and better,” said Paul LePiane, who trains the gelding for MPB Stable. “He doesn’t get much respect, though. It’s about as if he is invisible.”
It’s true that Seventyseven Stone is rarely lower than 20 to 1 on the odds board and when he won last June at Woodbine, in a sprint for $7,500 waiver claiming, he was 59-to-1.
That victory in his season debut of 2021 marked the beginning of a vastly improved year for this Florida-bred gelding by the nondescript stallion Seventysevenstreet, a minor winner on the track but a son of the great Storm Cat.
LePiane, a blacksmith by trade, has trained horses since 1997, having worked his way up from jobs with trainers such as Grant Pearce and Jacques Dumas.
Born in Sault Ste. Marie, LePiane had become “mesmerized” by working with racehorses by watching a segment of the television show “Dirty Jobs”.
He came across Seventyseven Stone in Ocala in January of 2019.
“I was shoeing the horses of the assistant to Laurie Silvera and I had asked if there were any horses for sale. I was shown Seven and I looked at him and thought I could improve him.”
Up to that point, Seventyseven Stone, bred by John Wallace, had been through a variety of trainers since his debut on June 10, 2017. In that $12,500 maiden claiming race on the grass, Seventyseven Stone trailed in last place and was beaten 22 lengths. In fact, the gelding was beaten more than 100 lengths, total, in his next seven races before he won his maiden in early 2018 at Tampa Bay Downs for new owner Francisco Alanis and trainer Robert Drake. He won again for trainer Teresa Connelly in May 2018 for $6,250 claiming.
After eight more losses, the gelding joined LePiane at Fort Erie racetrack, reappearing at the races in July 2019, and in December, the gelding won for his new owners and trainer in an $8,000 claiming race at Woodbine.
Seventyseven Stone was blanked in 13 races in 2020 but began putting up some big efforts in 2021 when no one was looking.
LePiane, who trains his horses at a farm near Fort Erie, had taken off the gelding’s blinkers to start the year and watched him win that June opener at big odds.
“It took me a while to figure him out, ” said LePiane. “And I know him now and he needs to be ridden a certain way. But he is a super classy horse and he walks out to the track each morning like he was a pony.”
LePiane praised jockey Moreno for his patient ride on Seventystone on May 1 and is excited to see what the horse can do as an 8-year-old.
“I don’t think we have seen the best of him. But he does deserve to be recognized for his improvement.”
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