One of the newest faces on the Woodbine backstretch this spring is TARA NEIGEL, a promising young trainer who has moved her stable from Hastings racecourse in Vancouver to Toronto for the 2024 season. Neigel, who has had a small group of horses for some high-profile owners on the west coast, has six horses and her pony at Woodbine and is excited to try racing at Canada’s biggest track.
“You have to try it, right?” said Neigel, who was born in Victoria, B.C. “My owners wanted to come and we’re looking to build a little bit.”
With Hastings racing just two days a week, Neigel and her clients, which include Darrell Jones, owner of the successful grocery conglomerate Save-On-Foods, Mike Fong and Peter Tom, are hoping to take advantage of Woodbine’s lucrative purse structure and 129-day race meet.
Neigel, whose mother Denise rode horses, fell in love with horses early in life but had her eye on becoming a veterinarian and graduated from university with a degree in molecular biology. Neigel worked on the ground for trainers such as Rob Gilker and David and Terry Forster at Hastings before joining the team of the late Glenn Todd. Neigel was the barn’s pony rider and played an integral role in the success of Todd’s barn.
After obtaining her trainer’s license in 2009, Neigel started a handful of horses for a few years. In 2021 she won three races with 12 starters and in 2022, she had six wins, 11 seconds and seven thirds from just 29 starts. Last year, Neigel had a record of 4-4-4- from 22 starts.
Following the 2023 Hastings meeting, Neigel flew out to Woodbine to visit the famous track.
“I met with [racing secretary] Scott Lane and [vice president of racing] Tim Lawson and they were kind enough to show me around.”
Niegel was convinced she wanted to make the move, so this winter she packed up her three cats and dog and drove across the country. She is assisted at Woodbine by fellow Hastings trainer Shawn Lawson, who is helping her get settled into her new digs.
Other than a sudden blast of wintry weather, complete with the area’s customary strong winds that arrived almost as soon as the Woodbine backstretch opened, Neigel is thrilled with the spacious, quiet nature of the surroundings.
“My horses are settled and relaxed here,” said Neigel. “There are so many options of where to train, and I have large horses and they are very suited to [the bigger tracks].” This is also Neigel’s first experience training horses on Tapeta at a track. One notable example of another trainer moving from Hastings to Woodbine is Phil Hall, who has had great success in Toronto.
One exciting member of the Neigel stable is Focusyn, a handsome three-year-old by Dialed In, bred in British Columbia by Jamie Demetrick. The unraced gelding is the first foal of the winning Giant’s Causeway mare Expensive Taste.
“He was working in promising fashion last year, he’s a lovely boy.” Neigel also has an unraced two-year-old colt, Commercial Value, by top BC sire Value Plus.
Neigel still has about five weeks before the 2024 Woodbine season opens but already she is keen on getting started. “It’s been really nice so far and we’re hoping our horses will fit in.”
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