There were still a few hours until the race and Mike Ambler was antsy, chomping at the bit you might say. It was the Whitby, ON resident’s biggest day as a horse owner; 10-fold bigger than any race day he has been involved in through his 10 years with a small stable.
His 2-year-old-filly, Catch a Glimpse, also owned by his friends Jeff Begg and Greg Lang as well as U.S.-based movie producer Gary Barber (more on that later), was set to run in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf at horse racing’s 32nd edition of the two-day showcase of the best horses and humans.
The Breeders’ Cup host track this year, the elegant Keeneland racecourse in Kentucky, was crammed with celebrities, dignitaries, horse folks and fans. Ambler had snuck away from his friends and family to place his bets on the day’s races early. He waited in one line only to be told he was in the wrong queue. He went to the next line, waited again but when he got to the person behind the counter he was told he could not bet there.
“Turns out I had been waiting in a hot dog stand line-up,” Ambler said, chuckling, admitting that the anticipation of the race had him all befuddled.
Ambler did not have to worry about any of his bets. Catch a Glimpse, coached by Canada’s leading trainer Mark Casse, scampered away from 13 other fillies from America and Europe to win by almost a horse length in front of her proud, and gobsmacked owners.
“Guys like us, small-time owners, are not supposed to win these things,” said Ambler a week later, still incredulous about the Oct. 30 victory. “I really can’t believe it.”
Lang, a former schoolteacher from Pickering, ON who always buys a share in Ambler’s horses, realized a dream that he had when he was a young boy in love with racing in Australia. And Begg, along with his wife Annabel, struck gold with one of the first horses they bought since they sold their Windways Farm after 30 years as one of the most prominent Canadian operations.
As for Barber, who purchased 33 per cent of the filly from his Ontario associates sight unseen on the recommendation of Casse, it was yet another big win, but a first in a Breeders’ Cup race. His worldwide stable includes the 2014 Queen’s Plate winner Lexie Lou. Casse was also winning his first Cup race and would later win another with the American-owned filly Tepin in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
She looked fast standing still
It was Begg who orchestrated most of this wonderful tale. He went to the Keeneland yearling sale in September of 2014 looking for horses. He did not have Catch a Glimpse marked down as a prospective purchase, until he saw her.
“She looked fast standing still,” said Begg, whose father James started Windways and bred several good horses including 1996 Plate winner Victor Cooley.
“She was not big, but she was athletic.”
Begg went a bit out of his price range and bought the daughter of the popular American stud City Zip for $75,000 (U.S.) and approached Ambler to be a partner. Annabel Begg named her Catch a Glimpse.
Two other fillies were purchased by the partners and the plan was to re-sell them as 2-year-olds the following spring. When all three, in particular Catch a Glimpse, started to show some exciting ability, Begg asked Casse, Woodbine’s leading trainer to take a look.
“I said if he liked them, and found another partner for us, he could train them,” Jeff said.
Casse was keen, and Barber, never one to turn down a Casse-tabbed runner, was on board and the partnership was set.
Catch a Glimpse did not make her career debut until mid-August, a little more than two months before the Breeders’ Cup. She made her first start at the prestigious Saratoga meeting in New York but flopped and was sent to Woodbine in search of grass racing.
The bright chestnut with a blotchy blaze of white down her face not only won her first Woodbine race, but then she streaked to victory in the Natalma Stakes (Grade 2) in September which earned a free entry ticket to the Breeders’ Cup.
The Natalma was easily the biggest win for Ambler as an owner. A racing fan first from his late teens, Ambler purchased his first horse through Warren Gibson, a top man at the famed Windfields Farm, Northern Dancer’s home not far from Ambler’s Oshawa home.
“I had to hand over $20,000 for this horse and I had never even owned so much as a goldfish,” said Ambler, who had taken over his family’s commercial cleaning supplies business, Swish. “My wife Cathy thought I was crazy.”
Devil’s Prophet raced just twice for Ambler but earned a cheque for $1,733 for a fifth-place finisher and Ambler was ecstatic. Devil’s Prophet was claimed and Ambler made out with a $3,000 profit.
Ambler had some good luck with two more purchases including the first one he shared with Lang, an economics teacher he met on a trip to the Kentucky Derby. Mountain Dawn won nearly $300,000 on the track and then was sold at auction for $250,000.
The reality of horse ownership soon set in, however, and for half a dozen years, wins were sparse. If it had not been for a horse by the name of One Across coming along, Ambler may have been out of the business. That filly placed in a couple of stakes races and kept Ambler, and Lang, in business.
From stunned to going berserk
Close to post time for the Juvenile Filly Turf, Catch a Glimpse was getting some respect from the bettors around the world. She was 6-1 and the fourth choice in the large field.
“I never get nervous for my horses but I was incredibly nervous and excited,” said Lang. “I had made about 52 trips to the bathroom already. When it looked like she was running a big race and going to get a good placing I started yelling my head off. But never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined her winning.”
When the filly streaked across the wire in front, Ambler stood motionless, wife Cathy, Lang and his wife Rosemary along with mutual friend Rick Pettifer went berserk.
“I stood there, stunned: ‘Did we win?’” asked Ambler. “You prepare yourself so much to lose in horse racing, you are always surprised when you win.”
Hope for small owners
A week after Catch a Glimpse’s big win, Lang, Ambler and Begg were back at the Woodbine Club accepting hugs and congratulations from fellow horsepeople. They told stories about the day, the winner’s circle atmosphere and other celebrations.
“It is so nice to have friends to share racing experiences with and talk about the game,” said Ambler. “So many people want to know more about horse ownership but don’t know how to go about it. Let me tell you, if (a small owner) like Greg can have a horse like Catch a Glimpse, anybody can.”
Ambler is so keen on getting new people to have a chance at what he has enjoyed, he has formed his own syndicate, selling a dozen shares in a few of his horses at an affordable cost.
“There is no other thrill like owning a horse and watching him race,” said Ambler. “I don’t know how we are going to top our win, but in this game, you never know.”
