For five consecutive years at Hastings Park in Vancouver, B.C., Almost Time flaunted his speed and stamina while winning at least one stakes event each season.

A natural athlete and a hard-trying competitor, Almost Time is one of the best horses ever raced by Swift thoroughbreds, a leading Canadian stable owned by Horatio and Jackie Kemeny and Mark and Naudia Maché. Now, he is showing off his jumping and showing skills.

The solidly-built chestnut with the bold, white blaze, was so well regarded at the outset of his racing career that he made his first two career starts in stakes races. Competing for breeders Suzanna Anderson and David and Dennis Deyagher, Almost Time was second in the Ladnesian Stakes and Nursery Stakes in the summer of 2008 before he joined the Swift team.

From there, Almost Time took the Swift team and his new trainer Dino Condilenios on a great ride as he won 10 of his next 22 races, including the Jack Diamond Futurity, the BC Cup Sprint and BC Cup Classic as well as the George
Royal Stakes. He was named the 2011 B.C.- bred Horse of the Year and twice won for Champion Older Male in that
province.

Almost Time, a son of Finality, was six years old when he ran his last race, the George Royal win in the spring of 2012.
“Best word to describe AT? Honest,” said Condilenios. “He always showed up no matter distance, track condition, pace, scenario. He always gave it his all.”

Condilenios said the best qualities about Almost Time were that he “was a real nice horse to be around and he never missed an oat.” Those qualities have made the transition from hard-knocking racehorse to recreational show and riding horse a smooth one for the gelding and his new coach Keelly Reggelsen.

Almost Time has been part of the 100-day Trainer Challenge put on by New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society
that began in June 2014. Five horses and coaches had 100 days to train a former racehorse in a discipline while being
documented in writing and on video on social media. On Oct. 4, the finalists were to participate in a final competition to determine the winner. The five horses were then to be offered for sale.

Almost Time had a lot of shipping to do as he began his journey with Reggelsen, an accomplished rider and trainer from Armstrong, B.C.

The gelding went from Canmor Farms in Langley to Topline Stables in Salmon Arm to his final destination at Stride
Away Stables, owned by Reggelsen and her parents Cathy and Steen. The van rides were long and hectic but Almost Time took everything in stride. “I can honestly say I [was] very impressed with the willingness to cooperate of this boy,” said Reggelsen. “I feel like he has been brought along in his past to trust his people and follow along.”
Reggelsen brought Almost Time along slowly, focusing the gelding on being a quiet and collected riding horse. She was pleasantly surprised.

“He is calm, quiet and does everything I’ve asked,” said Reggelsen in a diary for the 100-day Trainer Challenge. “The
first goal [of] this program is to have AT learning to stretch and supple his muscles. Despite having some time off from racing he is very hard muscled and solidly built. I would like to have him stretching laterally and reaching out in his stride.”

By early August, Almost Time was in his first schooling show and strutting his stuff against 14 other competitors. He
picked up two ribbons.

At the Interior Provincial Exhibition in Armstrong in the last week of August, Almost Time competed in shows
alongside paddocks and barns of sheep, pigs and cows. Beside the show ring was also a dance tent with loud music, a kids play area and nearby, there was the noise of the midway rides and games.

“AT handled all this like a champ,” said Reggelsen. “He was so good that I let one of my 10-year-old students lead him
around the grounds while I cleaned his stall. He brought comfort to some of the show horses too.”

Almost Time, a favourite in many of his races, is also a favourite of anyone who has contact with him and, odds are, he will making more people very happy in the years to come.