It was a very good year for McEneny

If Scott McEneny had his way, 2016 would never end.

It has been a very kind year for the Waterdown horseman in more ways than one.

For starters, his career as a trainer has been resurrected with the stable winning just under $1 million in purses; the best year since 2003.

It has also been exceptional because of the efforts of his 19-yearold son, Austin, who has found a home playing defence for the Windsor Spitfires Jr. A hockey club.

“Austin played all his hockey locally growing up but was not drafted and managed to get a spot with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Junior League,” Scott said.

“That didn’t go that well for him, and at the end of the season he had nothing. But a scout had watched him and told the coach of the Windsor team that Austin was unattached and worth a look. So, he was invited there and here he is now playing every game. He could be there another year as an overage junior or get an invite to a pro camp and maybe be in the American Hockey League. Either way, it’s been a lot of fun this year.”

And that extends to the racetrack where Team McEneny has emerged with a very nice collection of performers, perhaps the most interesting being Bettors Up.

This two-year-old filly was purchased a year ago for a mere $15,000 in Kentucky. She banked $216,000 despite having a disappointing final start in the Three Diamonds stake.

“She is small, which affected her price, and early in the winter she was going OK but no more. I switched her around with the horses she worked with, and suddenly she started beating them at the end of the mile. From that point on she just kept getting better and better.”

Then one night in July, Scott was watching an Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroot event at Mohawk Racetrack and saw a rookie pacing colt named Streakavana finish second. He contacted the trainer and bought the horse on behalf of Milton’s Brad Grant and sister Teresa Davidson. The colt went on to win $187,000.

Twenty-three-thousand dollars is not a lot of money to invest in a yearling, which was the price McEneny’s owner Chris Storms gave in October for a trotting gelding named Tycoon Seelster. That resulted in a $166,000 return from just six starts.

And then there was Bettors Dream, who looked like he might be a killer in midsummer but didn’t quite make the grade, although still banked $108,000.

Racing horses is all about managing disappointments. In McEneny’s case, there just weren’t that many. Now he heads into winter with the largest stable he has had in years and every reason to feel optimistic about the future.

But McEneny is well aware of the fickleness of the game. In 2000-01, he campaigned Bettors Delight who would win $2.5 million in purses before being syndicated for $4 million. Several years ago, it looked like McEneny was just a step away from being pushed out of the game with wins few and far between.

Things have a way of turning around, though, and whether it’s on the ice or the racetrack, the McEneny family will always have great memories of this past year.

Racing horses is all about managing disappointments. In McEneny’s case, there just weren’t that many.