Since her emergence on the Ontario harness racing scene in 2002, trainer Casie Coleman has set goals and has been pretty successful at reaching them, much to the dismay of her rivals
. If she attains her goal for the 2011 racing season, other industry participants may see their bottom lines shrink.
Coleman, a three-time O'Brien Award winner as Canada's Trainer of the Year (2005, 2006, 2009), recently sat down with the Meadowlands Racetrack's resident statistician Bob 'Hollywood' Heyden during one of the track's 'In The Sulky' segments.
During the interview, Coleman, who is a finalist for another Trainer of the Year award at the Saturday, January 29 O'Brien Awards, said that she has set a lofty earnings goal for her stable in the 2011 racing campaign.
When asked by Heyden if this year's season of racing will be the best yet for her powerhouse operation, Coleman revealed her target. "I set a huge goal this year," she said. "I'm not scared to tell people my goals, but [my goal is to win] $10 million this year, that's my goal -- and to win more major stakes races."
Coleman's training operation, which is based out of Ontario and has a satellite stable in New Jersey, is coming off a pair of high-octane seasons. Coleman's performers raced to $6.6 million in purse earnings in both 2009 and 2010.
The In The Sulky interview touches on more than just earnings goals. The 30-year-old resident of Cambridge, Ont. discussed the fact that Idyllic seemed to fly under the radar in 2010 while Pretty Katherine received a lot of attention. She also brought viewers up to speed in regard to the broodmare career of Moving Pictures and where A And Gs Confusion is now. She also shed a little bit of light on how she lost Chancey Lady.
The much sought-after conditioner also discussed going up against Bob McIntosh in the O'Brien Awards, and how her babies are coming along this year.
"The babies are looking just awesome," Coleman explained. "I've got 33 babies in the barn right now and I couldn't be any happier. I've had a lot of good babies over the years, and I think by far it is my best crop. It's a big statement because we're only going at about 3:15 right now -- just started taking them in sets -- but I have some very nice fillies and colts right now."
When Heyden asked "How are you looking for one of those (O'Brien Awards) this year?" Coleman said, "I think and I hope pretty good. I never want to get too optimistic. I'm up against Bob McIntosh, who had a very, very good year last year -- a lot of stakes wins and a lot of nice horses. It's an honour to be up against someone like Bob McIntosh, and hopefully we can beat him."