Here’s the story. Implausible as it is true: There’s a horse, Daisy Corvette, who, after showing a lot of spunk and talent last year as a three-year-old in Alberta, couldn’t get out of her own way when sent to Ontario this past winter.
Daisy Corvette finished eighth in two races at Flamboro Downs and took three straight attempts at qualifying.
That horse is now setting track records and has won four in a row moving all the way from bottom $7,000 claiming races to -- in her last start -- whipping Preferred fillies and mares.
Then, there’s a young, first full-year trainer, Shanisty Andres, who calls herself a “gypsy,” and who has been overseeing this remarkable transformation.
Andres, 24, who had never even seen a harness horse before she came to the track, only got into the business after answering an ad on Kijiji from Standardbred trainer Harold Haining, who was seeking help at the track.
And then there’s an owner, Tammy Murschell, who races harness horses as a hobby and who had fallen in love with Daisy Corvette ever since the summer of 2022 when the horse finished second behind Nathan Sobey’s remarkable Divine Art, who, at one point, won 15 races in a row, in a pair of high, prestigious stakes races: the Gord and Illa Rumpel and the Alberta Sires Stakes Marquis final.
Murschell put in an offer to buy Daisy Corvette from Sobey, her previous trainer, after the four-year-old mare finished second by a head in a $10,000 claiming race on Sept. 22. But that initial purchase inquiry was rejected as being too low.
But, after Daisy Corvette won on Sept. 29 -- again against $10,000 claimers -- Murschell upped her offer to $11,500. This time Sobey agreed and turned the keys over to Murschell and Andres.
Since then, Daisy Corvette hasn’t lost. She won. She won. And she won again.
On Oct. 20, Daisy Corvette, a sleek but small horse, paced in 1:51.4 winning by almost eight lengths. That mile crushed Century Mile’s previous track record for aged mares of 1:52.2 set by Stash The Cookies on Sept. 9.
Completely in hand, if driver Mike Hennessy had asked, it certainly appeared as if Daisy Corvette could have gone even faster.
As an exclamation mark, Daisy Corvette paced her last quarter in a sizzling :27.2.
But Daisy Corvette wasn’t finished. In her last start on Nov. 4, she won against Preferred fillies and mares. It was a suspenseful victory. Completely boxed in, Daisy Corvette and Hennessy found a sliver of daylight in mid-stretch, darted through it, went four-wide and rambled on to a two-length victory.
“We got lucky,” said Murschell of the mare who prefers to race off the pace. “She’s got a ton of heart and she loves to race down the stretch.”
This time, Daisy Corvette paced her last quarter in :27.3.
“She’s the same way training in the mornings as she is racing,” said Andres. “Her idea is she wants to go. When I turn her to pace a mile, she wants to rock.
“She’s a real sweetheart. Always looking for attention. I’ve never sat behind a horse that loves her job more than she does. When she walks up the track to the chute in the mornings and on race days, she’ll do a little pitty-patty dance. She’s just so excited to be out there."
“It’s remarkable,” said Murschell, who owns three other horses and a half interest in a fourth (with Andres) that are all trained by Andres. “I had been following this horse for a long time. I just kind of knew she could be something special.
“I can’t believe the number of people who came up to me and said they were going to claim her. But they didn’t. I was the one to pull the plug.
“She is an incredible horse. Every start she gets better,” said Murschell, who spent a lot of time with jumpers when she was young. “Even before she set the track record, Mike [Hennessy] told me she was going to be one of the best mares on the grounds. I thought so too. But I didn’t think it would happen this quickly.
“I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Nathan Sobey. He left me an incredible foundation to build on,” continued Murschell, 52. “And he’s been one of my biggest supporters.
“The reason Daisy Corvette didn’t race well in Ontario was because she was sick and lost a lot of weight. Nathan did the right thing and turned her out for for three months last March. Horses will tell you what they need. You just need to listen.”
Murschell, who does a lot of body work with Daisy Corvette, including regular massages and chiropractic work, grew up around horses. Her father Bill Collins was a trainer before he passed away in December of 2021 in California where he was training a horse called Marlons Magic.
Murschell’s grandfather, aunt and three uncles were also all involved in harness racing.
When her dad died, Murschell even took out her trainer’s license.
The exact opposite is true for Andres. She didn’t know diddly about horse racing.
“Nobody in my family has ever been involved with horses,” said Andres, who was born in Saskatoon but kept moving around. “They still don’t understand why I wanted to do it.
“I was working in a gym and coaching gymnastics but I wasn’t enjoying my life at all. I always loved horses. Then I saw the Kijiji ad and thought why not?” said Andres, who was only 18 years old at the time. “The Hainings responded right away. I asked them when they wanted me to start and they said as soon as possible. I went the next day.
“The first thing I saw was a horse in a cross tie and I asked what they were. I asked if they used jockeys. I asked if harness racing was similar to chuckwagon racing. They quickly realized this girl knows nothing about horse racing and that was the truth.
“I worked for them for about a month when they invited me to lunch and I thought, 'Oh, my God. I’m going to get fired.’ I thought they were going to feed me and fire me.”
Instead, the Hainings asked if she would stay with them for another six months. Andres jumped at the chance.
After that, Andres worked for Dave Kelly for two and a half years as well as working and learning from top trainers like Kelly Hoerdt, Brent Bodor and even a California trainer, Rick Bertrand.
It was in California -- last February -- where she met Murschell.
They hit it off right away and it wasn’t long before Murschell asked Andres if she would train Marlons Magic. Andres couldn’t say 'yes' fast enough and last April she trained Marlons Magic to win a pair of mile and a half distance derbies at Sacramento’s Cal Expo racetrack.
“Shanisty is not afraid to ask questions,” said Murschell, who lives in Medicine Hat, Alta., and who gave Andres her other three horses and then Daisy Corvette to look after.
Andres didn’t do hardly anything with the equipment Sobey used for Daisy Corvette.
“The only thing I did was to add ear plugs,” said Andres. “They block out the noise and can keep a horse calm until the driver pulls a cord, which releases the ear plugs.”
It’s not that Daisy Corvette needs to be placated.
“She’s the calmest horse I’ve ever worked with,” said Andres. “I don’t think anything bothers that horse. But, in my opinion, ear plugs can act like a shot of adrenalin when they are pulled out.”
Other than that, Andres didn’t change anything else except for the horse’s diet.
“All of my horses like Trimax,” she said of high caloric, low glycemic feed pellets. “But my secret weapon is that I make sure hay is available 24/7. There’s always hay on the ground and in hay nets.
“Then I give her a mash at supper, which includes a ton of warm water -- hydration is big,” said Andres, whose mash includes beet pulps, which she said are a great fibre and healthy for their guts.
Andres just picked up a fifth horse, four-year-old pacing mare Go On Bow Bow, for owner Jacques Lambert last week.
“It’s a good story,” said Murschell of the tale of a once promising three-year-old who got sick, was purchased for $11,500, has won four races in a row including a track record and is being trained by an obviously talented young and green lady.
“Shanisty puts in a lot of work. Horses come first.
“And, as for Daisy Corvette, let’s just say that I got a very good deal. It was way too good of a price. I’m sure a lot of people are kicking themselves for not doing what I did.”
(Curtis Stock / thehorses.com)