The COVID-19 global pandemic caused the world to grind to a virtual stop in many different ways. For one Mississauga barber, that pause in routine brought him to the racetrack and presented an opportunity to connect with harness racing and Standardbred horse ownership while bringing family along for a ride that has included two stakes winners and an abundance of optimism.
John Freda has happily cut hair for decades, but no business could survive the closures caused by COVID. Unable to open his doors for his clientele, Freda found himself with more time on his hands and able to spend some time outdoors.
More specifically, time at a training centre.
Not involved as a horse owner or participant prior to COVID, Freda found his way into horse ownership with longtime friend and horse owner Dan Trinetti.
"We had a lot of time off," Freda told Trot Insider. "You know like when you're on the fence, you kind of say ‘I can do without it because I've done without it all these years.’" But the timing was right with the pandemic for Freda to shift from racing fan to horse owner.
That taste of ownership came courtesy of Trinetti, a longtime horse owner who's had pieces of horses with a number of recognizable trainers over the years as Deanmar Sons Stable. After a conversation with fellow owner Frank Cirillo, Trinetti was introduced to Bill Budd a few years back. Together, they campaigned trotter On The Sly in early 2020 along with Trinetti's longtime partner Peter Miskolczi.
"We got a little bit of luck with him," noted Trinetti. "He was a nice trotter. That's how I started off with Bill, but then this is where John Freda comes in. Basically we've known each other for 40 years. So we're good friends and everything – we always talk horses...he always had a passion, but never got involved. And then back in October [2020], we purchased our first horse together — John, myself and Peter. A pacer, Dubai Seelster. I'd never bought a pacer before, and he was a half-decent horse; he was consistent.
"We put him away for the winter, and he started training back. This was when we started going to the barn in the morning because we had some time to watch them train [due to COVID]. My business, construction, we really kept going through it all but John, he had the time. You know, the barber shop was closed and so we started going to the barn in the morning to watch them train down."
While watching the horses on the track at Stephenson's Training Centre, a two-year-old caught the eye of both Freda and Trinetti. "We liked his gait, the way he looked out there, the determination," noted Trinetti. "He wasn't going very quick at the time, but he was just doing everything properly for a two-year-old."
Freda also recalled how smitten he was, and that first impression definitely made an impact.
"I saw this horse training on the track. I didn't know who he was, and I said to Dan ‘You see that horse out there?’ And he says, ‘What about him?’ I said, ‘well, listen, I think we should buy him....He looks so professional. I think we should find out who he is, first of all.’"
That two-year-old was a trotting colt by the name of Mr Fritter, owned by Winbak Farm. After some negotiations, an agreement was reached for Trinetti, Freda and Miskolczi to purchase Mr Fritter. The new owners kept the promising rookie under Bill Budd's care. Both of these decisions proved to be wise ones.
In a 12-start freshman campaign, Mr Fritter hit the board on eight occasions and never missed a cheque for his connections. He banked $117,961 in 2021 while taking a mark of 1:57.2 at Mohawk in September.
Now three, the son of Muscle Mass - Moms Apple Pie has posted a pair of wins including a lifetime best 1:54.2 at Mohawk earlier this month, pushing his earnings just shy of $150,000.
As Freda and Trinetti look forward to the rest of the 2022 season with Mr Fritter, the story doesn't end there. During the 2021 season, the owners wanted to take some of the earnings from Mr Fritter’s exploits and purchase another racehorse.
"So when October came and we put Mr Fritter away, John’s son-in-laws [Mark & Peter Gullo] wanted to get into the game,” said Trinetti. “They’d never been [involved] before. So the Harrisburg Mixed Sale was coming up, we don’t really know what’s going to be there...let’s take a look at the book. And we wanted to stick with trotters, so we picked four or five horses out. Bill told me to contact Walter Whelan because Walter was down there to take a look at these horses. Walter was our agent there, and he told us the horses looked okay. So we gave him an amount, whichever one we could get. We came up with the prices we wanted… I thought we had one at $43,000."
That horse, Caruso, was sold to overseas interests. Strike one. Horse two was a trotter named Truffles Too, and the ownership group hit that one out of the park.
"If you look at his card, he did a lot of breaking and we were a little concerned about that. You probably saw what we paid for him, it was $47,000. Bill took over this horse, and turned him around."
"I understand he was pretty good," Budd said of his knowledge of Truffles Too before taking over the training. "He was just making breaks...I tightened his hopples up, changed his shoeing a bit and drove on. He's been good ever since. He just loves his job."
Truffles Too has been even more consistent than his younger stablemate. After winning his first two starts for his connections in conditioned company to close out 2021, the son of Donato Hanover - Truffles has made his way to the top trotting class in the country. In 27 starts thus far, he has won five races and posted 21 top-three finishes (5-7-9) while banking more than $118,000 this year and taking a mark of 1:53.3 in mid-July.
Six months ago, Truffles Too was racing in the Family Day Trotting Series for conditioned / non-winners types. On Sunday (Aug. 28) he will compete in the Hon. Earl Rowe Memorial Invitational against the best trotting horses around.
"It's a good way to go into it, with new owners like that and a horse like that,” said Budd with pride. “It really gives them a boost."
Truffles Too can also give Budd a boost of his own, as a top-three finish for Truffles Too in the $100,000 invite will send the longtime trainer over the $20 million mark in career earnings. Truffles Too leaves from post five on Sunday night with Chris Christoforou at the controls. He’s a 10-1 morning line choice, but this story has clearly not relied on just the odds for success.
Freda has high praise for both his four-year-old trotter and his conditioner, and sincerely admires the gelding’s diligent work ethic.
“He reminds me of a factory worker. He comes in everyday punching the card and gets his job done.
“I know he’s racing in the upper echelon but when he gets to the head of the stretch and you see his ears go up, I want to say, ‘oh my God, look at that.’ He goes into another level…I see other horses have it, but this guy has it on a more consistent basis.”
The journey with Truffles Too is even sweeter for Freda as he’s able to enjoy the ride with his two sons-in-law. “They wanted to get in on Mr Fritter but the deal was already done…I told them the next horse I buy that they can be involved. These guys were gung-ho about getting into racing.”
Many individuals endured hardships over the last couple of years with the global pandemic and Freda was no different. However, he was able to find something new and exciting at a time most people were simply confined to their homes in a digital landscape. Ironically, the pandemic gave Freda the opportunity to experience something he never thought possible.
“If there is no pandemic, then there would be no horse ownership.”