She captured her first ever O’Brien award and trained one of the top three-year-olds in North America in 2005, American Ideal. He set a world record of 1:47.4 in Lexington and electrified the crowd!

1. Congrats on your O’Brien award this year as Trainer of the Year in Canada. In a sport that is typically male dominated, how much of an impact has your success made or do you feel will make in horse racing in Canada?

Casie Coleman I really think and hope that I can inspire other young horseman and woman in the harness racing industry to pursue their dreams and passion for harness racing. I know I am still quite young, but I had a lot of bumps in the road on the way up and every time I hit one I just kept my head up and my mind focused and it paid off. We need new people in our industry and we have to make sure the young guns keep coming up.

2 American Ideal had a superb year last year, setting a world record for three-year olds of 1:47.4 with Mark MacDonald driving. What are your plans for him this year and what type of sire do you think he will make?

Casie Coleman American will get ready to start qualifying probably around late April or so I am taking my time bringing him back slowly. The time off really did him well and he grew up and matured a lot. I have high hopes for him this season. He will only race in stakes probably, and race 12-14 starts or so this season and I know American will make those starts count.

You never know how to predict a sire. It’s hard but if he can throw just a little bit of his speed, brains, looks and muscle, along with his ability to leave out or come from off the pace. Versatility is a key I think and American Ideal has it all. I am very confident he will be a great sire and I know I'm going to shop for a broodmare or two to breed to him for sure.

3 What unique things in your training regiment of horses do you feel gives you an edge on your average trainer?

Casie Coleman If anyone was to come by my stable they would see first hand we are the hardest working crew you’ve ever seen. All my grooms have 4 horses each in which they turn out or walk every morning. Then they are put in their stall to relax and pee to prevent tying up. I jog all horses free legged, ear hood, happy bridle and as slow as possible for 5 miles. If it takes an hour to jog a horse so be it. Horses are athletes you must start in a walk and end in a walk 5-10 minutes to loosen muscles up. I do not believe in hard training at all. Very rarely do I train very hard unless a horse has been coming off a lay off, and the babies are a different story obviously. When putting horses away my grooms put a lot of hard work in them as all four legs are wrapped, feet are soaked for 20-min then poulticed. I wear magnets on all feet and most ankles, I strongly believe in magnets.

All horses are taken for a walk 10 minutes or so, at least for grass, and to keep them happy. I disinfect all stalls and their buckets etc. to keep a smaller chance of viruses carrying. My feed and ulcer program is a big part. I treat ulcers heavily and I strongly think Swedish horse power products are the best thing going right now for ulcers. I use a lot of natural products such as aloe Vera gel, which is a big part of my ulcer treatment. My assistant trainer, Clayton Masse, spends about three hours mixing my feeds a day. I will not drench a horse as I strongly disagree with that. I believe it causes ulcers to act up, bad throat irritations, and upset guts, so it’s no good in my opinion. My horses eat the vitamins in their feed and they all look great.

I like to race with as light of gear as possible. I use cool pant hopples on most horses, the lightest I can find if the horses gait can handle them. I love blinkers with slits as it gets the horses up on the bit. I like them on the bit, and I use a happy mouth rubber bit soft on their mouth and a z-guide over check to prevent tucking in there chins and shutting their air off. I work on horses breathing a lot with neubulizers, the aero mask etc... I really believe all horses have breathing problems. If you can do the four keys, # 1 keep them happy, # 2 keep them healthy, # 3 keep them sound, and # 4 work hard, you will have success.

4 Did you feel that American Ideal was beaten by a “team effort” in the Breeders Crown elm and final? Explain why?

Casie Coleman American Ideal always seems to be cursed in that draw room which is very disheartening. I'm hoping we can overcome that this season!! With the outside post he has to work double duty although he always gives it all he’s got. In the Breeders Crown he came up sick and he wasn’t himself. We got a pretty good piece taken out of us but he is tougher than that. When he’s right he should have held on better but I'm not upset with American at all, he gave us a great ride this season and I couldn’t have asked for more out of him. He won the Count B in January then raced in the Breeders Crown in November. He won three races in six days in the summer and set three world records. Pelling had a great bunch of colts and Rocknroll is an amazing animal. He was fortunate enough he had a few colts that fit the race and I guess we would all be pretty happy if we were in that position. It’s a horse race, what ever happens, happens but there always comes revenge later on. Hopefully, American will do that for me in the Breeders Crown this season.

5 Before American Ideal’s record effort at Lexington, was the strategy to go for a fast record?

Casie Coleman The strategy was to win!!! !! I always knew that horse was going to go a big, big mile I said it from day one. No one believed me until later on when the colt started to show on the track what I always knew he could do. When I saw the half and how strong he looked at the three-quarters, I was pretty confident he was going to go a big, big mile. I did say that week if the track was good he will beat the track record. I do set high expectations for myself and my horses but hey why not shoot for the stars?? We weren’t planning to make him go so fast. It just happened the track was good he set the fractions and came up large. What a great day. I did not think he would cut all his own fractions for a mile like that. It was the only part that shocked me.

6 Outside of your parents, who do you credit for your rapid ascension to the top of the training ladder?

Casie Coleman Everyone has really helped me a lot. You learn something new from everyone in life. I just always worked hard and paid attention to everything. If I see a horse improve a lot I figured out why and how that horse improved and if I see a horse go a bad trip, I try to figure out why and what was wrong. I pay a lot of attention to detail and I really watch everyone and try to learn something off everyone in life. My parents for sure taught me the most and gave me my 1st shot to come in the harness industry. Bill Davis really taught me a lot, worked me hard and taught me a lot of horsemanship. My help has been awesome working so hard for me and putting up with my high demands of them! My owners have been super supportive, Merlin House, well what do I say. I would be no where if I didn’t get my start and he was the man that gave me the chance. For him it was a big risk giving a young rookie female from B.C a chance in Ontario. He took a big risk, I worked hard and it paid off. My boyfriend Blake Macintosh also has been real supportive and helpful. When I need someone to vent or scream and relieve a lot of stress he’s the one I go to. He really does help me keep a level head.

7 Have you ever thought of moving from Ontario now that you have had a taste of what it’s like at tracks like the Meadowlands?

Casie Coleman It was fun at the Meadowlands and Lexington etc... I really liked it there for the big races. But I’m set up here in Ontario. I have my stable all set up and the grooms that I have are awesome and live here. My family is here and Ontario is my home now and the purses are great. There are lots of spots to race. My owners are here and I have no desire to move to the Meadowlands at all. I hope to have more nice horses to go on the road trips for stakes though!

8 How does it make you feel knowing that you were involved in another record last year after having Mark MacDonald as your prime driver?

Casie Coleman Oh it was awesome! I was so happy for him. Mark is a great guy who I met through my boyfriend Blake and started to use him after Blake talked him up and watched him drive. I listed him at London a bit then a little bit more at Flamboro. Next thing you know a bit at WEG and now he is my # 1 choice. He’s been real faithful to me picking my horses and has confidence in my horses and my training. I love his driving style and his colors are pretty good too!! If he gives a bad drive or something is wrong with my horse he lets me know right away. He always tells me 100% the truth and I really appreciate that he’s a straight shooter and he knows about hanging a horse up so if there are problems he has some good useful suggestions for me. Mark always knows my horses are ready to go and safe no matter if I’m on the rail or ten hole, favorite or long shot. I know he is figuring out a way how to win the race. I wish he would of got that record on one of mine but oh well, I know I had a big part of it and it feels good. I am real happy for him. He has a really bright future for sure. I’m just glad I had a small part of it.

9 What is your thought on the D-Barn? Should it be for stakes events only?

Casie Coleman The D barn really doesn’t bother me much; it is more costly for the owners shipping two times instead of once for one race and that isn’t fair for them. There is a higher risk of horses getting stressed or sick before they race which isn’t good. Most of the horses I believe adapt ok to the D barn but I don’t think it makes much of a difference with or without the D barn, with the exception of a few horses that tie up, high stressed horses etc...

10 Where do you see yourself in five-years?

Casie Coleman I hope to keep my numbers as high as I can. That is the key and hopefully now that I have a chance to buy some babies I would love to have some more big stakes appearances with them, just doing the same as I'm doing with the exception of some more stakes horses. I would be real happy with that.

by Scott Waddell

Courtesy of The USTA