Al Reichert almost never raced. He was so lacklustre the lackadaisical thoroughbred couldn’t even get a time as a two-year-old to qualify to even run.

That was three years ago.

Saturday, Al Reichert exploded down the stretch at Century Mile on a horribly windy evening to win the $50,000 Journal Handicap - the first thoroughbred stakes race of the young meet.

It’s far too early to get too excited but as it stands now Al Reichert is at the top of the class of older horses in Alberta.

“He didn’t run as a two-year-old,” said trainer Madison Zielke, 27. “He was just too slow. I wondered if we should even bother with him.

“I almost quit on him before I even ran him.

“I mean he was getting outworked by 10 lengths.

“I can’t ride but Al Reichert is so calm and easy going that even I can ride him,” said Colin Ganter, who with his wife, Cheryl, are the horse’s breeders.

“When it looked like he was never going to race I used him as a saddle horse.”

Named after a friend of Colin, Al Reichert finished second in his first start in 2023 - a lowly bottom $6,000 claiming race.

“He came from nowhere,” said Zielke.

He’s still coming from nowhere.

At the end of his three-year-old season the overlooked, small thoroughbred born in Saskatchewan managed a record of four wins and two seconds.

He just kept getting better and better. Especially after Zielke put blinkers on him for the first time and changed riders to Keihton Natera. That was in October 2023 for his last start as a three-year-old—a race that stamped him as being a race horse.

“He was zig zagging all over the place in the race before I put blinkers on,” said Zielke. “I thought the blinkers might help him focus.

“I also had him gelded after his 2023 season. He got more serious about things then.”

“He’s nothing special. He’s just a horse. But a horse with a lot of heart,” said Colin.

Sired by Imperialism - “I believe Al Reichert was from Imperialism’s last crop; Imperialism was old - something like 24 and Al Reichert was a late April 28 foal,” said Colin. “So he might just be Imperialism’s last foal.

Al Reichert is out of the Ganter’s mare Amalgamation, who ran locally in a number of nondescript claiming races winning eight times.

Last summer, Al Reichert won for $12,000, won for $17,500 and then he won a restricted stake - the $40,000 Phil Kives in Winnipeg going a mile.

“I thought he might not like the distance,” Zielke said.

After all In Al Reichert’s only other race going a mile he finished ninth.

“He proved me wrong. Again,” said Zielke, who has three other horses in training.

“In the Winnipeg stake he left the gate climbing. But then the rider tapped him a couple of times, he found a nice path and caught up to the field and won.”

The Kives was nothing.

After that stake, Al Reichert ran second in a solid $25,000 allowance race at Century Mile finishing ahead of everyone except the winner, American Blaze, who won the Turf Paradise Derby in Phoenix, won the Count Lathum and then finished second in the Canadian Derby.

Then Al Reichert ended his four-year-old campaign running second to older horses in the prestigious Don Getty another mile race won by Varatti, last year’s Alberta Champion Aged Horse, who crossed the finish line in front in six straight races.

“That was special,” said Zielke. “Varatti is a very nice horse.

“This horse as no expectations,” said Zielke, who has been training since 2021 when she just had just one horse, and learned the sport under people like Barbara Heads, Vancouver’s champion trainer, who she worked under for four years.

Last year at Hastings, Heads won 12 stakes races including the unprecedented feat of winning the four major races at Hasting with four different horses.

“I still phone her for advice,” said Zielke, who has three other horses in training and who won 23 races from 111 starts last year.

Al Reichert could have been claimed several times. But Zielke wasn’t too worried about losing him.

“It’s not like he’s some big, fancy horse. He’s just a little, Saskatchewan-bred horse. He’s only about 15.2 hands.

“But he’s stocky. A lot of people think he’s a quarter horse.

“And it’s not like we paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for him.

“I was a little worried we might lose him when we ran him for $12,000 in July of last year after he had won two $12,000 races. But, I thought we were safe although a couple of people have told me they almost dropped a claim on him.

“Fortunately, they didn’t.”

In The Journal Al Reichert was hung four wide during a wicked, well-bunched stretch duel - five horses separated by a length and a half with Riverside on top.

Jockey Natera looked like he was going to split the wall of horses for some running room.

“It was a little tight,” said Natera. “But then I saw an opening to the outside I took it. I asked him and he responded.”

Did he ever.

“He’s a brave little horse. And he’s happy to do whatever you ask,” said Zielke.

At odds of 19-1, Al Reichert, a grey horse, moved five wide and ran them all down with 2021 Canadian Derby winner Uncharacteristic coming from second-last place in the nine-horse field to nail down second place.

“(Al) didn’t even change leads until very late. He was on his left lead. When he switched was when he took the lead.

“It was so windy with the dirt and dust flying everywhere that I wasn’t even sure which horse was mine,” said Zielke, who was standing on the north side of the grandstand.

“I said ‘Is that mine? Is that Al?” said Zielke of the quickly accelerating Al Reichert, the fastest bullet in the gun running on to a length and a quarter victory with the six furlongs going in 1:11.

“I think I’ve got a very nice horse,” said Natera.

Indeed.

“He’ such a cool horse,” said Zielke, who won her first stakes race last year in the Alberta Premier’s Handicap with Smoke Daddy coming out of the outside 10th post to win by four and a half lengths for the Ganters and Lori and John Guhle.

“(Al) is so quiet. He’s like an old pony horse. A kid could ride him.

“As a two-year-old he was a brat that couldn’t run. He would keep bucking his riders off of his back.

“In the mornings he’s lazy. He’d rather just jog around instead of showing any speed.

“But he knows when he’s running and then he can be a handful.

“I don’t know what to say about him anymore.”

Zielke said that agent Bob Fowlis wanted to know if Zielke was going to run in an allowance race the same day as The Journal.

“He kept telling me that The Journal was going to turn up ‘real tough’ and that the allowance race would be a lot easier.’ Bob wanted me to run him in that allowance race so he could ride one of his riders. But I told him ‘No. I was going to run in The Journal.’”

Al Reichert had an ankle chip removed from an ankle at the end of last year.

“It was small and nothing serious. We kept an eye on it to make sure it didn’t become a problem.”

The Journal wasn’t over at the finish line.

“It was so windy that Al’s saddle got blown off in the paddock. He didn’t even flinch,” said Zielke.

“But maybe that’s why he ran so good. He’s from Saskatchewan so he knows all about wind and that kind of weather.

Born in Grande Prairie, Zielke grew up around horses: dressage and eventing.

But then a friend took me to Evergreen Park to look for a summer job working with thoroughbreds.

She’s never left. But now the mornings are so much brighter.

STOCK REPORT - There was another stake on Saturday’s Century Mile card: the $50,000 RedTail Landing for older mares.

There, a torrid pace - :21 seconds for the first quarter and then a wicked half in :43 4/5 - between Aventapp and Bling Dancer set things up nicely for Burrow Down to pick up the falling apart pieces.

Owned by Gerald Babchishin and trained by red hot Jerri Robertson, it was Burrow Down’s 10th win in 30 starts. A multiple stakes winner in Winnipeg Burrow Down ran second in last year’s R.K. ‘Red’ Smith Handicap.

In Calgary at Century Downs there were two stakes for harness racing: the $53,900 Alberta Diamond for three-year-old fillies and the $56,000 Marksman for three-year-old colts.

Custard Dolce won her 10th straight - and 10th straight stakes race taking the Alberta Diamond. But it wasn’t easy for last year’s overwhelming Champion Two-Year-Old filly. Parked most of the way Custard Dolce, owned by Jackson Wittup, Derek Wilson, Max Gibb and trainer Jamie Gray prevailed by a length over Mademechangemymind. The race went in 1:54 3/5 and was sent off at 20 cents on the dollar.

In the Marksman Outlawminutbyminut, overlooked again, won again - at another big price. Winning by a length over 69-1 Worldsgreatestsin, it was Outlawminutbyminut’s fifth win in 10 lifetime starts but, owned by trainer/driver Logan Gillis and Todd Teolis, he still went off at 10-1. Pacesetter Discontinued finished third. Favourite Westcoast McCoy went off stride around the final turn just as he appeared to be making a winning move.

The mile went in 1:55.

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Author: The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty.