Ajax Downs's own Peighntmeadiamond, a horse that once needed 11 attempts to break his maiden, is now a stakes winner after pulling off an upset in the $44,280 Ontario Bred Maturity on Wednesday.
The Ontario-sired and Ontario-bred 4-year-old Quarter Horse powered to a three-quarter length victory in the 400-yard dash on July 8, defeating a strong field that included reigning Horse of the Year Had to Be Fabulous, according to a report on the Ajax Downs website.
Sent off at odds of 5 to 1, Peighntmeadiamond had to survive a rider's objection after the race, as Ramiro Castillo aboard Queen Charlotte claimed foul against the winner. The claim was disallowed, preserving the biggest win of the gelding's career.
'He was out and gone'
Winning rider Brian Bell said the tall gelding's size can make the starting gate a challenge.
He is so lengthy and sometimes coming out of the gate he does that one step to the right or left,
"But he was out and gone and got the job done," Bell said, according to the Ajax Downs website.
Peighntmeadiamond covered the 400 yards in 19.980 seconds, posting a career-best 99 speed index. The win was his fourth in 17 career starts for owner Richard Wincikaby and trainer Joe Tavares.
A family project years in the making
The gelding is a son of the Wincikaby family's Ontario sire Peighnt Your Fate, out of the Thoroughbred mare Swingwiththering, a multiple winner at Woodbine and a daughter of Where's the Ring.
Linda Wincikaby, Richard's wife, said the horse simply needed time to grow into his imposing frame.
He is a great looking horse, and he needed a little time to mature,
"Joe and Brian deserve a ton of credit for helping him get to this point. It takes a lot of work, patience and love," she said.
Richard and Linda Wincikaby bred Peighntmeadiamond in partnership with Katie Browne, who bought Swingwiththering about five years ago. Browne said the mare's affinity for short races inspired the cross with a Quarter Horse, and that Peighntmeadiamond was notably large from birth.
Swingwiththering has since produced a yearling half-sister to the Maturity winner by Maryland Magic, and both mare and yearling are now owned by Kim Traviss and her family in Prince Edward County.
The Maturity wasn't the only local connection in the finish. Runner-up Niigaani, owned by Rick Crispi, is also a son of Peighnt Your Fate.
Tavares pads trainer lead
Tavares saddled three winners on Wednesday's card, extending his lead atop the trainer standings to 18 wins, ahead of Jason Pascoe and Scott Reid at 12 apiece.
Racing at Ajax Downs resumes Sunday, July 19, with a 12:30 p.m. first race post time. The card will be followed by a presentation of the RCMP Musical Ride, a ticketed event with tickets available through Ajax Downs' ticketing site.
For local horse racing fans, the Maturity result offered a homegrown success story: a horse bred in the province, sired by a stallion standing at a nearby farm, and developed into a stakes winner on the Ajax oval.
