ROCKWOOD – Warrawee Ubeaut has surged to success in the world of harness racing, setting a one-mile speed record for two-year-olds and winning the prestigious Breeders Crown race.
The filly was bred at Warrawee Farms near Rockwood, owned by Dr. Mike Wilson.
“The Breeders Crown is quite an honour,” said Wilson. He does not have a share in the ownership of Warrawee Ubeaut – a name based as a shortening of the phrase “You Beauty” – but he follows her career with great interest.
She became the sport’s fastest 2-year-old ever on Oct. 5 with a time of 1:48 3/5 in a stakes race at the Red Mile track in Lexington, Kentucky.
Wilson points out that among the 25 fastest one-mile performers in standardbred history, Warrawee Ubeaut is not only the fastest, but is the only filly.
On Oct. 27, she was stuck in seventh position in the early going at the Breeders Crown, with four other horses leading in the first half.
She broke free and was strong through the back stretch, then came to the wire half a length ahead of Zero Tolerance, finishing with a time of 1:52 3/5 on a sloppy track.
The win pushed her total earnings up to $602,393, with seven wins in 11 tries.
Warrawee is a small farm just south of Everton, producing about 12 yearlings annually, said Wilson.
Warrawee Ubeaut was reared there from her birth in 2016 until September of 2017.
Wilson expressed his appreciation for the work of farm manager Duane Avery and Michelle Coupland, who cared for Warrawee Ubeaut.
The horse was trained and is partly owned by Ron Burke, one of the top trainers in North America. The owners are Burke Racing Stable LLC., Phillip Collura, Jandt Silva Purnel & Libb, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC. She sold for $70,000 at last year’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.
She was sired by Sweet Lou, who won the 2-year-old Breeders Crown final in 2011, out of mare Great Memories.
Wilson is no stranger to success in breeding speedy standardbreds.
In 2013 his four-year-old pacer Warrawee Needy – also from mare Great Memories – set a speed record at Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey.
Warrawee Needy was the third foal for Great Memories and Warrawee Ubeaut was the ninth.
