Is he really a monster? - Photo courtesy of Coady Photo/Ryan Haynes at NorthlandsPark.ca
Up Jumps a Monster ~ The Undefeated
Pedigree: Proud Citizen-Hail the Flag by Devil’s Bag
Owners: Rob Chabot, Tim Kane and Joshua Schayer Trainer: Rob Chabot Jockey: Scott Williams
Up Jumps a Monster will have a little extra pressure on him in this year’s Manitoba Lotteries Derby, and not just because he’s never lost. The 3-year-old bay gelding by Proud Citizen is conditioned by former Winnipegger Rob Chabot and he was discovered by former Assiniboia Downs leading rider Tim Gardiner.
Chabot was alerted to the fact that the horse was a runner by Gardiner, who was working in Florida for Dave Scanlon. Chabot thought he’d have to pay $35,000 for him in the Florida sale, but the hammer dropped at $25,000, which now appears to be a bargain that would become even more lucrative with a win in the Manitoba Lotteries Derby.
Owned by the partnership of Chabot, Tim Kane, the retired owner of Kane Veterinary Supplies , and Joshua Schayer, who works in sports management in Alberta, Up Jumps a Monster has lived up to his name in compiling his perfect 4-for-4 record. He became a stakes winner in his fourth and most recent career start on July 14 in the one-mile $50,000 Ky Alta Handicap at Northlands Park. And in his race prior to the Ky Alta victory, Up Jumps a Monster defeated older horses that included Alisal, runner- up in last year’s Assiniboia Downs Gold Cup.
Chabot started out as a groom and exercise rider at Assiniboia Downs in the late ’70s and went on to work in the jock’s room before moving to Alberta in 1990 where he did much of the same before taking out his trainer’s license in 2003. In his first year training he saddled Reb’s Drummer to finish third in the Canadian Derby. In his second year training he won the Sales Stakes at Northlands Park. Of course there were a few years when the horses weren’t so kind to him, but the momentum has certainly swung back in his favour this year.
Up Jumps a Monster is slated to be ridden by hot young apprentice Scott Williams, who has been riding well beyond his years to lead the jockey standings at Northlands Park this season with 63 wins. He also has one of the better stamina pedigrees in this year’s Manitoba Lotteries Derby, being by 2002 Kentucky Derby runner-up Proud Citizen out of a Devil’s Bag mare with a female line that includes major stamina influences Hoist The Flag and Tom Rolfe. More importantly maybe, the Winnipeg connections seem to show up everywhere in this horse, so it’s only fitting that he’s coming out for the Manitoba Derby.
Karma?
“It would mean the world to me to win that race,” said Chabot.