Camp Creek Improves to Top Level

On paper, trainer Rachel Halden knows the waters she is asking her charge Camp Creek to dive into are vast and deep. 

In addition to being a 3-year-old tackling seven older rivals in the $300,000 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes Presented by HPIBet (Can-IT) September 17 at Woodbine, the gelded son of Dunkirk is one of only two horses in the field whose credentials do not already sport graded stakes. 

Halden is well aware of what past performances say, but the form she is reading is less black-and-white where the spirited gray sophomore is concerned. Her hands and eye tell her that the maturing process is currently happening at a rapid rate for Garland Williamson's homebred, and if recent efforts are any indication, no horse is coming into the 1 1/2-miles test with any greater momentum.

Camp Creek already owns one major upset over the Woodbine turf this summer, winning the $500,000 Breeders' Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, Aug. 21—just over a month after breaking his maiden.

While facing the likes of reigning champion turf male Big Blue Kitten, 2015 Arlington Million (gr. IT) winner The Pizza Man, and fellow grade I winners World Approval and Wake Forest in his first graded try may appear over the top, all those veterans finished off the board in their most recent starts. Camp Creek is the lone contender coming into the race off a win.

"We're asking a lot of him; it's going to be a big step up," Halden said. "But you've a mile and a half on his doorstop on a course he obviously likes, and my owners are all for giving those things a chance. He was a late-maturing horse mentally. He's just completely changed over two or three months.

"He was definitely a horse on the improve (in the Breeders' Stakes) and he got it done, which was fantastic."

The kindly youngster taking carrots out of Halden's palm Friday morning has already done a 180 degree turn from the juvenile she had on her hands last season. Unraced as a 2-year-old, Camp Creek had his mind on things other than racing, prompting his connections to geld him last October.

Halden, who regularly rides her own trainees, said the difference in Camp Creek's demeanor was immediate. The challenge from that point was getting him to play catch up in his on-track development. It took him four tries to break his maiden, though his first three starts came on dirt and synthetic surfaces.

"As a 2-year-old he was a real bad actor. He was a colt (with) completely the wrong things on his mind," Halden said. "We gelded him...and it was just the best thing ever for this horse. I've never seen such a drastic change in a horse's behavioral issues. 

"It took him a couple starts to catch up and figure out what the game is all about. It was all coming together at the time I got him on the turf (for his maiden win on July 15) and it's just been a progression from there."

The march forward on the improve scale could end up being a family affair all in one weekend. One day after saddling Camp Creek in the Northern Dancer, Halden will send out his half sister, Erin Commodity, in the Natalma Stakes (Can-IT) at Woodbine. Out of the Storm Boot mare Go Go Neigh, Erin Commodity is a daughter of Hansen who finished second in her debut over the Tapeta main track at Woodbine July 31.

Should either sibling prevail over their double-digit morning-line odds, it would give Halden her first grade I victory.

"He came out of (the Breeders' Stakes) great and he's happy and doing good so we're going to give him a chance," she said of her trainee.