We Will See: Can an Auction Horse Win them All?
Millstone residents, Earl and Ida Smith are the news of their town recently, after going into some business with their neighbour Sam DePinto. When the Smiths observed DePinto leaving on a trip for Canada to the Artesian North American Cup, they were intrigued. Earl Smith said: "One day, we're going to have a horse together."
Many years later in 2008, DePinto found We Will See, a yearling for sale at auction for only $30 thousand. Smith and DePinto have a longstanding friendship, having both attended Allentown High School, but as one year Smith's senior, DePinto was an influence over Smith, even though Smith was a basketball hero at their school.
DePinto told Jersey online column app.com: "Earl was a h**l of a ballplayer himself…I would go to the games to watch him play. He was awesome. He could have been an NBA player himself. He was that good."
Obviously, what Smith is really good at, is choosing the right friend’s advice to follow. Smith may have always been a racing fan, but it was DePinto’s encouragement that ended the debate about whether horse ownership with a decision and a consequent purchase.
Smith says: "I just trusted him…He said he was going to find us a colt and he did. I don't question what he does because I don't know. I'm still learning the game. Everyone tells me it's not this easy to be successful, but I'm not complaining. It's an unbelievable feeling."
And why should he complain? An amateur in the world of horse racing, Smith has tied himself to a multi-talented horse. On June 26th, he looked on with his neighbour and new-found business partner DePinto at the Mohawk Racetrack in Campbelville, Ontario, as We Will See ran the twenty-seventh 1.5 million dollar Pepsi North America Cup.
Jockey Brett Miller raced their horse to a second place standing next to 34-1 odds right behind 7-2, third favourite for first place Sportswriter. This event is over 2km long and sees the best three-year-old male pacings in North America.
Talk about good luck. Smith is a 52-year-old mason contractor who never expected anything but to “win a few dollars." Before even entering the renowned event, We Will See was the winner of five of the 15 career races he ran and earned for Smith and DePinto over $130 thousand.
"It's a great ride… I never anticipated it being like this; never in a million years," Smith says. "Right now, it's like a dream. I'm enjoying myself. I have always been a fan of horse racing. I just wanted to get a look at the other side of it. Sam helped me get into it and we ran into some good luck."
We Will See showed promise from the start, but it was not until his third year that co-owners, DePinto and Smith started to see their horse’s full potential. We Will See is one of Western racing horse Hanover-Aberdakara’s sons and he just barely survived a colic scare as a two-year-old. Shortly after this health scare, however, he opened a five and a half length win at The Meadows in 1:52.3 at the Keystone Classic that year. In the same year, he went on to win four out of six of his starts.
This year, as a three-year-old, he is only getting better with age. But will his abilities fade with age? Was it beginner’s luck? I guess we will see.
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