The 30 straight wins
by Lisa Harkema
Ask somebody to name a horse with 30 straight wins and they will probably be able to do so: pacing fans will probably answer Bret Hanover, French and European trotting fans will probably answer Tenor de Baune while Coldblood enthusiasts will undoubtedly bring up Järvsöfaks. Most likely only Canadian trotting fans bring up A Worthy Lad, whose exploits unfortunately have already started to be forgotten.
The legendary Canadian colt was bred by Joe Johnston, track veterinarian at Windsor Raceway and recipient of the 2002 Windsor Raceway’s Good Guy Award, together with his father Ross. A son of Worthy Bowl, a very good stallion in Canada who had some temper issues at the beginning of his career, he had inherited some of his sire’s early unruliness. As a yearling he was eventually broken by Mark Austin, but not before giving him several challenges, and then put in the training of William “Bud” Fritz. Though a challenge for Austin, when turned over to Fritz the colt was the consummate professional, never taking a wrong step though he got the gait wrong initially: “Lad was challenging at first but once he settled down he was good to work around. He paced for the first 2 weeks but once he hit the trot he never left it,” recalls Brad Fritz, the trainer’s son.
As a two-year-old, A Worthy Lad – or just “Lad” – made 17 starts in 1989 – resulting in 17 wins. He competed primarily in Ontario Sire Stakes races. Back then there were no Grassroots or Gold series of the OSS, so A Worthy Lad had to race against the best in the province immediately. Fritz would usually play out A Worthy Lad’s speed in the middle section, get to the lead and control the race from there, usually winning very comfortably. “Once he started trotting he was a natural. I think after about his fifth straight win my dad knew they had something special,” adds Fritz. Owner Joe Johnston later said “He’s really been blessed … right from the first race he ever did. He’s just that smart and that fast.”