Poulin In OT SCORES
- HBPA
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
By Steve Buffery
If there was anyone destined to become involved in The Sport of Kings, it was veteran Woodbine trainer Steve Owens.
You might say it was in the stars.
“I was born over a betting shop in England,” Owens said recently, while chatting inside his office in barn 15 at the Woodbine backstretch. “My grandmother used to put me on the kitchen table with a pen, and I’d pick the winners (in horse races). I was very lucky.”
A self-described “Scouser” (native of Liverpool), Owens joked that “my fate was done” by the time he was a little kid, and his future would be in thoroughbred racing.
In 1968, Steve’s father Robert immigrated to Canada and the rest of the family followed a couple of years later when Steve was seven. The family settled in Malton and before long Steve and his friends would trek over to nearby Woodbine Racetrack to watch the races. (One of his childhood friends was future NHL Hall of Fame defenceman Paul Coffey). It wasn’t long before he was hooked.
Owens did various jobs around the track, including becoming a hot walker for trainer Sam Dixon, as well as an exercise rider. In his late 20’s, he bought his first horse, Miss Ottavia, from trainer Frank Grupposo for $500.
“He bought her out of a sale and one night he was drinking, and she had a crooked leg, and he said: ‘Kid, do you want this horse?’ And I said, ‘Sure.’ And he said: ‘Give me $500 now and $500 when she wins.’ “
A sound investment. Miss Ottavia finished her career with six wins, three seconds and six thirds in 44 starts and earned $44,259 US.
This year marks Owens’ 35th season at Woodbine and the multiple graded stakes winner has every reason to be optimistic heading into the 2026 campaign which begins on April 18.
Owens, along with his co-trainer and partner Tara Neigel, is coming off an impressive winter campaign at Gulfstream Park race track in Hallandale Beach, Florida, where they won three races, along with a second and three thirds, in 12 starts for earnings of $83,880 (US). Even better, Owens’ top horse – the six-year-old chestnut gelding Poulin in OT – is back after recovering from a serious injury that kept the son of Reload out of the Dance Brightly mare Town Dance on the sidelines for close to eight months. Poulin in OT raced for the first time in almost a year on March 22 at Gulfstream, winning an optional claiming race for a purse of $42,000 (US) by a length and half.
“I thought it was an amazing performance, coming off the bench (hockey pun intended) after eight months,” said Owens. “We knew he was going to run his race. And we’re very happy with the result. When he goes to the races, he performs at 110%. And he’s still on top of his game.”
Owens has Poulin in OT (named after Canadian national women’s hockey team legend Marie-Philip Poulin) pencilled in for the $100,000 Thorncliffe Stakes on May 3 for his return to action at Woodbine – a 5 1/5 furlongs sprint for four-year-olds and upwards. A win in the Thorncliffe certainly isn't a pie in the sky dream, even though last spring Poulin in OT was diagnosed with a serious injury that required surgery.
“He had this floating chip in his ankle and he was operated on by one of Canada’s best veterinarians,” said Owens, referring to Dr. Orlaith Cleary, the wife of former Woodbine jockey champion Eurico Rosa Da Silva. “It was a great result. Dr. Vicky Banks, our professional vet here at Woodbine, monitored him and we had a good team.”
Owens said he and his team were very patient with Poulin.
“He never left the shedrow (during his recovery) with the intention of going to Gulfstream, getting back on the racetrack and getting him moving forward so he can come back as a top-quality horse here at Woodbine,” said Owens. “Our intention was to bring him back 100% and look forward to a good campaign this year with him.”
Given his performance at Gulfstream, a good Woodbine campaign seems to be in the cards. Owens would be over the moon, of course, for Poulin in OT to open his Woodbine season with a victory in the Thorncliffe but there’s another reason the veteran trainer would love to see his homebred star do well in 2026. With $416,264 (US) in earnings, Poulin in OT sits just under $2,000 shy of the winnings collected by Owens’ all-time top earner, Elgin Stakes winning Head Chopper.
“Two things I was aiming for this year,” said Owens. “I was aiming for (Poulin in OT) to be the top (son of) Reload in Canada and for him to surpass my No.1 earner, Head Chopper. And I’m on that goal still. I think going 5 ½, five furlongs, up to six, he can run with the best of them.”
Poulin in OT has already shown – particularly during his juvenile campaign in 2022 when he was nominated for a Sovereign Award as Canada’s Champion two-year-old male – that he CAN run with the best. In 21 career starts, Poulin in OT has recorded eight wins with two seconds and five thirds – winning the Lake Erie Stakes as a three-year-old and the Frost King, Bull Page Stakes and Victoria Stakes at two.
Poulin in OT was bred by Owens and his late wife Beverly Lewis-Owens at the family farm in Kleinburg, Ontario. The pair started some wonderful horses over the years, including Highland Legacy, who was bought at the Canadian Breeders Yearling sale in 1999 and went on to win numerous stakes triumphs, garnering over $400,000 in earnings and winning the Sovereign Award in 2000 as Champion Two-year-old.
Sadly, Bev died in 2024 – the second of two heart-breaking tragedies to befall Owens during his life. In 2022, a barn fire at the Woodbine backstretch resulted in 14 of his horses perishing. Owens said a number of trainers who also lost horses during that fire never came back.
“That was brutal,” he said. “We had to start from scratch.”
“I have had some setbacks in my life, but I’ve managed to stay in the game,” said Owens. “This is my passion in life. It keeps me going in the morning. I’d never thought of giving up.”
Having a standout in the barn like Poulin in OT helps keep Owens’ enthusiasm high, though the long-time Woodbine conditioner smiled when asked about the origin of Poulin in OT’s name.
“My wife and her girlfriends used to sit around the table picking names for horses after they were bred and I don’t think they realized he was a gelding,” Owens said with a laugh. “(Poulin’s) big thing (as a hockey player) was she was a clutch player in overtime and they were looking for a good name. I never told them (that he was a male). And I don’t think that they cared.”
“But he’s not offended,” Owens added, with a laugh. “As long as you give him his mints, he’s happy. He eats 30-40 mints a day.”
Taken aback, Owens’ visitor asks if horses can get diabetes.
“Well, if they do, he would have it,” Owens said, smiling still.
Comments