Connect It, Alysha Robillard and Gage Travis

Success Story: Connect It, Alysha Robillard and Gage Travis

Photo is Alysha Robillard and Connect It

by Norm Files

Alysha Robillard met Connect It  this past winter in West Virginia while she was training a string of horses at Mountaineer Park and a nearby farm.

The weather was cold and miserable when she was approached by an owner who wanted his mare posted for sale on Alysha's side business, A1 Thoroughbreds, which offers retired racehorses for sale.

“She was pretty skinny and didn't look too good,” said Alysha, 22, who was accompanied by her partner, Gage Travis, 25.

Connect It, a 6-year-old Louisiana-bred by Connect, had not raced since October 2024.

Alysha could not offer the mare for sale based on her appearance but eventually the owner gave the mare to the couple for free.

“We thought we would just give her a lot of TLC and get her eating better and see what happened.” said Alysha, whose mother Julie Mathes has been Fort Erie's perennial leading trainer. At first, the mare didn't seem to be happy and she even kicked Gage bad enough he had to go to the hospital.

But eventually, Connect It thrived in the care of Alysha and Gage and soon gave the signs that she was eager to race again. “She really was looking good, her exercise riders liked her a lot and so we put her back in training.”

After three outings on the dirt at Mountaineer, Connect It was sent to Fort Erie and trainer Joshua Robillard, Alysha's father, with an eye for grass racing, a surface she had shown to like a few years earlier.

On June 23, Connect It won a turf race at 'about' seven furlongs at 11 to 1, drawing off by a length under Chris Husbands. Her winning Beyer Speed Figure of 58 was easily the best number of her career. On Canada Day, Connect It came back with a second place finish over a sloppy track.

“I'm hoping she might be my first broodmare,” said Gage, who has been in racing about six years. “I am looking to bring a stallion to Ontario from Mountaineer too.”

Photo is Gage Travis and Connect It by Mary Jane Sibbett

Gage, who does not come from a horse background, simply fell in love with horses as a teenager. He works as Mathes's assistant at Mountaineer in the winter and grooms for her during the summer, “I'm diving right in.”

More success with Connect It would certainly help the couple of their quest to dip their toes into the breeding aspect of racing.