Adam Wachtel, part-owner of the Bill Mott-trained 2020 Champion Turf Male Channel Maker, said the 8-year-old English Channel gelding will remain in training in 2023.
The earner of over $3.7 million was seventh in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf on November 5 at Keeneland last out to cap off a season that included victories in the Elkhorn (G2) in April at Keeneland and the Grand Couturier in July at Belmont Park.
“Physically, the horse looks unbelievable. He's 8-years-old and Bill and his staff said this summer that he looks better now than he did two years ago,” Wachtel said. “He's all dappled out and he looks phenomenal, and he hasn't lost anything. As long as he is physically well enough, we see no reason why we shouldn't go on with him. He's getting a little break, but he's not leaving the track. We probably won't run him until late February at the earliest.”
Channel Maker, bred in Ontario by Tall Oaks Farm, has won some of the NYRA circuit's premier events for turf horses, including the 2019 Man o' War (G1), 2020 Sword Dancer Invitational (G1) and 2018 and 2020 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (G1).
Also co-owned by Gary Barber, R. A. Hill Stable, and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Channel Maker was bred in Ontario by Tall Oaks Farm. He won the 2017 Sovereign Award as Canada's Champion 3-Year-Old Male.
The post ‘The Horse Looks Unbelievable’: Former Champion Channel Maker To Stay In Training In 2023 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
