Lookout Victory - 3FT
bay filly, by Valley Victory
There is nothing about any of the connections of the filly trotter Lookout Victory that demand attention. Nothing except that they all keep ending up in the winners circle time after time. As defending Breeders Crown champion, Lookout Victory never enjoyed any of the ancillary honors that ordinarily come with winning a Crown event, even though her six-length cruise-control freshman effort over the identical Woodbine surface was as impressive a performance as any in the Crown. Closing the year with a tidy $300,000 bankroll and a Crown was sufficient for owner Olle Leven, who in his 15 years of racing horses had never experienced the kind of thrills provided by a racehorse the caliber of Lookout Victory.
Trainer Per Eriksson had picked Lookout Victory from the yearling sales for $40,000, making her one of the cheapest Valley Victorys of that crop. She was overshadowed by CR Kay Suzie, and that circumstance did not change in 1995. Since “Suzie” opted to take on the colts for most of the season, Lookout Victory annexed the Hambletonian Oaks, the World Trotting Derby Filly Division and the Buckette. As the Crown neared, two other daughters of Valley Victory flexed their muscles and diverted what small attention Lookout Victory had garnered towards their own sparkling efforts.
First Back To Victory won the filly division of the Kentucky Futurity over Lookout Victory. Then Lifelong Victory, who came with a Hall of Fame trainer, Stanley Dancer, a Hall of Fame driver, John Campbell, and an owner, Bob Suslow, whose stable has won no shortage of $1 million races, scared even Per Eriksson into doubting his filly.
“I want to avoid her,” he said. “And go where she doesn’t.”
Why? Beside those weighty connections, Lifelong Victory’s slate shone with 15 wins in 17 starts, her only two losses coming at the hooves of the aforementioned CR Kay Suzie. After getting off to a slow start in 1995, Lifelong Victory was six for six.
One of Lookout Victory’s connections, perhaps the most vital, has not been mentioned yet. John Patterson Jr. is known for his skill on the racetrack, but is loath to discuss the experience of a race before or even after the fact. Some of his biggest victories have been celebrated with a faint grin and a shrug of the shoulders. Luckily, being in touch with you
Trainer | Driver
Per Eriksson | John Patterson Jr.
The suspense mounted through the post parade, and as the gate sped away, John Campbell, behind Lifelong Victory, drove as if his mount was best, post eight notwithstanding. When Ms. Kitty B stubbornly took the lead early, Campbell rolled Lifelong Victory up on the outside, using Brylin Glory as cover, and when that one stalled, made a determined three-wide move to get the front away from those in possession. In her wake eased John Patterson, weaving Lookout Victory into position behind the favorite. Using that sixth sense that makes him an exceptional driver, Patterson hooked up with the leader. Onlookers, anticipating a battle for supremacy, instead watched in astonishment as Lookout Victory trotted right by the feared favorite and opened up a confident seven-length lead.
Lookout Victory, whose sire and grandsire both won Breeders Crowns, did them both one better and won two. She is the tenth trotter to do so. The double victory and more than $600,000 in earnings assuaged what pain Olle Leven may have felt at once again being ignored in the divisional balloting for CR Kay Suzie.
Performances like hers boosted the average Valley Victory yearling to close to $100,000 at the sales that fall, and Brittany Farms picked up their fourth Breeders Crown credit. Per Eriksson breathed a sigh of relief that he’d made the trip to Canada and it turned out well.
Purse $446,900
Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, ON - November 3, 1995
Extras
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