Top Driver Returns to California

The story sounds familiar, one that is right out of a Bing Crosby vehicle of the 1930s or ‘40s. Going My Way, maybe?

The characters include a young boy who loves animals, horses in particular. Then there is the local priest who is presented a horse by a wealthy parishioner. Naturally, the beast is uncontrollable until the youngster is given the opportunity to care for him.

And the priest takes the kid to the track, yes, the racetrack, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Well, in the case of Marc Aubin, it may indeed have been that good father who instilled a love for racing horses that hasn’t diminished in more than 40 years.

“We only went once,” says Aubin today of that trip to see the trotters and pacers in his native Quebec City. Once, in this case, was enough.

Today, Aubin, 56, has established a reputation as one of standardbred (harness) racing’s finest horsemen.

And after an absence of more than three years, he has returned to Los Alamitos with seven horses for the spring meet that continues through April 14.

The reason? That’s easy. It’s the same one that is pointed to time and time again by newcomers competing at Los Alamitos these nights.

“When Lloyd Arnold bought the place, he didn’t have to call me about coming back. In fact, I called him when I heard the news,” says Aubin. “He’s an excellent promoter and the man for us.

“The outlook for us is better than ever,” he enthuses. “I foresee us getting back on top again.”

The newly-found optimism at Los Alamitos takes different shapes. For instance, Aubin has been approached by potential new clients who wish to purchase racing stock. And twice he has claimed--attempted to buy a horse out of a race for a stipulated price--only to lose a “shake” to another claimant.

A few years ago, any claim at a Los Alamitos harness meeting was about as common as a local summer thunderstorm.

The star of the Aubin shedrow is a three-year-old colt named Tommy Mohawk, who won five of seven races in 1989. It is possible the young pacer will compete before the Los Alamitos stand concludes, but the main objective is a rich series of races for Illinois-breds later in the year at Sportsman’s Park, near Chicago.

Aubin purchased the colt at a yearling auction for just $3,000. It took precisely two minutes--the time Tommy Mohawk required to record a win in his first start--to convince one Chicagoan to offer Aubin $150,000 for the horse. There was no deal, and the colt will carry a rich reputation into action this year under Aubin’s direction.

That early trip to the races with the priest and his affinity for horses notwithstanding, the racing bug didn’t bite Aubin right away. This is not the story of a kid who hung around the track. Instead, he opted to join the Canadian Air Force while still in his teens and remained there for 14 years.

Aubin stayed close to horses whenever possible while in the service. He showed horses for friends at county fairs, but his career path was determined during another eventful trip to the racetrack.

“There was an old man, trying to sell a mare,” he recalls. “I bought her and was on my way.”

The racing newcomer obtained his driving and training licenses and began competing in the sulky world of the mid-1960s--in Quebec during the summer and Montreal during the spring and fall.

Aubin crossed the border into the United States for good in 1971, traveling to Florida, Michigan and Chicago with noted horsemen Billy Haughton and Henri Filion.

Striking out on his own, he came West in 1972 and his red, white and blue colors were a Southern California staple for more than a dozen seasons.

Of the many fine pacers and trotters campaigned by Aubin over the years here, he calls Spry Sam the best. Another pacer, La Valaise, also was double-tough against invitational stock, the best horses competing at the track.

But hard times hit the sulky industry in Southern California and Aubin left in 1986. “I just couldn’t make a living here,” he explained, and back to Chicago and other environs he went, seeking a year-around schedule.

Now, plans call for him to split time between California and Illinois. After the current meet ends, he’ll take his stock to Maywood Park for about a month, “to let the horses acclimate.” Then comes a summer assault on Sportsman’s Park, a five-eighths oval like Los Alamitos.

Then back here for the second harness meeting, scheduled to begin in mid-August. Hopefully by then Tommy Mohawk really will have made a name for himself.

Aubin has started something of a family tradition in the game. Son Matt works alongside his father while brother Gene and his son John toil for competing barns here. Marc’s wife Kimberly edits an Illinois standardbred magazine and has her own trotter, which she drives in competition.

Those patriotic colors keep turning up in the bike, and as long as harness racing thrives somewhere, fans figure to be seeing them for some time yet.