King's Plate 2024: Ladouceur's hands-on approach paying off with Rafaroo, Vitality
?q=100)
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Harold Ladouceur is a rare breed among trainers. The 57-year-old gallops many of his own horses, including the Stronach Stables runners Rafaroo and Vitality, who are both headed to the $1 million King’s Plate on Aug. 17.
Rafaroo and Vitality were in the same maiden race on the canceled July 14 card at Woodbine, after which they went their separate ways. The following Friday, Vitality graduated with authority in his first start as a gelding, a day before Rafaroo finished a bang-up second to heavily favored My Boy Prince in the Plate Trial Stakes.
“I was sad at first when they canceled,” Ladouceur recalled. “We knew they were both ready for a win. I didn’t want to run them back against each other and I had Rafaroo nominated to the Plate Trial.”
Ladouceur said he wasn’t surprised by Rafaroo’s strong showing in the nine-furlong Trial, which came on the heels of a first-out second when sprinting. The son of Hard Spun is trying to become the first maiden to win the Plate since Scatter the Gold in 2000 and the first to prevail in his third career start since the Stronach-owned Awesome Again in 1997.
“We knew he was good,” Ladouceur said. “He had a troubled trip in his first race. There was a lot of horse left. He just didn’t get to run to his full potential, but he came back and ran huge in the [Plate Trial]. I was so proud of him. He showed he could run and was still a little green.
“Vitality was first-time gelding and first-time Lasix. That paid off big. He’s not push-button. You have to really ride him. The jockeys really have to make him go. But once he gets going, there’s a lot of horse there. Once he got clear, he kept widening on them. He ran huge.”
Rafaroo had a setback last year. He wintered in Maryland along with Vitality and Ladouceur.
“Last year, he got injured, unfortunately,” Ladouceur said. “I was sad that we couldn’t run him as a 2-year-old. He’s such a nice horse. We had him at Laurel all winter and he’s plenty fit.
“Vitality was there too. He didn’t run like we thought he would in his first race back here, so we made the call to geld him. It obviously paid off. They’re both bred to go a distance, that’s for sure.”
Ladouceur said his first added-money winner, Paladin Bay, helped to show him the ropes. Paladin Bay won the 2013 Princess Elizabeth Stakes and the Grade 3 Selene the following year.
“I learned a lot from her,” Ladouceur said. “I made mistakes with her. I kinda know what to do now. It’s less pressure.”
Ladouceur is of indigenous heritage from Western Canada. Born in Alberta, he grew up on the Kikino Metis settlement in northern Alberta and is a member of the Saulteaux and Moosomin First Nations in Saskatchewan.
“I’ve got to be one of the first indigenous trainers ever to train a Plate horse,” he said.
Ladouceur was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame in March at a ceremony in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Founded in 2022, the NAIAHF recognizes outstanding leadership and achievement in individual and team athletics.
“I loved going there,” Ladouceur beamed. “It was awesome. My wife and kids were there with me. For a native, it’s cool. I met a lot of nice people – a lot of smart people. Some of them were lawyers and doctors, and they had me in there with them. I was like, holy!”
Ladouceur takes pride in his horsemanship and the way his charges act on the track.
“I’ve got a really good feel for a horse,” Ladouceur said. “My hands are sensitive. Jockeys say they love how, when they ride the horses I gallop, they can take a long cross and the horses go the way they’re supposed to go – not grab them right away and then they want to run off.”
Ladouceur has a 23-horse string at Woodbine and is assisted by wife, Jessie, who is an integral part of his operation.
:: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!
“We work together,” he said. “I set the feeds and she looks after them. I ride seven or eight. I use Jodeien Anderson and a couple of other riders in the morning. The jockeys come and help us out.”
Owner Frank Stronach’s late wife, Elfriede, attended the races regularly before she passed away in March at age 80. Ladouceur is hoping his Plate horses acquit themselves well in the 165th running of the race.
“Elfriede Stronach named them,” Ladouceur said. “Maybe we can do something big in the Plate, in her honor.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.