River Bear still full of surprises, even at age 9

STICKNEY, Ill. – When River Bear rallied from 18 lengths back to win the Robert S. Molaro Stakes by a half-length April 19 at Hawthorne, he gave the startling impression of a 9-year-old gelding somehow still on top of his game.

That’s what trainer Rusty Hellman is seeing, too, and Hellman and owner-breeder Dana Waier are giving serious consideration to sending River Bear into graded stakes competition for the first time in his 56th career start. River Bear is nominated for the Grade 2, $400,000 Churchill Downs Stakes on the Kentucky Derby card, and Hellman said there’s a good chance his horse will ship to Kentucky and run in the race.

“I’m trying to find something for him to tell me not to go, but so far, I haven’t,” said Hellman. “I’ve always placed him well – never tried him in a graded stakes – but he’s outrun so many graded stakes winners. Why not give it a try? To me, the last time he went to the track, he looked like a fire-breathing dragon out there.”

River Bear, by Unreal Zeal, has won 20 of his 55 starts in a career dating to June 2007. He has won seven Illinois-bred stakes and placed in several others and has earned more than $900,000. River Bear’s bankroll would be pushing $1 million had his 2013 campaign not been interrupted twice by injury, limiting him to just three starts that added only about $15,000 to his earnings. Last winter, River Bear suffered a minor splint bone injury, and in the fall, he developed an abscess in a hoof that cost him a couple months. Both problems cost River Bear starts in six-figure Illinois-bred sprint stakes at Hawthorne, but he bounced back to his old self this past winter and has started his 9-year-old season 2 for 2.

“It amazes me with the age he is and his durability,” Hellman said. “He really trains as good now as he ever has. He just defies all odds.”