ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Bare Is Best. That’s the name of the 4-year-old colt who was a 45-1 upsetter in a $12,500 starter allowance at 1 1/4 miles here Wednesday evening. It also describes the philosophy of Bare Is Best’s trainer, Marc Blouin, who celebrates the racehorse in its natural state. That methodology involves keeping all of his horses on the farm, turning them out daily, eschewing the use of horseshoes and Lasix, and keeping intact the males when at all possible. Blouin, 51, was born in Quebec on a Standardbred farm and had spent 11 years training that breed south of the border before returning to Canada 15 years ago and switching his allegiance to Thoroughbreds in 2001. Blouin, operating from his rented farm in the Brantford, Ontario, area with the help of his wife and assistant, Belinda, has never wavered from the ideals that he brought to his new game. “Wednesday night was the first time I ever had a horse sleep at the track,” Blouin said. That happened only because Bare Humor finished last in the same race as stablemate Bare Is Best and came out of the race sick. “I couldn’t ship her,” he said. “I had to leave the two of them there.” Bare Humor, a 5-year-old mare, had given Blouin his only previous winner of the meeting when she captured a conditioned $10,000 claiming race at 51-1. Bare Is Best had spent six hours in a field Wednesday before shipping in for his evening performance. “I turn them out, and I can’t keep shoes on them when I turn them out,” Blouin said. “My mares are all out together; there’s a herd of them. I even have stud colts up to 2 and 3 years of age which I keep together. I can’t throw them out together, they’d get hurt. “Every horse goes out every day for from four to eight hours.” Blouin believes that racing without shoes on the Polytrack actually is an advantage. “I probably have no advantage on dirt and turf, but I do believe being barefoot on Poly gives me an advantage for soundness,” he said. Blouin’s aversion to the use of Lasix stems from a similar system of beliefs. He believes Lasix increases the level of bicarbonate in a horse, which can result in enhanced performance. “I don’t believe I should compromise a horse’s welfare to make him run,” he said. Gelding also is not part of Blouin’s regular modus operandi. “I don’t cut my colts unless they’re really, really aggressive,” the trainer said. “Natural testosterone is my reasoning around that. I find that if you handle them the right way, they’re not that hard to handle.” Blouin has five horses of racing age, five broodmares, a couple of yearlings, and five weanlings. “I’ve got a nice 2-year-old colt, Warriors Don’t Cry, that I’m hoping will do well,” Blouin said. “I also have a yearling filly, Pump It Up, who I really like.” In the meantime, Blouin will be looking to keep Bare Is Best at extended distances, with a 1 7/8-mile starter allowance traditionally scheduled for closing day and perhaps the 1 3/4-mile Valedictory Stakes among his options. But whatever may transpire, Blouin is confident that his love of the game and the horse will not waver. “I enjoy it,” said Blouin, “and I want to make sure that when I look at the horse at the end of the day I’ve done everything I can to make him happy and healthy, and that he enjoys what he’s doing and that he’s not doing it for my own welfare.” Pair of Bears for Coronation Trainer Reade Baker is hoping that a Bear is best when he sends out Asserting Bear and Man O’Bear for the Bear Stable of Danny Dion in Sunday’s $250,000 Coronation Futurity. The two raced last time out in the Cup and Saucer, with Asserting Bear ending third and Man O’Bear fifth in that 1 1/16-mile race on soft turf. “Asserting Bear ran green; I took the blinkers off him,” Baker said. “He tried to get in down the lane. If that didn’t happen, I think he would have got his picture taken.” While Asserting Bear will be running on Polytrack for the first time, Baker does not expect the transition to be a problem. “All of his gate works had to be there,” Baker said. Man O’Bear, on the other hand, graduated in impressive fashion over 1 1/16 miles on the Polytrack. “I think he prefers Poly,” Baker said. 35 years on the scene As I ride off into the sunset, figuratively speaking, I would like to thank my colleagues at Daily Racing Form, all horseplayers, the denizens of the backstretch, industry members, my press box comrades, and employees of the Woodbine Entertainment Group for making my 35-year career a never-ending source of satisfaction. And, of course, I thank the horses. They’re what it’s all about.