Wally’s Choice, with over $427,000 in career earnings, is closing in on Blair’s Cove’s all-time record of $533,528 for Minnesota bred race horses. Owned by Wally and Joyce McNeil, and Canterbury Park Board Chairman Curtis Sampson, the horse will race at Canterbury Park on August 20 and September 3, and in November will race in Oklahoma. Wally, known to many as “Wally the Beerman,” said if his horse remains healthy the earnings record may well be broken before the year ends.
Involved with ownership for 11 years, McNeil said there was no predicting Wally’s Choice would be such a success story. “You never know with any horse how good it’s going to be. He’s got a big heart (Wally’s Choice is a come from behind performer). He’s one of those freaks, a once in a lifetime type of horse.”
It’s a crap shoot to predict whether a horse will become a winner but Wally’s Choice’s granddad, Storm Cat, sure has credibility. The Kentucky based Storm Cat earns $500,000 when he sires a live foal.