GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Norm Tremblay traveled 2,300 miles from his home in Grande Prairie in Alberta, Canada, to Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas, to watch a horse he owns in partnership, Heroic Move, win the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile for the second time in his career Monday.
Tremblay’s next trip could be to Altoona, Iowa, for the Grade 3, $300,000 Cornhusker Handicap on July 11 at Prairie Meadows.
Heroic Move is under serious consideration for the race after emerging from the Steve Sexton Mile in good order, trainer Robertino Diodoro said Tuesday.
“He came back very good,” he said. “We kind of discussed plans a little bit last night, but at the same time, we wanted to see how he came back this morning and make sure he trains back well. We’ll probably point towards the Cornhusker, I would think.”
Heroic Move was second by a neck in last year’s Cornhusker. In the Sexton Mile, he closed through the stretch for a 1 1/2-length win and equaled his best career Beyer Speed Figure, a 99.
“The way he ran yesterday, we need a pace to run at and we were fortunate enough to get that,” Diodoro said. “But he ran big. He ran the way he’d been training into the race. When a horse does that, it always makes you feel good because, of course, that doesn’t’ always happen. But when a horse is giving you signs of a big performance and then he comes up with one, it’s always nice to see.”
Diodoro won the Sexton Mile for the fourth straight year Monday. Heroic Move had previously won the race in 2024, and with his win Monday, his earnings surpassed $1.2 million. The race is the richest Thoroughbred offering in Texas.
“One of the owners – we’ve got a group text – he said ‘He’s taken us on a great journey,’ ” Diodoro said.
Heroic Move was a private purchase by his current ownership a few starts into his career, Diodoro said. The group, which largely hails from Alberta, is always on the lookout for a 3-year-old for the Western Canadian series of derbies.
Sky Promise swept the series in 2018 for many of the same owners of Heroic Move and earned the Sovereign Award as Canada’s champion 3-year-old. Some of the members of the group also won the Canadian Derby with Great Escape.
Diodoro is a native of Calgary, Alberta, who started his training career in Western Canada.
“For me, it’s a pretty special group,” he said. “They’re not just clients, they’re friends. And there’s never any pressure to do this or that. They let me do my job and let the horses tell you when they’re ready, and I think that makes my job easier, too. It’s really been quite a team, quite a partnership.”
The group’s ownership includes Randy Howg, a farmer based in Alberta.
“My first real owner was Randy Howg, 31 years ago,” Diodoro said. “And then his cousins, they all farm by him, and they were in horse racing already, and they got into the stable. All the Wiests – Rick, Clayton, and Lana.”
Tremblay was introduced to Diodoro by the late Bob Butz, who had Canadian Derby winner Broadway Empire with Diodoro.
“Norm Tremblay is from Grande Prairie, Alberta, which is as about as far north as you can get,” Diodoro said.
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Tremblay, Howg, and some of the Wiests made the trip to Lone Star for the Sexton Mile on Monday.
Another partner in the group is Tim Rollingson, who met Diodoro at a horse sale in Alberta. A longtime member of the group, Gary Kropp, died last year. But his wife, Janet, and daughter Sheila remain active in the partnership, Diodoro said.
“Gary Kropp was a huge part of our group,” Diodoro said.
Arnold Bennewith is the lone member not from Alberta. He’s from British Columbia, Diodoro said. Their connection came through Bennewith’s son Lance, who surprised Diodoro one day while the men were at Turf Paradise.
“Lance Bennewith coached me in hockey when I was like 10, 12 years old,” Diodoro said. “I hadn’t seen him in years and years. We just started talking and he said ‘My dad has a horse in British Columbia,’ and the next thing you know, Lance called and said ‘I think my dad wants to send you this horse.’ ”
Diodoro said the group is currently sorting out its prospects for the upcoming 3-year-old derbies in Western Canada, and some of the group members have been active at the sales.
“We have been buying more yearlings and we went to the last couple of 2-year-olds in training sales,” Diodoro said. “We plan to go again to the June sale in Ocala. We’re trying to get the horse that will take us to the Breeders’ Cup or Kentucky Derby.”
Tremblay and the team will no doubt be looking forward to the trip.
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