Through their days together of operating
Gum Tree Stable in the rural town
of Gum Tree, Pa., the husband and wife
team of Laura and Larry Ensor has maintained
virtual anonymity in the Thoroughbred
racing world while Larry is much
better known among the steeplechase
set. But one of their products recently
notched his first stakes victory to give the
couple a little limelight.
On the afternoon of Saturday, October
12 at Parx, Winchill garnered the
first stakes victory of his career when he
rallied from just off the pace to capture
the $75,000 First Responder Stakes by
three-quarters of a length over fellow
Pennsylvania-bred Norman Asbjornson.
The 5-year-old son of Tapit out of the
graded stakes-placed Phone Trick mare
Exclusive Hold covered the mile and a
sixteenth over the main track – the race
was originally scheduled on the turf –
in 1:43.20 for his second win in seven
starts this year and his fifth victory from
21 career outings, pushing his lifetime
total to $266,094.
“One of the first Christmas presents I
ever got was a pitchfork,” Larry Ensor said.
“I learned how to use it quite efficiently.
I spent four years at the Fasig-Tipton
sales company before opening my own
bloodstock agency in Lexington, Ky., the
Wall Street of Thoroughbred breeding. I
did that for 20 years and then moved to
Pennsylvania to our current farm. I know
basically every major breeder in the industry
and if I don’t I know someone that
does.”
Winchill launched his career in good
fashion, winning a maiden special weight
at Ellis Park in his debut in September
2010 for Heiligbrodt Racing Stable.
When that stable dispersed less than
a year later, Pewter Stable purchased
the 3-year-old winner of two races for
$52,000. Trained by Kathleen DeMasi
for the partership of Robert Levy, Pewter
Racing and Alex Karkenny and racing in
Pennsylvania, Winchill won an allowance
in November 2011 at Parx after placing
in two stakes earlier that fall. He wouldn’t
return to the winner’s circle until this past
August at Parx, a span of 21 months. But
his first stakes tally did not require as
lengthy a wait.
Larry Ensor is still active on the steeplechase
scene, while Laura Ensor remains
very active in every aspect of the
stables, the breeding and foaling of the
horses and daily activities in the shedrow.
The Ensors are equally as active with the
training of Off-The-Track-Thoroughbreds,
including getting back horses they’ve
bred, reschooling and sending them on
to new homes and new careers. And they
encourage others to do the same.
