Woodbine's Beverley Chubb is getting deserved attention in 2022.

 At first Glance Beverley Chubb seem like the average horse trainer but after speaking with her I quickly realized that there is nothing average about her, at all!

She flies the flag of the smaller trainer around the track and amongst her peers she is recognized as one of the hardest-working people on the track.   It can also be heard from most people who know her.  In 2022 Beverley Chubb is having a spectacular year with thirteen wins and $291,459 purse earnings to date and there are still a couple more months left to go before it ends.

Based on the rate that she is moving she could surpass her highest purse earnings of $311,393 way back in 2004.

I had a chance to speak with Beverley Chubb about this season at Woodbine racetrack and also to learn a bit about her and the success she is experiencing this year.  As I walked into her barn she greets me with a smile with her eyes locked and her ears perked, obviously still being very aware of her surroundings and all the activity that is going on around her we got into conversation.  

Beverley Chubb

Beverley was born in Nassau Bahamas but then quickly moved to Bermuda at the tiny age of one year old, so technically she can be considered an island girl.  Moving to Canada at fifteen years old her life obviously took off and later on she landed a job in animations working with the popular children's show at the time "The Care Bears"!  That job didn't last too long since the company she was working for decided to move to Taiwan and Beverley didn't have plans of moving there.  

Being out of work isn't easy for most people in general, so after some deep thoughts and some offers to work at the racetrack, Beverley started galloping horses back in the late eighties at Woodbine racetrack.  Being around the horses was normal for her since she had always owned horses growing up so she took to the track and had been there since that time.  After several years of galloping horses and being an assistant trainer, Beverley decided to become a trainer and take the lead role in her own barn.  This came about after she was offered an opportunity to train a claimed horse and she did not say no to it.  I ask her what made her decide to become a trainer and she replied that it was a natural progression with the direction that she was heading toward after several years.

The move from assistant to the trainer wasn't too difficult for her back in those days and she was able to get by without much difficulty.  I ask her who was the one person that had inspired her to actually become a trainer and she quickly replied that it was Daniel Vella.  She was down in Louisiana at the fair Grounds with just one horse and a gentleman was looking for a trainer to look after some horses for him and Daniel Vella recommended her.  She will forever be grateful for that moment when he recommended her, she confessed.  Daniel Vella also was a mentor to her and he helped her along the way with water buckets and feed tubs and other training equipment if she was ever short of them.

I asked her what was the one moment on the track that will always be planted in her memory.  Irish Cherry!  Irish Cherry was one of the horses she trained and as a racehorse, she earned just $147,280.000,  originally sold for $1100 as a weanling, and then, later on, was bought for 2.7 million dollars as a mare.  She confessed that those are the stories that continue to keep guys like herself involved in the business even though at some times it can be very rough on them.  

I asked Beverley about the guys who ride for her on a regular basis like Juan Crawford and she had very pleasant and encouraging things to say.  Juan Crawford works really hard she said to me.  "He gets on the bad ones and he tries hard and does such a great job with them that it is only fair that I give him some of the better ones also".  Horse racing is the kind of sport that you can't say no to the good jockeys but she definitely chooses to always remember the guys who have been good to her over the years.  Beverley doesn't have the top prize at Woodbine on her bucket list and her involvement in horse racing is much more personal than the accolades which come with it. She praises guys like Lorenzo Thompson who has worked with her for fifteen years and all the guys who continue to put in the effort that they do at the track.

Beverley Chubb and Juan Crawford teamed up.

She states that she has been very fortunate this year to win the races she did and she appreciates the recognition from everyone who has noticed.  

Horse racing isn't a job for her or for many others who are involved.  It is a lifestyle and could be very misunderstood by others who are not involved with it.

derek.barntrack@gmail.com