The few faithful fans on-track at The Meadowlands for the 4 p.m. qualifying session on March 29 along with those watching via the internet from afar saw something a bit “off color” going around the track. A rare pinto raced in the sixth qualifier and finished third in his first charted line in North America. By definition a pinto is a horse whose coat consists of large patches of white and any other color. The appropriately named Always B Colour shows white covering its shoulders, legs and tail. He arrived here via Ireland with a worldwide profile as a 4-year-old son of U.S. champion Always B Miki out of Momma Said. At the same time that his pedigree goes back to stateside standout Meadow Skipper on one branch of his breeding, it also roots from the far side of the planet. “He’s Australian bred but born in Ireland. His great-great grandmother was a New Zealand-bred, I believe, by a sire from New Zealand,” said Shane Tritton, who trains the horse for Shane R. Curtin of Ireland. “We saw this horse over at the VDM [Vincent Delaney Memorial] when we went over there and fell in love with him. The owners reached out to us to see if we would take him over. Basically he is here to prove that he is the fastest pinto in history, that’s the goal.” According to Tritton and somewhat confirmed via a Google search, 1:56 4/5 appears to be the fastest-ever mile by a pinto in Europe. A story on HarnessLink cites a 2015 record set in Dublin by White Flame. “As far as we can tell and we’ve had quite a few people interested in this, the fastest winning mile rate for a pinto is 1:56 4/5 and that was set in Ireland. Hopefully we can take care of that fairly quickly, but as a horse in general, forget his color, we are really excited about him. He’s got a lot of ability and we’re super pleased with him,” said Tritton. Always B Colour arrived in the United States with a record of two wins in 15 starts and just over $9,000 in earnings. His recent lines in Great Britain have all been in the 2:00 range and he hadn’t started since August 2024, so there was no reason to expect much in last Saturday’s qualifier. With driver Lauren Tritton in tow, when he set fractions of 28, 57 and 1:24 3/5 while on the lead and eventually was timed in 1:52 for his mile, it was clear that there is at least some ability resting inside his multi-colored coat. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter “He’s got a lot of expectation on him. A lot of people haven’t seen him yet but when people do they get pretty excited. I think he’s going to turn a few heads because not only is he beautiful but he’s pretty fast,” said Shane Tritton, who refused to make a firm statement on how good his new trainee may be down the road. “Let’s just let him show that himself,” said Tritton, who will send Always B Colour out in race five on Saturday (April 5) at The Meadowlands. “He gets to start in a maiden. He’s got to learn to race in America like a lot of these Irish horses do. We don’t want to put any pressure on him, he’s got enough already.” A large contingent of about 20 people from outside the area showed up to see Always B Colour qualify, and should he start winning that fan base is only going to grow given his unique coloring. The U.S. really hasn’t seen a successful pinto in the Standardbred industry. According to United States Trotting Association (USTA) records, Extra Suds, a 3-year-old son of Lather Up, is the richest registered pinto in the last 25 years. A moderately colored colt with white mostly on his legs and belly, Extra Suds earned $122,351 in his first year of racing in 2024 for lessee owner/trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. Interestingly he has a lifetime mark of 1:53 2/5, making him at least the co-record holder in North America with Excellent Choice, a 4-year-old that took his mark in 2024 while also in the Morgan barn. A son of Courtly Choice with only a very modest amount of white on his legs and belly, he now races in the Steve Carter barn and sits second in career pinto earnings over the last quarter century at just $22,969. “As long as I’ve been training I haven’t seen many [pintos] but it has been more common recently,” said Morgan, who likes what he has in Extra Suds. “He paced in [1:]51 a couple of times last year and he’s training down really good. He’ll qualify in a few weeks.” Starblazer is a 2-year-old for trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. that could qualify as a pinto. The USTA lists only 10 full Standardbred pintos in its database dating back to 1999, but there have likely been more since sometimes horses just get listed as having “markings” as opposed to getting their color changed to pinto. Such seems to be the case with a Downbytheseaside 2-year-old currently in the Morgan barn named Starblazer. He has white on his belly, shoulder and right front leg but is listed as “bay”. “Starblazer is training as good as any of the 49 2-year-olds I have in my barn now, though it is early,” said Morgan. There is also the issue of what constitutes a Standardbred. A few pintos raced in the last 25 years that are considered non-standard. This occurs when one parent is a Standardbred and the other is from another breed. They were allowed to race in the U.S. at the time they competed but those horses are no longer permitted to hit the track. Perhaps the most prominent of that group is Jakarta Partygirl, a 6-year-old daughter of Googoo Gaagaa who competed for Knutsson Trotting Inc. as a 2- and 3-year-old in 2021 and 2022. “Partygirl’s dam, Fancy Starlark, is a full pinto and owned by Laura [Young] from Southwind Farms,” said Knutsson Trotting’s Tristan Sjoberg. “She knew I, or more accurately my mum, has a special penchant for white and odd colored horses. We bought her [foal] by return email and decided to rename her Jakarta Partygirl in recognition of the city we were in at the time.” Interestingly, just as Starblazer isn’t properly listed as pinto, sometimes the opposite can happen. Sjoberg owns a 2-year-old Captain Corey-sired colt named Nebbiolo that is completely white but listed as pinto. “He is all white. He had an Indian hat when he was born but that has disappeared,” said Sjoberg, who is excited about the colt’s prospects. “He trained in 2:22 with ease when I was there and Åke [Svanstedt, trainer] thinks it will be our best white horse and a real contender for top honors in his cohort.” Regardless of what color you prefer, now more than ever there seems to be a Standardbred for everyone’s palate on the track. Of course, few will catch the eye quite as easily as Always B Colour, and beyond attempting to become the fastest pinto, perhaps he can serve a greater purpose for the industry as a whole by captivating a general audience with his unique coat and also bringing a few more eyes to harness racing.