The Canadian Sportsman
Archive for January, 2010
January 26, 2010
Andy Miller needed a garden hose to blast away the clay after a rain-soaked day at The Red Mile in 2009 (in this Claus Andersen photo).
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January 26, 2010
Five trainers from Down Under have won 17 U.S. division titles between them at the Dan Patch Awards.
Brett Pelling’s won eight titles with seven horses. Noel Daley has won four titles with two horses. Chris Ryder (above Claus Andersen photo) and Ross Croghan have won two titles apiece and Richard “Nifty” Norman has one title to his credit.
Pelling also did something that will never be equaled. He won his first three Meadowlands Pace finals without any of them earning the division title that year — Davids Pass (‘95), Dream Away (‘97) and The Panderosa (‘99).
Generation gap
In many sports, your early 30s can — and are — your prime years. But that is most certainly not the case in harness racing. In our sport, it seems the best years either come before or after a driver becomes a 30-something. Consider each drivers’ best years ever:
Tim Tetrick — $19,752,066 when he was 27
Yannick Gingras — $9,768,048 when he was 29
Jason Bartlett — $10.8 million at age 28
Dave Palone — $10,719,408 at 47
Dave Miller — $12,195,868 at 44
Jim Morrill, Jr. $8,217,408 at 45
John Campbell — $14,184,863 at 46
Brian Sears — $16,667,090 at 40
Ron Pierce — $14,439,087 at 50
Mike Lachance — $10,696,993 at 50
Cat Manzi — had his seven richest seasons ever between the ages of 53 and 59
January 25, 2010
In our ongoing attempt to salute the small victories we hope one day, taken together, will produce larger victories for our industry, here are three more good ideas that have helped improve our game.
We believe the secret to improving our game will come not with huge events and expenditures, but by taking baby steps, so long as we keeping stepping and remain patient.
The hope is to pay these small, but important, ideas forward and have as many of them adopted universally, as possible.
But we need your help, too. To nominate something for a Small Victory, please click the red Comment button at the end of this list.
And now, 3 more Small Victories for harness racing (in no particular order):
Paul MacDonell did it with Somebeachsomewhere after their memorable win in the 2008 Pepsi North America Cup at Mohawk and The Beach bowed to the roaring crowd. Ron Pierce took Well Said past the grandstand after winning the 2009 Jug thanks to a suggestion from Hoof Beats’ Nicole Kraft. In the case of a great horse, a great performance or a great event such as the NA Cup of Jug, it’s a simple, but effective, gesture to acknowledge what fans we have and should not be confused with showboating. More drivers are encouraged to do it.
• The reunification of Lexington.
When Tattersalls and the Kentucky Standardbred Yearling Sale joined forces in 2005 to form the Lexington-Selected Yearling Sale, it not only made sense for everyone — most notably, horse buyers — but combined with the beloved Grand Circuit meet at The Red Mile, it returned Lexington to its past glory as a can’t miss destination on the industry calendar. It’s a good lesson for Ontario where there’s talk the Forest City Yearling Sale may join forces with Standardbred Canada.
• Desperate Horsewives Stable.
Trainer Tony Alagna hit on a tremendous idea when he formed the Desperate Horsewives Stable in November of 2009 with industry wives (such as Myron Bell’s wife, Stephanie, and John Fodera’s wife, Barbera) and their female friends. Each woman is in for a 10 per cent share allowing them to have fun and not get hurt too badly financially should the horse not make it. Creating fun stables where friends can take a limited ownership role is a perfect way to grow the game.
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