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October 27, 2010

Four fabulous years by four fabulous trotters

By Bob Heyden

Four fabulous years by four fabulous trotters

 

 

The single-season earnings of Chuck Sylvester’s (above) four richest sophomore trotting colts:
#1 Lucky Chucky 2010 $1,432,234
#2 Pine Chip 1993 $1,363,484
#3 Muscles Yankee 1998 $1,258,611
#4 Mack Lobell 1987 $1,204,133
 
 
Age-defying winners
Six, six, seven and seven. That’s how old the four winners were in the older Breeders Crown events were this year.
Canada’s six-year-old Dreamfair Eternal won the mare pace.
Six-year-old Won The West won the open pace.
Enough Talk, the oldest in his field, won the open trot.
Buck I St Pat, two years older than anyone in her field, won the mare trot.
 
Did you know?
• Not one of the top 12 fastest freshman pacing fillies of all time also made the list of the top 12 fastest sophomore pacing fillies.
• Despite a few tracks that are taking credit for being the first to introduce the Pick-6, it really began in 1959 at Rockingham Park during their fall meet. The first one paid over $6,200 and the general manager who first brought this bet to fruition was Lou Smith. (Source: Harness Horse Magazine - October, 1959)
• George Brennan’s first Meadowlands driving title also vaulted him past $5 million for the meet (he was the leader in that category as well). His win percentage of 19.8 was also tops, and he became just the third driver in Meadowlands history to average over two wins per night for the entire meet, joining Brian Sears and John Campbell.
• With almost $14 million to his credit so far in 2010, Tim Tetrick is heading towards his fourth straight $16 million season. Only Sears has reached $16 million and he did it just once.

 

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July 06, 2010

Closing the book on Sportswriter’s big night

By Bob Heyden

Closing the book on Sportswriter’s big night

 

— Sportswriter (above, Dave Landry photo) became the fifth horse to win the Metro and the NA Cup joining Presidential Ball, Gothic Dream, Rocknroll Hanover and Somebeachsomewhere.
— This year’s NA Cup marked the first ever meeting of two sub-1:50 freshmen, Sportswriter and One More Laugh.
— Casie Coleman is the 11th straight different trainer to win the NA Cup.
— Sportswriter was the only finalist who never left Canada.
 
Home cookin’
 
All four marquee finals (North America Cup, Fan Hanover, Elegantimage and Goodtimes) were won by Mohawk/Woodbine regulars on June 26 — the only time this happened previously was in 2008:
2010 — Mark MacDonald (Sportswriter, Western Silk)
2010 — Jody Jamieson (Sing Jesse Sing)
2010 — Trevor Ritchie (Ultimate Cameron)
2008 — Paul MacDonnell (Somebeachsomewhere, Lantern Kronos)
2008 — Mark MacDonald (Chancey Lady)
2008 — Trevor Ritchie (Clerk Magistrate)
 
2010 ‘firsts’ for the NA Cup
 
— The first winner for sire Artsplace (in his final crop)
— The first winner for Mark MacDonald, Casie Coleman and Steve Calhoun
— The first time in more than two decades that no nightly regular from the Meadowlands landed in the top three
— The first win of the year for Sportswriter
— The first time the North America Cup has gone under 1:49 two straight years. Sportswriter’s 1:48.3 came on the heels of the 1:48.1 by Well Said in 2009.
 
The million-dollar training trick
 
It’s been done before, but not often. Del Insko’s barn did it in 1980 by winning the $2,011,000 Wilson with Land Grant. Billy Haughton did it when Nihilator took the richest race ever, the $2,161,000 Wilson in 1984. Brett Pelling did it during the day/night of August 10, 1996. Greg Peck did it last year winning the Peter Haughton with Holiday Road ($523,600) and then followed it up with Muscle Hill ($1,520,333). Yes, it’s a rare feat for a trainer — the million-dollar day — and Casie Coleman just joined the club by winning both the $666,000 Fan Hanover with Western Silk and the $1,500,000 Pepsi North America Cup with Sportswriter.
 
A night of great finishes
 
It was a competitive night of racing on June 26, to say the least. Races four through eight were decided by a combined one-and-three-quarter lengths! Sing Jesse Sing (Goodtimes) held on by a head, Western Silk (Fan Hanover) a neck, Allthatgltrsgold (NA Cup consolation) a neck, Sportswriter (NA Cup) three-quarters-of-a-length and Ultimate Cameron (Elegantimate) by just a half-length.
 
Swan songs
 
The first crop of Rocknroll Hanover had the North America Cup favourite Rock N Roll Heaven. But when the dust cleared, it was the last crop of Artsplace first — Sportswriter — and the next-to-last crop of Western Hanover second.
For Artsplace, it was his initial score in the Cup, while Western Hanover was looking for his record breaking fifth win (he remains tied with Cam Fella at four). Artsplace passed away in the fall of 2006 and Western Hanover was lost the following summer.
 

 

 

 

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January 26, 2010

On top from Down Under

By Bob Heyden

On top from Down Under

  

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

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