By all measures of success, it has been a phenomenal year for driver Dexter Dunn. While 2020 has been different for many reasons, for Dunn, who has seen his UDRS rating climb from a respectable .280 in 2019 to .350 this year, wins have come more frequently, and purses have been greater. Heading into this weekend’s Breeders Crown at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, Dunn finds himself in a solid position and may have favorites in half of the dozen championship events that will take place on Friday and Saturday nights.
“I’ve been very fortunate to drive some great horses,” said Dunn with his typical modesty. “I was very pleased with how most of them raced coming into this week.”
It’s that “trip over the track” that could make all the difference for every horse trying to capture a Breeders Crown title. For Dunn, who captured two Breeders Crowns last year, he enters the championships hoping that both Amigo Volo, who captured the juvenile male trot in 2019 at Woodbine Mohawk, and Manchego (Open Mare Trot), will rise to the occasion once again.
“Amigo Volo has been good all year,” said Dunn of the Nifty Norman-trained gelding that followed up a Kentucky Futurity victory with a blazing 1:51 2/5 winning mile in one of two eliminations last week for the $500,000 final (race 11) on Saturday night. A winner in seven of 13 trips this year, Amigo Volo starts from post two looking to capture a second Crown title.
Manchego, at the end of 2019, looked to be ready to take on all comers in 2020, with even some mention of racing in Europe this year. Those plans didn’t quite work out for varied reasons and the brilliant daughter of Muscle Hill enters Saturday’s $300,000 (race 8) Open Mare Trot event surprisingly with less wins than losses. Nevertheless, Dunn was more than encouraged with how the Nancy Takter-trained mare raced last week. “She was much more relaxed and easier to drive,” said Dunn. “I think she came a last quarter in 25 1/5.” Indeed the 5-year-old would seem primed for a repeat Crown victory. She drew post seven in a field of eight.
Dunn hopes he can give a first Breeders Crown victory to the unbeaten filly Party Girl Hill (post 2), who goes in the $500,000 Crown for sophomore pacing fillies, the tenth race on Saturday’s card.
“She’s a smart horse that has gotten smarter with each start,” said Dunn of the poise Party Girl Hill has shown whether being forced to go slow or being asked to go at extremely high speed. “She was so relaxed going that second quarter last week.”
As has been the case throughout her 14 consecutive victories without defeat, Party Girl Hill kicked it into another gear in the stretch and easily took her elimination in a 1:50 1/5 clocking. For Dunn the elimination accomplished two objectives. First it gave Party Girl Hill a good post for the final, but more importantly it gave him a chance to race her from off the pace. “She’s been so many miles on the front end. I just wanted her to follow last week,” said Dunn.
From Amigo Volo to Party Girl Hill, driver Dexter Dunn has Breeders Crown horsepower
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
keN weINgartNer/UStaDexter Dunn should add some Breeders Crown hardware to his mantle this weekend at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
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Dunn drives Party Girl Hill for trainer Chris Ryder, who also trains Bettor’s Wish, a 4-year-old that he’ll look to work out a winning trip for in the final Breeders Crown race on Saturday, the $500,000 event for Open Pacers. “I’m very happy with the way he’s raced these last few weeks,” said Dunn of the son of Bettor’s Delight who has strung together three straight wins after a disappointing effort in the Cana-dian Pacing Derby. Bettor’s Wish drew post nine in the field of 10 making Dunn’s job more difficult. “It will be a challenge against a group of top horses like that,” said Dunn of the imposition. “But he’s overcome the outside before and I think he can again,” Dunn said.
Kissin In The Sand, the probable favorite for the $300,000 Crown Open Mares Pace (race 12), has had her share of drivers over an illustrious career, with Dunn steering in her last two starts of 2019 and then returning to guide her to three straight stakes wins this October, including a 1:48 blowout in the Allerage at The Red Mile on October 11. “She’s been impressive in every one of those starts,” said Dunn. “She’s just been very strong at the end of all of those miles.” Indeed, whether on the front or coming from behind Kissin In The Sand has finished out her miles with an abundance of speed. On Saturday she drew post three for trainer Nancy Takter and will be looking to knock off last year’s Breeders Crown champion Cavi-art Ally (post 4) and 2018 champion Shartin N (post 6). Also in the impressive group will be the two-time Breeders Crown champion Warrawee Ubeaut (post 5).
Dunn will complete his Saturday night Crown card of contenders with No Lou Zing (post 6) in the $500,000 Breeders Crown 3-year-old colt and gelding pace carded as race 13. “I’m very happy with the way he raced last week,” said Dunn. “I was sitting on David’s (Miller,
Cattlewash) back at the three quarters and I thought I had a chance to beat him,” said Dunn. No Lou Zing couldn’t catch Cattlewash, who sprinted to a 1:47 2/5 winning mile. “I definitely think we can have a top-five finish with this group.” Dunn’s charge drew outside of the odds-on favorite Tall Dark Stranger (post 1) as well as the aforemen-tioned Cattlewash (post 3).
There will be four Breeders Crown events on Friday night for the 2-year-olds of each gait and sex and Dunn may not have the favor-ites but still thinks he’s got a fighting chance with a pair of mounts. In the $600,000 Crown for juvenile pacing fillies, Fire Start Hanover looks to bounce back after a second-place finish in last week’s elimi-nation. “I thought she raced very well,” said Dunn. “She hadn’t raced in a few weeks and I think ‘Nifty’ (Norman) will have her better this week.” Fire Start Hanover, a daughter of Somebeachsomewhere, was an impressive winner on consecutive weeks at The Red Mile in Grand Circuit action. The outside draw (post 7) won’t limit Dunn’s options. “She’s a versatile filly and you can do what you want,” Dunn said.
Dunn has been behind Always A Miki from the early days for trainer Nancy Takter and again he’ll pilot the son of first-crop sire Always B Miki in the $600,000 Crown for 2-year-old colts and geldings carded as race 14. “He’s been good throughout the year,” Dunn said. “There were a couple of tough trips that really wasn’t his fault.”
Always A Miki showed solid pace finishing third in last week’s elim-ination heat behind the unbeaten Perfect Sting. “I think this week he’s going to need a soft kind of trip and hope to pick up some of the pieces,” Dunn said, recognizing that he’ll start from post four outside both Perfect Sting (post 2) and the streaking Southwind Gendry.
Hoosier Park’s Breeders Crown weekend schedule calls for 15 races on both Friday and Saturday with post time at 6:00 p.m. on each night.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
DRF Harness weekend | 4 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
deaN gIllette
Party Girl Hill looks to run her perfect record to 15-for-15 with a win in the Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Filly Pace.
In the next 24 to 48 hours, many of you are going to cozy up to your favorite set of past performances and attempt to decipher the 12 Breeders Crown winners along with which horses may finish in the top three or four spots in each race. It’s a difficult task that I hope to make a bit easier for those of you who make it past the first paragraph.
Handicapping is simply the art of using past performance along with outside variables to select the right horses, or at least the horses which if provided reasonable opportunity will succeed. The process has to start with what we learned from the past, and that begins with the elimination races from October 23 and 24.
Starting with the 23rd, which included 12 elimination races, the weather was certainly worth considering. Only three horses on the entire 15-race card were able to win on the lead and two of those went off at odds of 1-2 or lower, so they were supposed to win. There was a strong, steady stretch tailwind which resulted in slow second quarters and insanely-fast final quarters. Consider this: nine of the 12 Breeders crown elimination races had a second quarter of 29 4/5 or slower.
Despite only seeing three wire-to-wire winners, the track was far from having a closer’s bias. Only one winner on the card came from further back than fourth at the three-quarter call to win. So what do we take away from Friday’s races?
Closers were actually at a huge disadvantage on Friday because they were never provided the opportunity to rally into quick (or even reasonable) fractions. For example, how was a horse like Caviart Lotus expected to win when he was five lengths behind Southwind Gendry at three-quarters and the leader finished in 25 4/5? Caviart Lotus paced a 25 2/5 final quarter and couldn’t come close. In the same race, Literl Lad Hanover also came home in 25 2/5 and also had no shot.
None of the above means that a horse like Southwind Gendry is not going to win Friday’s $600,000 2-Year-Old Colt Pace final. If you think he is simply better than the foes from his elimination and can handle the undefeated Perfect Sting, I wouldn’t sway you from backing him, but there is no way he is going to be on the lead after slow fractions and able to sprint home as he pleases.
With drier and less windy conditions on Saturday, the track played more true to form. Six horses were able to win on the front from 14 races and overall I’d put more weight into the efforts we saw as a factor in the handicapping process.
There are nuggets of information which can be pulled from elimi-nation races, like general form and soundness. That said, when 55% to 70% of the horses in a race are guaranteed a spot in the final, the importance of finish position is very low. We simply want to see a horse who is maintaining their position or gaining in the stretch . . . one who seems fresh and ready to show more next week.
Those who purchase the DRF Harness Eye past performances can check out my individual performance comments for every horse in the eliminations as well as The Red Mile comments from horses who didn’t require eliminations. Below I’ll cover a few highlights of horses that caught my eye:
We already covered Caviart Lotus. Whether he can beat Southwind Gendry or Perfect Sting is still in question but the price should be right if you feel strongly.
The elimination line doesn’t look particularly appealing on Caviart Audrey, but it also doesn’t show that she was under tight restraint by driver Yannick Gingras while sitting behind very slow fractions. I’d be willing to wager that she tied-up or shut off her air, and even if she didn’t, it wasn’t an ideal situation for a young pacing filly. It’s worth
noting that Gingras chose off her on Friday, so maybe that’s a sign that she won’t be 100% in the final.
Gotta Believe took a clear step in the right direction by showing early speed and the ability to finish well in the stretch. Too bad he drew post 9.
Party Girl Hill uncorked a 25 1/5 final quarter to win a race she had no business winning and she did it under confident handling by driver Dexter Dunn. She was so impressive that driver Tim Tetrick, who handles fellow elimination winner Lyons Sentinel remarked that Party Girl Hill is probably the best pacing filly he’s seen in his life.
It wasn’t an elimination race (just a prep) but Sectionline Bigry faced late stretch traffic while coming home in 24 4/5 after some of the best pacers in the world crawled the middle half in 58 2/5.
No one gets by Tall Dark Stranger. No one! He looked vulnerable as usual in the stretch of his elimination and while the PP line makes it seem like Warrawee Vital was getting closer, to the naked eye they could’ve gone around another lap and no one was passing him.
I haven’t decided yet whether it was simply the illusion of the slow pace or not, but Manchego finished in 25 1/5 and was absolutely loaded with trot at the end of her mile.
Kissin In The Sand showed some early speed, came uncovered and couldn’t have looked any better rolling past Horse of the Year Shartin N. If there is a sharper horse in the sport right now, I don’t know who it is.
Amigo Volo was wrapped up late in a track-record performance. Enough said!
The above thoughts are simply general observations. I will select some of the above horses as my top pick and others perhaps will fall into the top 3 or 4. Try to remember that while last week is impor-tant, it is just one variable in the puzzle. The finals will most likely be contested with completely different pace scenarios and that alone will shift the outcome of any race.
The Friday and Saturday Breeders Crown cards at Harrah’s Hoosier Park are both spectacular. There are 15 races each night with a 6 p.m. start time. Both nights offer a $20,000 and $40,000 guaranteed Pick 4, on races 8 and 12 Friday and 7 and 12 Saturday. Saturday also has a $10,000 guaranteed Pick 8 featuring all Breeders Crown races starting in race 8.
Click on the dates for my full-card analysis for Friday and Saturday.
DRF Harness weekend | 5 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
TIMONIUM YEARLINGSTIMONIUM YEARLINGSHANOVER SHOE FARMS is selling 237 yearlings
at the Standardbred Sale in Timonium fromNov. 3 to Nov. 5 including the
FINAL 12 YEARLINGS by the great SOMEBEACHSOMEWHERE
HANOVER SHOE FARMS is selling 237 yearlingsat the Standardbred Sale in Timonium from
Nov. 3 to Nov. 5 including theFINAL 12 YEARLINGS by the great SOMEBEACHSOMEWHERE
Andover Hall · Bar Hopping · Betting Line · Cantab Hall · Captaintreacherous · GreenshoeInternational Moni · Somebeachsomewhere · Stay Hungry · Tall Dark Stranger
For a breeder to just place a horse in the Breeders Crown, of which we have 12 divisions this weekend at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, is a major accomplishment. For larger breeders with more assets it’s a bit easier. Yet in spanning the entries for the division-ending pivotal contests we found four specific broodmares that deserved mention for producing two significant Breeders Crown contenders.
It should come as no surprise when one of those mares happens to be the 2014 Horse of the Year JK She’salady. Her incredible racing career and superb pedigree would of course suggest to experts that she had the potential to produce horses of the quality of Nancy Takter’s contenders JK Alwaysbalady (Always B Miki) and JK First Lady (Western Ideal).
On the trotting side it becomes a bit rarer for a broodmare to reach similar heights, but both Dunk The Donato and Steamy Windows have accomplished the feat with foals a few years apart. For Dunk The Donato, a daughter of Donato Hanover from the immedi-ate family of $3 million winner Mr Muscleman, Plunge Blue Chip (Muscle Mass) is a serious contender for the Open Mares trot while her half-sister Splash Blue Chip (E L Titan) goes in the 2-year-old filly trot. Dunk The Donato had clearly arrived as a producer in order for Splash Blue Chip to sell for $265,000 at the 2019 Harrisburg sale.
Two-time Breeders Crown champion Gimpanzee has seen his dam Steamy Windows rapidly emerge as a star, having produced Itera-tion, the full sister (Chapter Seven) to Gimpanzee who went on to capture the New York Sire Stakes final for juvenile fillies this year as well as multiple Grand Circuit events. With a maternal pedigree that goes back to the champion racehorse and stallion Muscle Hill, Steamy Windows foals are likely to be well-received in the future.
Iteration cost $250,000 at the Harrisburg 2019 auction.Perhaps lost among the A-list of broodmare talent above is a
Cantab Hall-sired mare named Nantab. Undistinguished on the racetrack, Nantab found a home after her racing days were over when Scott Farber (Runthetable Stables) spent $25,000 to purchase her. “I wanted to get back in the game with Jimmy (Campbell),” said Farber. “I realized early on that I couldn’t compete with other owners paying six figures for yearlings.”
While Farber purchased some trotters to race, his primary goal was to breed a small number of mares and hope to have the stakes success his late father Sandy enjoyed some years back with Runthet-able and trainer Jim Campbell.
“I really love Cantab Hall mares,” said Farber, who says he spends a lot of his day poring over data. “I’m an analytics guy.”
In Cantab Hall, Farber has a stallion with rich pedigree on both sides. On the stallion flank there is Self Possessed, a grandson of Valley Victory blessed with incredible high speed. On the dam’s side, Cantab Hall’s line stretches back to the rich family of Andover Hall, Conway Hall and Angus Hall, the brothers who both established themselves with racetrack success then went on to enjoy success during second careers.
“The idea was to breed the mares to stallions that had high speed,” said Farber, who believed the combination would provide him with trotters that could compete at a high level.
Nantab was bred to Dejarmbro first in 2015 and produced a filly that did qualify in 2018 but never raced. Her second foal was Next Level Stuff, a filly from the first crop of the late Sebastian K. “I thought Sebastian K was a horse with extremely high speed and was great-gaited,” said Farber. Next Level Stuff put Farber in the posi-tion he set out to be in and that was as an owner of a stakes-caliber trotter. Next Level Stuff won six of her 10 starts as a 2-year-old in 2019 and then has come back this year winning half of her 12 starts, including a Breeders Crown elimination last Friday at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
“She’s really raced well all year,” said Farber. “She was good in
Nantab has bucked the odds to produce multiple Crown finalists
DRF Harness weekend | 10 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
JAYwALKINGBy Jay Bergman BergmanJay
amaNda StePheNS
After Next Level Stuff competes in the Breeders Crown she’ll be for sale in the Standardbred Horse Mixed Sale at Timonium.
the Kentucky Futurity Filly race but just got backed up.”Next Level Stuff drew the pole position for Saturday’s $500,000
Breeders Crown final, a race that may be her last for Farber. “We’ve got her in the sale. It’s tough to bring back a 4-year-old mare,” said Farber, who is treating his venture as a true business and needs to balance the revenue and expense streams.
In choosing Creatine to breed Nantab to in 2017, Farber saw the obvious speed of the stallion but liked something else. “He was just such a tough racehorse,” said Farber of the $2.1 million earner and son of Andover Hall.
Take All Comers was the result and the juvenile gelding also found the pole position for his Breeders Crown finale on Friday. “He’s an interesting story in that after the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final Jimmy (Campbell) was talking about stopping with him for the year and bringing him back next year,” said Farber. “After a few days we had another conversation and he suggested we try the Keystone Classic at The Meadows and see how he does.”
It was a strong second-place finish in the Keystone Classic that convinced the connections to continue. “After the race at The Mead-ows David (Miller) told me that the horse would be good at The Red Mile,” said Farber.
Take All Comers was good enough to capture a Bluegrass divi-sion in 1:52 3/5 over The Red Mile surface on October 2 and that was all the inspiration required to continue his 2-year-old campaign. A solid third in last week’s trials against division favorites Venerate and Captain Corey was an encouraging sign, but at the same time Take All Comers finished eight lengths behind those rivals.
What’s incredible about the Nantab story is not just that she’s produced two Crown finalists but perhaps that she’s done so in such a non-traditional way. It’s not as if major commercial breeders were flocking to either Sebastian K or Creatine during their first two seasons at stud. Just look at these results and if you’re a breeder ask: what Nantab can do for you? Take All Comers has earned $100,000 more this year than any other foal by Creatine. Next Level Stuff in her two years on the track has earned $340,000 more than any other foal by Sebastian K from his first two crops.
There’s a Bar Hopping yearling colt that Farber will be sending to Jim Campbell shortly by Nantab as well as a weanling by Tacti-cal Landing in the pipeline. The mare has been bred to Muscle Hill this year. “We stepped her up,” said Farber, believing full well that Nantab has earned the right to have a foal from the sport’s leading trotting stallion.
In Nantab’s extended maternal line is a link to the surprise 1983 Hambletonian winner Duenna. It was Duenna’s richest foal Amah (Cumin) that produced Nanny Fine (Donerail), the dam of Nantab. What’s fascinating about this timeline and the apparent lack of production for the last 35 or so years is that Amah had just one foal and Nanny Fine had just one foal. That’s a realistic excuse for a maternal line to go dark for a period of time. Make no question with the emergence of Nantab the family is back with a vengeance.
amaNda StePheNS
Take All Comers, a son of Creatine, will try to pull off a major upset in the Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt Trot.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
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DRF Harness weekend | 11 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
Somebeachsomewhere, the unlikely superstar, like Meadow Skipper before him, seems to be shaping the pacing breed in his own image given the siring performance of his sons thus far. Now the question becomes: Will Muscle Hill do likewise?
Somebeachsomewhere and Muscle Hill are somewhat unique being considered the epitome of their specific gaits and genera-tions. Unlike previous superstars, both have maintained their respective lofty rankings as stallions.
It is recalled how Adios Butler, Overtrick, Bret Hanover, Niat-ross and Nihilator were considered the ultimate of their eras, though not one of those maintained that pinnacle as a stallion. Conversely, Speedy Scot, Nevele Pride, Mack Lobell and Self Possessed preceded Muscle Hill as superstar trotters, though none maintained those abilities in the stud barn.
Of course, Mack Lobell, given his infertility, gets a pass, while Speedy Scot and Self Possessed each left one son in the presence of Speedy Crown and Cantab Hall to extend their legacies. Both ‘Crown’ and ‘Cantab’ filled in admirably.
Somebeachsomewhere can be considered an unlikely super candidate given his modest Mach Three-Where’s The Beach pedi-gree. Meadow Skipper’s dam Countess Vivian was surreptitiously switched from then super-sire Adios to the modest Dale Frost when Adios nearly foundered and couldn’t breed.
According to legend, Del Miller made the change without informing Countess Vivian’s owners until after it was done and in fact instructed Meadow Skipper to be gelded late in his 2-year-old season at Hollywood Park. Fortunately to his and the pacing breed’s immense relief, he relented after the colt set a season’s mark in his final start in response to some frustrated and vigorous whipping by catch-driver Joe Lighthill.
Somebeachsomewhere was purchased for $40,000 in Lexington by Brent MacGrath and Schooner Sables as a potential Ontario Sires Stakes candidate in what was, according to Brent, his final bid. Somebeachsomewhere established himself as one of, if not the greatest, pacer of all time in a brilliant two-year campaign that saw him suffer but one loss to Art Official in the Meadowlands Pace, a race most still consider the best of this new millennium.
As did Meadow Skipper with his first-crop son Most Happy Fella, Somebeachsomewhere immediately offered Captaintreacherous in a brilliant first crop that also included Sunshine Beach and other stars.
Similar to Most Happy Fella, with his first crop comprising Silk Stockings and Tarport Hap, Captaintreacherous was a huge
success with his initial crop headed by Captain Crunch and many others. In his second crop, ‘The Captain’ offered the still unde-feated Party Girl Hill, who is in the argument of “greatest fillies of all time”.
As some have indicated, Most Happy Fella not only extended but expanded the Meadow Skipper line into two distinct branches. It remains to be seen just how Captaintreacherous will eventually fare in that area, although he’s off to a sensational start.
Meanwhile, other sons of Somebeachsomewhere, namely Sunshine Beach, So Surreal, Net Ten EOM, have shown well in their initial attempts at stud. Judging from the yearling prices attracted by Huntsville and Downbytheseaside at this year’s sales thus far, the industry expects these Somebeachsomewhere sons to follow suit as well.
Then there’s the brilliant Papi Rob Hanover in the discussion as Somebeachsomewhere’s potentially best son.
While it’s impossible to forecast the future, it does appear that Somebeachsomewhere and sons will have something to say about the direction the pacing breed is likely to take in the decades to come.
As for Muscle Hill, Trixton, his first major son to hit the stud, has started off well but does not appear of line-extender caliber as of this writing. Other potential stallion sons include Tactical Landing, Southwind Frank, E L Titan, Bar Hopping and What The Hill. Of those, Tactical Landing, the full brother to Mission Brief, will get his chance at Southwind Farms after being resurrected by Jimmy Takter and beating his elders in the 2018 TVG. Tactical Landing’s first foals will reach the auction sales in 2021.
Southwind Frank, the freshman trotting champ of 2015, and Bar Hopping saw their first crops make the races in 2020. Both have shown quite well, though neither has indicated he might be of the caliber of a successor son as of this writing. Bar Hopping has a Breeders Crown candidate in son In Range while Southwind Frank’s daughter Flawless Control was the Pennsylvania sire stakes filly leader this year.
E L Titan has been around a couple of years and he too gets his share of decent performers, but also has not suggested that he’s a sire in his father’s like.
What The Hill, the Dan Patch 3-year-old champion of 2017 remem-bered for his Hambletonian disqualification and TVG redemption, will send his initial Ohio-sired crop to the races in 2021.
Thus at present Muscle Hill seems to be emulating other super-star trotting stallions in the area of successor sons, though that could change as other sons will get their chances. In that his best may still be yet to come, as he himself came along later in his sire Mucles Yankee’s life, the jury will remain out for the foreseeable future.
Somebeachsomewhere on the other hand seems entrenched as a breed shaper given the impressive showing of extender son Captaintreacherous.
Stay tuned.
Somebeachsomewhere sons prosper in the breeding barn while Muscle Hill waits for his signature colt
DRF Harness weekend | 12 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
ON THE MARKBy Bob Marks @BobMarks3
Ohio Stallion Registration Deadline November 30, 2020
For foals to be eligible to any Ohio-restricted stake, such as the Ohio Sires Stakes, a stallion must be registered with the Ohio State Racing Commission and
standing in the state of Ohio during the year of conception.
Forms for new & returning stallions can be found at www.racing ohio.net/OSDF.html
For information, contact OSDF AdministratorKim Rinker at 614-779-0269 or [email protected]
DRF Harness weekend | 13 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
By ken Weingartner
Six weeks ago, trainer Nifty Norman said he couldn’t be happier with the way Amigo Volo looked heading into the rest of the season. As the horse prepares for Saturday’s $500,000 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old male trotters, it’s safe to say he remains enthusiastic.
Amigo Volo, who was the Breeders Crown champion at age 2, won the Kentucky Futurity on Oct. 11 at Red Mile and followed up with a track-record victory in his Crown elimination last Saturday at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. Going back to mid-August, he has won five of six races and finished second in the other.
“He has not let me down,” Norman said. “Even last week, I was kind of mildly shocked at how good he was. He’s just solid. He’s raced in just about every race there is, and he’s as good now as he was at the start. He maybe even better. That’s a good sign for a horse.”
Amigo Volo won his elimination in 1:51 2/5, the fastest mile ever by a 3-year-old trotter at Hoosier Park. The time was just one-fifth of a second off the track’s overall record.
In Saturday’s Breeders Crown final, Amigo Volo will start from post two with driver Dexter Dunn. He is the 6-5 morning-line favor-ite. Three male trotters this century have won Crown trophies at ages 2 and 3: Gimpanzee, 2018-2019; Father Patrick, 2013-2014; and Muscle Hill, 2008-2009. Amigo Volo is by Father Patrick out of Margarita Momma.
For the year, Amigo Volo has won seven of 13 races. Lifetime, the multiple world-record-setting gelding has won 13 of 25 starts and $1.21 million in purses for owners Pinske Stables and David J. Miller.
“It won’t be easy, but I think that at the moment he’s probably the best horse,” said Norman, who has won four Breeders Crown finals. “I’ve got a good driver, a good draw, so I’ve got as good a shot as anybody.”
Norman also sends out Chestnut Hill in the event. Chestnut Hill finished second by a neck to Capricornus in the other Breeders Crown elimination.
For the year, Chestnut Hill has won three of 14 races, including the Canadian Trotting Classic. The colt is by Muscle Hill out of Poof She’s Gone, a filly that provided Norman his first Breeders Crown trophy in 2009. He is owned by Mel Hartman, David McDuf-fee, and Little E. Hartman and McDuffee bred Chestnut Hill with Herb Liverman.
Chestnut Hill will start from post nine, the outermost spot on the gate, with David Miller in the sulky. The colt is 15-1 on the morn-ing line.
“I thought he raced really good last week, but then the draw just crushed him,” Norman said. “Now you’re really relying on luck. But you know what, he’s had some bad draws or rough trips and got good finishes out of them. A few things went his way, and he always gets home good. The horse himself is in good shape.”
Ready For Moni, who won the Goodtimes Stakes and Harry M.
Zweig Memorial after finishing second in the Hambletonian, is the 7-2 second choice. Capricornus is 6-1.
Norman’s Breeders Crown weekend begins Friday with Fire Start Hanover in the $600,000 final for 2-year-old female pacers. The filly had a five-race win streak snapped with a second-place finish to Continualou in her elimination.
Fire Start Hanover is the 3-1 favorite, starting from post seven with driver Dunn.
“I was very happy with her run,” Norman said. “She was sick after Lexington, we brought her home, she had five days off. I only trained her once. I thought she would be kind of short, but she was actually really good. Even though she’s drawn seven, I think she’ll go really good. I think that run last week will really help her and she’s good either way, she can leave or she can race from off the pace.
“She’s a nice filly and I think she’s got a good shot. She’s a big, strong thing, and has just gotten better as the year has gone on. I’ve got a lot of confidence in her.”
Harrah’s Hoosier Park hosts the four $600,000 Breeders Crown finals for 2-year-olds on Friday. The remaining eight finals, for 3-year-olds and older horses, are Saturday. Racing begins at 6 p.m. (EDT) both nights.
The 2020 Breeders Crown, presented by the Libfeld-Katz Breed-ing Partnership, is the 37th edition of the $6 million event. Harrah’s Hoosier Park will provide a free live high-definition streaming of the races on YouTube.
Amigo Volo riding high heading into Breeders Crown final
amaNda StePheNS
Amigo Volo is the likely favorite in the 3-Year-Old Breeders Crown Colt Trot.
Did you ever want to know more about the people involved in the harness industry? Editor Derick Giwner combs the harness landscape each week to profile a new personality from the sport.
trainer Brett PellingWhat kind of car do you drive?
Porsche 911 Turbo.
Favorite dinner meal? Snack?
Roast chicken on a bed of cabbage; Chocolate or candy.
What is your favorite track to race at?
The Meadowlands. It is the truest and fairest of all tracks.
What is your favorite big event in racing?
Meadowlands Pace Night. It always falls around my birthday and we’ve had a lot of good 3-year-olds pointing to it. I feel that night is a culmination of all the winter’s training. To me Mead-owlands Pace night is the time where you get a horse as good as he is going to be. Also, Meadowlands is my home track.
How often is racing on your mind?
Unfortunately all the time.
What is your favorite thing to do outside of racing?
Spend time with my kids. They are 26, 24 and 14.
What is your favorite sport to watch?
It used to be the NBA, but I’ve totally gone off it. They’ve just taken the whole Black Lives Matter movement too far as part of the sport. I like F1 (Formula One). I like the technology that goes along with it. I also like the cycling grand tour.
What is one thing about you most fans/bettors don’t know?
I’m very approachable. Most people don’t think that, but I am. I think I’m also a $2 bettor’s friend. I understand what they are about, and when my horses head to the track, if they believe he is in a good spot, they’ll be as good as they can be.
What is one word that describes harness racing for you?
Deja vu. The years roll on top of each other and big events come around quickly. The calendar spins around very quickly. I wish we got to have these horses longer like in the European model. I would be a huge fan of having a horse around until they are 4, 5 or 6 years old, but that just isn’t the way it is.
How did you get started in the sport?
My step-father was involved. He had already moved to America. I got a job working for a livestock company that was shipping
horses with Pan-Am. My first job coming to America was as a horse attendant and I just decided to stay. I got my trainer’s license and went on my own in 1988.
You returned to North America in 2017 to train again after a decade back home in Australia. Have things gone as expected?
I think so overall; initially not. I was hoping to have nice 3-year-olds right off the bat, but I also understood the business had taken a step back with more partnerships involved. The people that had clients were very protective of the clients they had. When I left the U.S. we had 60 horses and another 15 to 20 were always in the pe-ripherals and always available. I had some very good friends that were clients with other people when I came back (from Australia). I was very determined to avoid trying to take anyone’s owners. I only like to do things by agreement the right way. It took me a while to build things back up. I was my own biggest owner for the first two years but I’m not anymore, so we’re on the right track.
What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten about harness racing?
Never own more than 10% of your barn. Unfortunately when I came back I didn’t follow that advice because I couldn’t. Most trainers are not wealthy enough to own a lot of horses in their barn and if they do, they get themselves in trouble.
What was your favorite moment in harness racing?
The year (1998) I went to the Jug and swept the Jug and Jugette
USta Photo
Brett Pelling has accumulated well over 1,600 wins as a trainer and 43 as a driver in his career.
DRF Harness weekend | 15 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
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elims and finals. I thought it was a massive achievement and difficult to repeat. I look back on it fondly. Browning Blue Chip, Cam Knows Best and Shady Character won the Jug elims (Shady Character won the final) and Armbro Romance (won final) and Pan Yankees in the Jugette.
Is racing at the Delaware County Fair special?
I think the Jug is pretty awesome. To get to win it is special. We have four Jug trophies in the house here. They went with us to Australia and came back again with us.
Which is the best horse you’ve ever trained?
I have no doubt that the best horse I ever trained was Papi Rob Hanover. I was always in awe of him. He had every-thing: intelligence, strength, gait, speed. Unfortunately the industry was hurt by the fact that he didn’t get to keep racing. It would’ve been a great battle and some-thing the industry really needed with him against Tall Dark Stranger. Unfortunately he had a freak accident.
How good do you think Papi Rob Hanover could’ve been?
When I see other horses racing and knowing in my mind how dominant he was over them, in my mind he would’ve broken all the records. He smashed the world record on a five-eighths in 1:47 1/5 and that was just his fourth start of the year. He was very special. If I have one regret, hopefully he’ll be a great sire and they’ll ask what great sire never raced at The Red Mile. The answer will be Papi Rob Hanover.
Which horse is/was your favorite?
Back when I was starting out I had a horse named View Field Prince. I bought him myself in 1988 when I was just starting out. He was just a $30,000 claimer but was tough as nails. I’m super appreciative of him. He would just win the hard way. He got me going. He helped me buy a truck and trailer and put a down payment on my first house. He was a really nice, kind horse. He’ll always hold a special place in my heart. There are lots of them where you appreciate their personalities. “Papi Rob” has a nice personality. Another very special horse for me was Armbro Operative. He had a lot of problems but one of the owners told me that we raced him nine times for a purse of $100,000 or more and he won every time. He could get up for a big race and was a cool horse.
What’s the one race that you haven’t won but really want to win?
Probably the only one is the Hambletonian. I can’t think of any others I haven’t won. If you asked me the one race I regret, it is also the Hambletonian because we should’ve won it with Like A Prayer (2002). Ron Pierce made a big mistake at the top of the lane. He was following the winner and he elected to pull back and get behind a horse that was three-wide and go four-wide. If he stayed where he was, he probably wins by two lengths. I think if you ever talk to Pierce he’ll say that is the one race he regrets.
How many horses do you have in the barn?
I have 27 stalls. Within the next two weeks they will be full. I’m try-ing not to go over that number because we have to have staff to take care of them and I like to keep the same people. I don’t want to hire someone for a few months and have to let them go. Even when we don’t have 27 horses, the people I have still have jobs.
Let’s talk about your Breeders Crown starters. When Dovescry has been lightly raced this year. Can we expect a breakout effort on Saturday?
She was very good at The Meadowlands the other night in 1:52 on a track that was actually off. I’m looking for a really nice effort. There are good mares in there, but she’s definitely my one and only real chance. We’ve been very light with her to get her ready for her 5-year-old season, but now that we are late in the year, she’ll be as good as she can be for where she is in her life.
How far is Caviart Ally from putting in a mile capable of winning the Open Mares Pace?
Unfortunately things haven’t worked out for her since COVID. We got her ready for the Matchmaker and she was sensational. She car-ries a lot of weight; likes to race; likes to train. When we came back from COVID, everything went too quickly for her. She had a couple of tie-up problems, a couple of soundness problems. She’s still pacing quick miles but those horses are going supreme efforts every time they line up. On Saturday (in her elimination) she came up with a new problem and we’ve been working on that this week. Last year she was in a groove where everything was right. This year it has been one little thing after another. It’s been a balancing act and it just hasn’t come together.
Your son Jack has been driving horses lately. Does he have a future in the sport?
He sits good in the bike and horses run for him. When he works out the nuances of the game, I think he’ll do well. He’s light and drives kind, he’s not a rough driver. He’s built a lot like Dexter (Dunn) so I told him to watch him and use that style. He sits very still and horses run for him. He only weighs 135 pounds.
If you could choose any horse in history to train, which horse would it be and why?
I feel very fortunate to have trained Papi Rob Hanover. Hopefully people look at the horses I have trained and say them. I really can’t think of any horses.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
haNover Shoe FarmS Photo
Brett Pelling brought Papi Rob Hanover to stand at Hanover Shoe Farms late this summer.
DRF Harness weekend | 17 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
There has been talk about your conspicuous absence from the Harness Racing Hall of Fame despite stellar statistical achievement. What are your thoughts?
There are quite a few things in the business that don’t add up. If I don’t make the Hall of Fame, I hope there will be a Down Under person eventually because I think the Down Under horsemen and horses, just like the Canadians, have had a true impact on the sport in the States. The Hall of Fame is a true body that recognizes lots of things and it would be fitting and good for New Zealand. I’d be proud to be the first and if I’m not, hopefully another one.
There are always stories and innuendo. Unfortunately things are never straightened out if there was a problem in the past. Unfortu-nately there are still people who accuse others of doing things in the past when in fact it never happened. The people who have the votes, it is very hard to speak for them.
Other than a pending Class 4 positive that you are currently appealing from this year, your record is clean dating back 20 years. Do you think that is fair to hold judgements from 1988 or 1999 against you?
What did I really do 20 years ago? I can tell you right now that others are in the Hall of Fame with many more positives. We had one of the biggest bullsh** positives of all-time with The Panderosa getting a morphine positive (1999). That horse came back with a reading of less than three nanograms. They couldn’t even tell the exact number, just less than three. A nanogram is one part per billion. In New Jersey a horse is allowed to race with 75 nanograms. By the time I got done with the Peter Pan part of that race, it cost me three-quarters of a million dollars. It’s things like that which piss me off in this business. There are things as trainers which occur and are beyond our control. Just like that class 4 positive that we are fighting right now. The New Jersey Racing Commission failed to notify the New Jersey Stan-dardbred horsemen - they notified the thoroughbred horsemen - of a change in the ruling with Bute going from 24 to 48 hours. The SBOA is fighting it, not us. There was an error from the Commission and the SBOA has picked up this fight for me and something like 14 others. I think I’ve had 7,400 starts at The Meadowlands and 7,100 of them have been for horses’ 3-year-old and up with all of them having Bute 24 hours before the race. Now all of a sudden the rules have changed. Does that mean I should have a positive on my record?
Another thing that happened, and no one really knows this, when I got the positive for morphine in Pennsylvania, and this is why I’ve always thought the sport needed a czar so someone could take a closer look at things, there were nine positives for morphine that week and I was the last person to go in for a hearing. I knew that the other guys were all locals at The Meadows and they received “time served” because it took between seven and 10 days to have a hearing. I brought a lawyer in with me just in case because I was the leading trainer and they gave me nine months. I gave them an earful. Now we started to fight it with administrative law. They had something going on at the time where you couldn’t race in Canada while under appeal, so finally we were actually at Lexington about 22 days before we had to enter for the Breeders Crown (at Mohawk), it was a Friday afternoon. My lawyer said to me, ‘will you take 20 days so you can enter for the Breeders Crown?’ I said ok. I raced seven horses on the Saturday which were already entered and I get a call from Marc Guilfoil from the Kentucky Racing Commission saying I raced those horses while under suspension. Apparently they agreed to the 20 days effective immediately instead of effec-tive Monday. Those seven horses made like $350,000 and now the
Kentucky Racing Commission was looking to hang me. When it was all said and done, we ending up going to race at the Breeders Crown but taking the 20 days, so I took 20 days that I never should’ve taken so Peter Pan (stable name of owner) could race his horses in the Breeders Crown. It was a great period of time for me in terms of success, but a real blight on the industry that I was the leading trainer in the country and no one backed me up.
In the whole scheme of things, I don’t feel like I have a record, but when I fill out my license and it says have you ever been arrested, I have to say yes. I was arrested in 1988 for possession of PLDs. Those are prescription legend drugs. I had a box which had a bottle of Bute, a bottle of Lasix and a bottle of Banamine. I was the leading trainer at Freehold and they searched my barn and found this box. I said, ‘What’s the problem?’ The box was labeled but the medicine wasn’t, so I got arrested. Now every time I come into the States via JFK (airport) I get taken into a back room, because it is on an FBI record, to explain something that happened in 1988. I took it to court and the final outcome was ‘case dismissed’ but I still have to carry that around with me. It is wild. To me there are a few things in this busi-ness that have been wrong, but what am I going to do about it?
How did COVID-19 affect your life and business?
It wasn’t too bad. My daughter and her husband live in Brooklyn and came to live with us in Monmouth County. I only live two miles from the barn. I just went to the barn and back home every day. I was very lucky. From a business point of view it was actually a positive to me because I had eight horses I owned myself and I recognized very quickly that there were too many unknowns, so I sold five of them. That ended up being a very good move.
If you had the power to change one thing in the sport, what would it be?
Get rid of the current race bikes. They’ve destroyed the business. We need to take a long hard look at how they’ve changed racing and had a major negative impact. We’ve become way more speed-oriented than our forefathers ever envisioned. These bikes just make horses go forward. I think it cuts down the lengths of their careers. From a gambling perspective, it is horrendous because horses can’t close from the back anymore. The whole model for harness racing has been affected by these bikes.
How do you view the future of harness racing?
I think it will always be here. We need smart management like WEG has shown. For the product WEG has, they do so much better than we do and someone needs to recognize that.
Time for the stretch drive:
Best Horse You Ever Saw: Varenne - I got to see him win and it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. When-ever I see the Europeans race and the way they race, I think it is remarkable. They are able to do that because they preserve them when they are younger in life.
Best Race you ever saw: From my own selfish point of view, Western ideal beating Dragon Again in the Haugh-ton final (2000). Dragon Again was a stone front runner and we were three deep on the turn, hooked onto his wheel. At the time I thought that was the best race I’d seen.
Best Driver ever: John Campbell.
Lasix – Yes or No?: No.
Favorite TV Show?: I’ve watched a lot of Netflix lately - Dexter.
Trotters or Pacers?: Pacers, definitely.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16
meadowlaNdS Photo
Varenne winning the Breeders crown at The Meadowlands.
Charles keller iii resigns from Hambletonian Soc. Board
At a recent telemeeting, the executive committee of the Hambleton-ian Society reluctantly accepted the resignation of long-time member and Harness Racing Hall of Famer Charles E. Keller III.
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yonkers adds stakes races, raises purses
MGM Yonkers announced that two Stakes races will be added to the racing calendar in November at Yonkers Raceway.
On November 28, 2020 there will be a $125,000 Invitational Pace for horses that were eligible to the Borgata Pacing Series and a $100,000 Invitational Mares Pace for horses that were eligible to the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series.
These stakes along with several others were unfortunately canceled earlier in the year due to the pandemic and closure of the racetrack and casino. The Yonkers Raceway Race Office will be contacting eligi-ble participants shortly.
MGM Yonkers is also pleased to announce a 10 percent purse increase across the board for all classes. This increase will take effect for racing the week of November 9.
-edited release (yonkers)
yearlings now online for Blooded Horse Fall Sale
Black-type yearlings are now online for the Blooded Horse Sale to be held Nov 17-18 at the Champions Center in Springfield, OH. The 123 yearlings sell on Tuesday.
Hundreds of racehorses, broodmares and green prospects round out Tuesday’s session and all day Wednesday. Mixed horses may be supplemented until November 9. Visit www.bloodedhorse.com to view yearlings, enter horses and order a catalogue.
-edited release (Blooded Horse Sale)
Mohawk Million to return in 2021
After a successful inaugural edition, Woodbine Entertainment today (10/27) confirmed that the Mohawk Million for 2-year-old trot-ters will return in 2021.
In conjunction with its Annual Yearling Sale, Standardbred Horse Sales Company is pleased to announce the 2020 edition of its popular “Stable Stars” Contest. Contestants will predict the knock-down sales prices of 15 yearlings to be sold on Tuesday, November 3rd.
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Live racing returns to Dover on November 2
Dover Downs will return for its 51st harness racing season when the 83-day meet opens on Monday, November 2 and continues through Thursday, April 1.
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propulsion disqualified from 45 races in Sweden
The Swedish Trotting Association has disqualified North Ameri-can-bred Propulsion from 45 races in Sweden because the horse was found not eligible to race as he was nerved in both front legs.
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INDUSTRY NEwS
DRF Harness weekend | 18 | October 29, 2020 Visit us online at drf.com/harness
Want full-card analysis? Visit DRF.com/harness
At DRF Harness we strive to provide the best handicapping information in the sport. Each week we’ll use this space to bring you some of our handicappers’ best bets, value plays and horses to watch. Use this information as one of your tools when wagering or simply click on the link above and head to DRF Bets to wager now. Happy Handicapping!
THURSDAy, OCTOBER 29
RACE 8
(7) RAU RU was a confi-dent winner in the opening leg of this series and off that strong effort he gets the call to repeat.
-Garnet Barnsdale
FRiDAy, OCTOBER 30
RACE 3
(1) ANOKA HANOVER didn’t race in the Breeders Crown because she wasn’t eligible, but she’s that type of filly, and is having an excel-lent 2-year-old campaign.
-Greg Reinhart
RACE 76 - MISS TANGO didn’t miss
by much from the pocket in either of her last two tries, and was a solid third in the breeze the week before. She’s hit the board in 8 of 11 so far, and this group shapes up as far more manageable.
-James Witherite
RACE 7(5) MELADY’S MONET
was too far back to threaten last week but came absolutely flying home with an impres-sive late burst of speed.
