Armbro Keepsake - Mare Trot
bay mare, 5, by Super Bowl
Owners
Armstrong Bros.
Trainer | Driver
Stig Johansson
The 1994 Breeders Crown Final for Mare Trotters from Freehold Raceway in Freehold, NJ won by Armbro Keepsake
Extras
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Eagle Seelster - 2CT
bay colt, by Worthy Bowl
The thirteen colts who traveled to Woodbine Racetrack's inaugural presentation of the Cadillac Breeder Crown traveled a diverse route to the final championship race of the season. A group fraught with ambiguity, the Breeders Crown would help define their identities. The first step was eliminations held the week prior to the main event.
Trainer Chuck Sylvester's eagle eye singled out an Arndon colt at the yearlings sales in 1991, which he purchased for $17,000. Though that youngster, Pine Chip, did not race at two, Sylvester and subsequent co-owners Gerry Donahue, Neal Goldman and the Guida Racing Stable were so rewarded during his sophomore campaign they bid to $80,000 to obtain Pine Chip's half-brother by 1985 Breeders Crown champion Nearly Perfect. A chestnut trotter, he bore the name King Pine.
King Pine's maiden start was in the American-National. He flashed the ability bred in to him by winning with an 8 1 /2 length margin. Sylvester sticks to a fairly traditional road for his juveniles, and King Pine was showcased at Lexington's Red Mile as well. Like many chestnut horses whose white feet and subsequent light-colored hooves are often easily chipped, King Pine had trouble keeping his horse shoes on, and would often break stride when he lost them. He staged a triumphant march to the wire in his elimination under the confident handling of Mike Lachance. Bridget Jablonsky, a veterinary student at the University of Pennsylvania, was looking for tuition help from her homebred, Speed Monster, and a second place finish in the elimination assured him a berth in the final. Speedmonster had raced solely in New Jersey state-bred contests prior to his Crown start.
The most curious contestant to make the final was Cantario Farm's Armbro Nash, with just three starts, a sole third place finish and a meager $1,534 (Canadian no less) io_ earnings. Armbro Nash was consigned to the Harrisburg sale shortly following the Breeders Crown and it was hoped that a creditable Crown performance would increase his value.
The second elimination was a pole to pole display by a son of Ontario sire Worthy Bowl. The chart-callers description of Eager Seelster as "quite fresh crossing the wire" aptly described all the connections of Eager Seelster as well as the colt himself. Trainer-driver Ted Jacobs was a precocious starter, training his first horse at age 15. His confidence in himself and his horses resulted in excellent success on a regional level. The group of owners, John Fielding, a cosmetics manufacturer, Vito Leo, a photographer and four Toronto businessmen who raced under the nom de course of the Four Stud Stable, were in racing for a lark and trusted in Jacobs to provide them with one.
Eager Seelster raced only in his native province, and with just five starts looked like a youngster who was· starting to put it all together, winning his last two matches in improving fashion. Following him into the final after their elimination was the Michigan-owned Royal Leer, whose smart 2:00.1 display in the International Stallion Stakes earned him a start in the Crown; the homebred Dr. Fabe, who'd made a racing loop from Ontario to New Jersey and back again; Pan Of La Mancha, bearing the secret weapon of Sonny Patterson in the bike; and Serene Sovereign from the always-dangerous Jimmy Takter stable.
It made sense for the crowd to choose King Pine as the favorite. Just three weeks earlier, his older brother Pine Chip had been retired after two Crown titles and $1.6 million in earnings . Chuck Sylvester had just upset Victory Dream and Bullville Victory in the Breeders Crown sophomore trot with Incredible Abe, and Mike Lachance had already won two Crown titles in two weeks. The whole group appeared to be on a roll.
But the partisan crowd was not going to let native son Ted Jacobs get away too much of a longshot. Eager Seelster's wire to wire elimination exhibit could have been interpreted as a gauntlet thrown down to the outsiders. There have been six sets of eliminations in the 11-year history of the freshman colt trots, but only twice have they produced the following week's winner.
So it was. Jacobs bombed out of the gate with the intent of seizing the lead and not relinquishing it. He met with resistance in the form of Doug Brown and Dr. Fabe, and had to work for the front past a :28.2 quarter. Jacobs then slammed on the brakes, demanding the field come to him while giving his colt a bit of a breather after the fight for the front. First to do so was Bill O'Donnell driving Whiteland Cumin, who trotted up to him to force the pace.
In the midst of the mile, King Pine met with nothing but trouble. Right out of the gate, one of his shoes went flying and by the time Lachance steadied him, he was forced to pull to the outside if he wanted to be in any sort of position. A second shoe went soaring off and by deep stretch a third had gone missing and King Pine collapsed into a gallop.
Eager Seelster was unaware of this drama, as it occurred behind him. The colt dealt almost gaily with Whiteland Cumin and then moved to avoid a surprisingly quick Arm bro Nash. whose attempt to narrow the length lead of Eager Seelster was to no avail.
Jacobs, who knew his colt was the measure of his Crown peers, was vindicate<!. The time of 1 :58.3 was a new track record and the ecstatic bunch of owners would carry the victory with them throughout a long cold winter.
The startling runner-up, Armbro Nash increased his bankroll from $4,194 to over $100,000 in under two minutes. His Crown performance raised him in the sales ring the next month to an astonishing $270,000.
King Pine, shedding his footwear all over the track, was disqualified and placed eighth for finally giving up and running across the wire. To this day the colt is still plagued by that problem, and has yet to fulfill the legacy of his sibling Pine Chip. Tomas Bertmark's Earthquake was moved up to third in King Pine's stead.
Eager Seelster was named the best of his class in Canada, his exuberant owners taking home an O'Brien award to add to their Crown crystal.
Owners
Fielding, Leo & Four Studs Stable
Trainer | Driver
Ted Jacobs
Extras
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Hardie Hanover - 3FP
brown filly, by Big Towner
Owners
Burns, Waples, Ferguson & Martwest
Trainer | Driver
John Burns | Tim Twaddle
Extras
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Imageofa Clear Day - 3FT
chestnut filly, by Balanced Image
Owners
Earl A. Scheelar
Trainer | Driver
Doug McIntosh | Bill O'Donnell
The 1994 Breeders Crown Final for 3 Year Old Filly Trotters from Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, NJ won by Imageofa Clear Day
Extras
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Incredible Abe - 3CT
bay colt, by Crowning Point
Owners
Morris Feldman & Ralph DelPriore
Trainer | Driver
Chuck Sylvester | Italo Tamborrino
Extras
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Jenna's Beach Boy - 2CP
bay colt, by Beach Towel
The Breeders Crown freshman pacing colt division is solid testimony to the egalitarian nature of harness racing. The 1994 edition was a wide-open affair, offering the richest two-year-old purse north of the border, and the hopefuls came from every corner of the continent to vie for a piece of the pie.
An even twenty colts were willing to contest the race since the division had shown no definite leader. Two eliminations were necessary to assemble ten finalists. A mild upset occurred in the first when Peter Pan Stable's Only Pan, steered by leading OJC reinsman Doug Brown, minded his recently acquired manners and stole the race on the front end. The favorite, Woodrow Wilson winner Dontgetinmyway, was roughed up throughout the mile and barely squeaked Into the final with a fifth place finish.
In the other qualifier, a son of 1990 Crown champion Beach Towel bearing the moniker Jenna's Beach Boy, made light work of the opposition, sailing to the wire in a new track record of 1 :52.4. Jenna's Beach Boy suffered from allergies, remarked trainer Joe Holloway, and the Crown was his first start in about a month. Driver Bill Fahy mused that the deep-chested colt might be even better the following week in the final now that he had a nice tightener in him.
Rover Hanover had just two wins from 13 starts, but one was the $531,600 Metro Stakes at 51-1, so his owners were hoping that lightning would strike twice. A fourth-place finish in his elim. assured them at least a chance.
Seven of the 10 colts that advanced to the final were purchased at public auction. Only one of the seven cost more than $50,000, that being Stand Alone, offspring of 1989 Breeders Crown champion Matt's Scooter, who was hammered down for $100,000. Another Breeders Crown champion, Dragon's Lair, was represented by Powerful Structure, who cost his owners a mere $7,000.
On the opposite side of the spectrum were three homebreds, whose owners had an inestimable amount of time and money invested in them. Lee and Linda Devisser owned and raced a fast but temperamental mare named Five O'Clock Cindy. They retained her to breed, but her threatening attitude toward even her own foal (named Jenna's Beach Boy after their granddaughter Jenna) caused "Jenna" to be raised by a benign Belgian nursemare rather than his dam.
Runner-up to Jenna's Beach Boy was George Segal and Val D'Or Farm's Stand Alone. The costly colt had reeled off seven straight stake victories before being bested by Jenna's Beach Boy in their Crown elimination, but still maintained a slight edge on divisional honors for pure consistency.
The draw was not kind to the DeVissers, awarding their colt post eight. Then a pre-race mishap in the stall nearly caused Jenna's Beach Boy to be scratched, but after several jog miles he seemed to shrug off the hock bruise.
Stand Alone's seven wins were irresistible to the bettors, and the presence of driving whiz Steve Condren only furthered their cause. Only Stand Alone, Jenna's Beach Boy and No Standing Around were accorded any kind of chance in the eyes of the public, as the other seven aspirants all went off at double-digit odds.
The first happening of any importance in the race was that Rover Hanover, from the rail, made a break before the gate wings folded. This prompted an initial hesitation among the inside horses, which allowed Fahy and Jenna's Beach Boy to shoot from the outside and secure a spot behind the leader, Only Pan. The field hurled themselves through a first quarter in :26.3.
Fahy was not content behind Only Pan, and before the half-mile marker, Jenna's Beach Boy was at the forefront in the mile. Counting on the powerful colt's stamina, Fahy asked him to sprint away through the third quarter panel, creating a bit of a buffer on the rest of the competition. Jenna's Beach Boy widened his margin from two lengths to four, parading down the middle of the track as if he had no equal. Which, on this night at least. he did not. "Jenna' lowered his own track record by a full second to 1 :51.4, stamping himself as head of his class.
Favored Stand Alone stayed as close as possible to finish second, while Dontgetinmyway, under a typical heads-up drive by John Campbell, closed evenly for third. Those in attendance or watching via television knew they had witnessed something special, a harbinger for the three-year-old battles, a promise of brilliance in the year ahead. Jenna's Beach Boy was an easy choice for year-end honors, and became the fourth pacing progeny of a Breeders Crown champion to also capture a Crown. Beach Towel yearlings were precious that fall at the yearling sales, in no small part because of his eye-catching performance.
Fate seemed to catch up to this star crossed crop of colts in a dramatic way. Stand Alone did not live another month after a virulent illness caused him to founder severely. No Standing Around was purchased tor $175,000 in a January sale by the DeVissers, as a complement to Jenna's Beach Boy. He earned his purchase price back in three weeks, but in June, both Devisser-owned colts were scratched immediately prior to the first $1 million contest of the season. Jenna's Beach Boy suffered a hairline fracture that would put him out of commission for more than two months and No Standing Around was gripped with a respiratory illness, developed pneumonia and a fever that caused him to founder, and had to be euthanized.
Owners
L & L Devisser Partnership
Trainer | Driver
Joe Holloway | Bill Fahy
Extras
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Lookout Victory - 2FT
bay filly, by Valley Victory
Owner
Ollie Leven
Trainer | Driver
Per Eriksson | John Patterson Jr.
The 1994 Breeders Crown Final for 2 Year Old Filly Trotters from Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, ON won by Lookout Victory
Extras
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Magical Mike - 3CP
bay colt, by Tyler B
Owners
Shadow Lane Fms & David McDuffee
Trainer | Driver
Tom Haughton | Mike Lachance
Extras
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Pine Chip - Open Trot
bay horse, 5, by Arndon
Owners
Sylvester, Donahue, Goldman & Guida Stable
Trainer | Driver
Chuck Sylvester | John Campbell
Extras
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Shady Daisy - Mare Pace
bay mare, 6, by Falcon Seelster
Owners
Ron Jackson, Louis & Tamela Bauslaugh
Trainer | Driver
Louis Bauslaugh | Mike Lachance
Purse $250,000
Freehold Raceway, Freehold, NJ
Extras
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Village Jiffy - Open Pace
bay horse, 4, by Cam Fella
Owners
Wellwood, Armstrong, AFJ & Brunner
Trainer | Driver
Bill Wellwood | Paul MacDonell
Purse $334,000
Freehold Raceway, Freehold, NJ
Extras
|Chart |
Yankee Cashmere - 2FP
bay filly, by No Nukes
When Charles "King Kong" Keller roamed right field for the New York Yankees in the company of Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Heinrich, he could not have imagined how the next 40 years would unfold. Upon his retirement from baseball, Keller bought a horse farm in rural Frederick, Maryland, and began breeding standardbreds for a sport he had come to love as much as baseball.
Keller could not have guessed that by starting Yankeeland Farms he would shape the destiny of his children and grandchildren. Nor could he have known that producing the likes of the legendary Fresh Yankee, TV Yankee, Modern Yankee and Yankee Bambino, named for the great Babe Ruth, would lure his children into furthering the Yankee land legacy, yielding such wonderful pacing fillies as Choice Yankee and Yankee Co-ed.
Charles Keller Ill owns an accounting firm in addition to running the Yankeeland operation. His son Charlie IV, and nephews Dan and Brett Bittle, are also integral parts of the Yankeeland management team. Brett is the trainer of the Yankee land Racing Stable, though he first obtained a degree in agriculture from the University of Kentucky before taking on the responsibility of the racehorses.
Yankee Cashmere carried the Keller hopes into the Breeders Crown, after 14 entrants precipitated two eliminations. Despite a dull ninth-place finish in the Three Diamonds final, Yankee Cashmere rebounded the winner of her elimination in 1 :57.
The most highly regarded filly of the division, Efishnc, won the other in qualifying contest in 1 :56. Trained by Bruce Nickells, who has a virtual monopoly on the distaff pacing Crowns, Efishnc represented an attempt at an incredible seventh Crown trophy for Nlckells. Co-owned
by Nickells, car dealer John Howard and his former beauty queen wife Vicky, and commu-nications magnate Vince Lo Castro, Efishnc had the earnings edge of $470,480, the recognition of having won the Sweetheart, the fastest time of 1 :54.2 and the redundancy of hall of fame driver Ron Waples in the bike. It's understandable that she would be pulverized in the wagering.
Both Efishnc and Yankee Cashmere are daughters of No Nukes and their Crown confrontation was expected to be atomic. Efishnc had drawn the more desirable post five on the Woodbine mile oval, while Yankee Cashmere and pilot Pete Wrenn would be starting from the seven hole.
Les Sises set a crackling pace demanded by her driver Joe Hudon, forcing everyone else with designs on the top to look for a rail spot instead. Perhaps Hudon was emulating Ted Jacobs and Eager Seelster in the Crown contest prior, hoping to steal the race before the rest of the field could foil those plans. If so, it was not going to work against these fleet fillies. The :26.4 opening quarter yielded to a much softer panel, with Les Sises recording a half-mile time of :56.1.
Waples scraped together cover for Efishnc and moved out past the half. Les Sises held control past the three-quarters in 1 :25.4 but would begin to struggle when faced with the interminable Woodbine homestretch. Those who had wasted their energy In pursuing her were now tiring; those fillies who had been conserved on the rail were ready to commence their rallies.
Waples fanned out to find pacing room but suddenly did not need it as Efishnc's stride flattened out. She would only salvage a fifth-place finish. Hattie, a diminutive daughter of Abercrombie from the iron-sided pacing mare Albaquel found herself in the lead and under the violent exhortations of D.R. Ackerman, worked to keep it.
A bay blur came hurtling from the rear of the field, from so far back as to appear not even in the same race as Hattie. As Peter Wrenn bent to his work, Yankee Cashmere came skimming down the middle of the racetrack, dashing Hattie's hopes with a two-length lead. Owner Richard Staley has been amply rewarded by progeny from his former stakes champion Albaquel, whose son Ever So Rich won an elimination of his 1988 Crown event. The Cheerleader's Town Cheer was third for the familiar driver/trainer team of Doug Brown and Stew Firlotte, the duo responsible for Town Pro, the first pacing filly to win consecutive Crown titles.
Peter Wrenn graduated from the foremost driving ranks of Hazel Park and Pompano Harness Track, has been welcomed in the Garden State and with opportunities from the Bill Robinson stable among others, has proved he can go to the top level of profession. The win was his first Crown.
Thirty-year-old Brett Bittle is one of the youngest trainers ever in the Crown archives, and certainly his entrance through Yankee Cashmere's eye-popping victory made it even more memorable. They may not have been wearing pinstripes, but in the winners circle, the Keller boys did King Kong proud.
Owners
Keller III, Keller IV& Bittle
Trainer | Driver
Brett Bittle | Peter Wrenn
Purse $427,000
Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, ON -
The 1994 Breeders Crown Final for 2 Year Old Filly Pacers from Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, ON won by Yankee Cashmere
Extras
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