Armbro Operative - 3CP
bay colt, by Cam Fella
Owners
David McDuffee & Tom Walsh
It started out with a group of eleven three-year-old sophomore pacers forced to bide their time for two days after a Nor’easter caused the cancellation of their Breeders Crown elimination. And it all ended with a short field of seven going postward in the final just five days later. What made the final field unique was that trainer Brett Pelling had the responsibility of training three of the entrants, and each had their own merits on which they could stake claim to the championship.
Pelling’s night was set into high gear earlier on the program, as his trainee Mystical Maddy won the Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Filly Pace. And his chances in the Three-Year-Old Colt Pace looked extremely promising, as he was sending out Little Brown Jug winner Armbro Operative, Adios Pace victor
Electric Yankee and Nude Beach, who outperformed his stablemates the week before when he finished second in the Breeders Crown elimination. Electric Yankee and Armbro Operative didn’t fare so well in the elim, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively behind Oye Vay. The Pelling Stable came up all smiles after the post position draw, as Armbro Operative, Nude Beach and Electric Yankee, in that order, drew the inside three post positions.
America has been called “The Land of Opportunity” and Pelling, a native of New Zealand, certainly agrees. Using many training tactics from his native land, as well as the techniques adopted in the United States, Pelling found a combination that gives him his characteristic method of training for toughness rather than speed on the racetrack.
Pelling refined his knack for winning. In 1988, his first full year of training a public stable, he took the training title at Freehold Raceway. From 1990-92 he was untouchable at The Meadowlands, winning the title all three years. In 1995 he captured the Meadowlands Pace and the North American Cup, a pair of million dollar races, with David’s Pass. Until this evening though, he had never won a Breeders Crown, but before the night was through, he would have two championships to add to his laurels.
When the wings of the starting gate unfolded, Jack Moiseyev showed no respect for the strong contingent inside of him, as he sent Oye Vay to the front from his number five post position. Along the inside Armbro Operative, under the guidance of Mike Lachance, comfortably sat in second, with his two stablemates right behind. Things began to change though, after a 28.1 first quarter.
Joe Schwind pulled Electric Yankee at that point, followed closely by Ross Wolfenden and Nude Beach. With Oye Vay and Armbro Operative on the inside, the top foursome began to draw away from the rest of the field, while passing the half in :56.2. The field closed ranks approaching the 1:24.4 three-quarters, but it was there that Electric Yankee and Nude Beach began to tire and fall from contention.
Trainer | Driver
Brett Pelling | Mike Lachance
Lachance’s patience with Armbro Operative along the pylons paid off, as he had clear aim at the leader turning for home. With relative ease, Armbro Operative drew clear to win by three and onequarter lengths, stopping the timer at 1:54.1. Oye Vay was game in the stretch, but a furious rush by Jac’s Choice, handled by Peter Wrenn, made it too close to call with the naked eye for place honors. In fact the camera couldn’t tell either, and the two were declared in a deadheat for second.
For owners David McDuffee and Tom Walsh it was a delightful sense of deja vu watching Armbro Operative capture the Breeders Crown. In 1994, their pacer Magical Mike was successful in the Crown Final after a victory in the Little Brown Jug. Two years later, Armbro Operative took the same route to the top of the class.
Though Armbro Operative went on to demolish the remnants of the sophomore pace division in the Progess Pace at Dover Downs, but year-end honors went to Hot Lead whose prolonged streak at the Meadowlands kept him focused in voter’s eyes.
Armstrong Bros. was rightfully named “Breeder of the Year” by Sports Eye racing paper for the strong showing their performers continue to produce on the racetrack. They rank second in earnings in the Crown standings, with purse numbers of $4.2 million and 11 trophies won by the “Armbro” army.
Cam Fella has been an outstanding sire in the sport of harness racing, but medical difficulites caused his retirement in 1996. In the Breeders Crown series, Cam Fella has sired, with Armbro Operative’s victory, the winners of six championships, and, as a broodmare sire, he has four trophies to his credit, all from the offspring of Beach Towel - three from Jenna’s Beach Boy and one trophy earned by Paige Nicole Q. Though he will be missed from the stallion ranks, his legacy will live on long after his last crop races.
Purse $425,000
Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, NY - October 26, 1996
Extras
| Speed Records |
Armbro Prowess - 2FT
bay filly, by Speedy Crown
Owner
Robert Rosenheim
If there is a division that embodies the most intriguing aspects of harness racing, a strong argument would have to be made for the two-year-old filly trotters. They all contain the promise of champions, yet each bears a distinct personality and temperament, from lady-in-waiting to star in the making.
With eliminations necessary to narrow the division to the prescribed number behind the starting gate, the only surprise was that Merrie Annabelle winner Vernon Blue Chip did not make the final, coming up short after an impressive season. The eight fillies that composed the final field for the $406,200 Breeders Crown, the first of four freshman events at Mohawk Raceway, were all fascinating in both their lineage and their accomplishments.
No Nonsense Woman, an elimination winner, held a strong record of five wins in eight starts. She herself was the daughter of a filly who did not show racetrack promise at two, and was instead immediately bred, concentrating the gene pool to produce a fine contender as her first foal. The daughter of Sierra Kosmos was selected as a yearling by Jim Doherty, a Meadowlands pioneer and stalwart trainer/driver, for himself and longtime patrons Helen and Frank Rubinetti. She was double-staked to Pennsylvania-sired and Maryland-foaled races, and had mined that profitable route before trying the Breeders Crown.
The state of Pennsylvania was also represented by Russell Williams’ Gironde Hanover, prepared by trainer/driver Bob Roberts. She was one of three fillies in the race with a trainer who also drives, a species growing especially scarce in today’s catch-driver oriented world. Roberts was making his first start in Crown competition but came with the proper ammunition in Gironde Hanover. She had won her division of the Champlain at Mohawk over the favored Gramola, and her elimination win came at the expense of Gramola and Armbro Prowess.
Richard Heffering owned Grill Now, a daughter of Cookout, who trotted to a world record in winning her 1991 Breeders Crown elimination. Though Cookout faltered in the final, her offspring has taken up the cause. With $75,000 in the bank, trainer Linda Toscano felt Grill Now deserved a chance in the Breeders Crown. Grill Now would be piloted by Swedish driving legend Berndt Lindstedt, who drove her mother some five years before.
Trainer & Driver
Jimmy Takter
Jimmy Takter has shown an intense work ethic, limitless skill and improved driving abilities since emigrating to this country in the early 80s. He won the 1993 Two-Year-Old Filly Trot with the precocious filly Gleam, then turned the lines over to her owner and amateur driver, Mal Burroughs. Takter brought an entry to the 1996 event, Kramer Cascade and Armbro Prowess. The latter filly was sharpening into a real competitor, and trotted a 1:56.2 mile at Lexington in the International Stallion Stakes.
Elegantimage entered the final after breaking in her elimination due to near contact with No Nonsense Woman. She settled back to the trot and streaked to a second-place finish. Driven and co-owned by Steve Condren, she benefited from his excellent touch with young trotters, and was a hometown favorite and Ontario Sire Stake standout.
Lastly, the enigmatic Neith, named for an Egyptian goddess, had shown a flash of ability in the International Stallion Stakes in Lexington, but was blocked by a breaking horse. A creditablerunner-up performance in her elimination and drivemaster John Campbell at the helm meant she could not be discounted.
Glengate Farms Gramola was rightfully the favorite, with the most earnings (more than $300,000), the most victories (9), the fastest time (1:55.2) and rock-solid Bill O’Donnell in the bike for Bill Wellwood, who turned out top trotters in his sleep. The weather was not conducive to good behavior, the wind, rain and rock hard track surface providing ample excuse for those fillies inclined to lose their bearings. The first casualty on the sloppy track was No Nonsense Woman, who banged her muzzle on the gate and galloped from the shock, losing all chance. Gramola, who to that point had made one break, in the Merrie Annabelle, followed suit almost immediately, and saw her hopes for divisional honors go up in smoke. Campbell, driving Neith, made a modest bid for the lead that dissolved into a miscue when she galloped as well.
And then there were four. Four fillies who had the chance to go on to world wide recognition, like Peace Corps, or enjoy the limelight just once, like Super Flora.
Takter, driving Armbro Prowess, found a clear path for the front end and immediately changed his to settle for second best, as Armbro Prowess in peak form, trotted away to a 1:59.2 win. Grill Now trotted sharply for third.
Owner Robert Rosenheim paid as little heed to the torrential rain and gusting wind in his dash to the winners circle as Armbro Prowess had paid to it in her race. The first time owner, who apparently does everything with gusto, plunged into horse ownership at full bore, purchasing 16 horses in 1995. Armbro Prowess was a full sister in blood to Gleam, and was a relatively modest $35,000 purchase for Rosenheim, who had to be a lifetime convert after his Breeders Crown experience.
She is a daughter of Speedy Crown, a bittersweet win, as the stallion who has produced reams of champions was retired from breeding at the end of the year at age 28. He leads all Breeders Crown stallions, with 13 trophies, and $6 million in earnings, and his remaining crops will surely improve that number.
Jimmy Takter had barely finished showering the mud out of his ears when he had to run back to the winners circle for the second Crown event, which his pupil Malabar Man had just won for owner and driver Mal Burroughs. Takter became one of seven trainers to win dual Crowns on a single night, and the expert management of Armbro Prowess saw her win divisional honors at year-end. Armstrong Bros. picked up a eleventh breeders credit, followed a week later by Armbro Operative’s victory in the 3-year-old colt pace. Once again the fillies did not disappoint, providing more drama then any serialized fiction.
Purse $406,200
Mohawk Raceway, Campbellville, ON - October 18, 1996
Extras
| Chart |
Before Sunrise - 2FP
bay filly, by Precious Bunny
Owners
Brittany Farms & Daisy Acres
Irony. In horse racing it’s a constant accomplice, tempering every win and leavening every loss. The two-year-old filly pacing Crown event has been a traditional showcase for such greats as Miss Easy, Immortality, Amneris, Town Pro and Leah Almahurst. The $575,533 event at Mohawk Raceway was on course to be another such arena for the standout filly of the group, Michelle’s Jackpot.
The broodmare Jef’s Magic Trick has produced the winners of more than $4 million, an extraordinary amount. Owner Jeffrey Snyder was quick to snap up her foals as they were born, after the success he enjoyed with Cam’s Magic Trick and Horse of the Year Cam’s Card Shark. When Jef’s Magic Trick produced a filly, he named it after his daughter Michelle. A longtime relationship with trainer Mickey McGivern, who seasons and manners his youngsters, has reaped big dividends for Snyder. He then turns to trainers like Bill Robinson to polish his equine gems when they are ready to hit the big money trail.
Eliminations trimmed the original field of 14 fillies to eight. The twelve year-legacy of previous Crown competition wove through the event like a Christmas ribbon. 1984 Crown champ Dragon’s Lair was represented by Dragon So, a chubby yearling who uncovered explosive speed as she raced into shape. Her elimination win in 1:56.1 came as the public’s choice. Artsplace, who won his freshman Crown event and another as a four-yearold over the very same Mohawk racetrack, was represented by eight colts and fillies in the original entries for the freshman events. Now Decor, Michelle’s Jackpot, Fanciful Hanover and Tsunami Hanover all carried the banner for their sire. John Basilio’s Paling Avenue, a full sister to 1995 Crown titlist John Street North, had survived an nasty accident barely a month prior, with no ill effects except perhaps a mental bruise. All ghosts seemed exorcised when Paling Avenue charged to the lead in her elimination, after Sweetheart winner and heavy favorite Stienam’s Place went on an unexplained break. With Ron Waples steering, an upset seemed not only possible but downright predictable.
Gene Riegle and his wife Martha ambled into town with little fanfare, a drastic change for the Hall of Fame trainer who had, ironically, trained Artsplace and was now enjoying watching his first crop of junior speedsters race. However, the Reigle entrant wasn’t by Artsplace. She was by Precious Bunny, who could rightfully be described as the thorn in the side of Artsplace, the colt who spoiled much of Artsplace’s sophomore year. Before Sunrise was a $65,000 Kentucky Standardbred Sale purchase by George Segal’s Brittany Farms and Bill Hayes’ Daisy Acres. Thankfully, they changed her given name from Aaharvest Mooner.
Trainer | Driver
Gene Riegle | Steve Condren
Before Sunrise, an entertaining film about the ironies of romance, was a far better name for a filly with promise. Despite only five starts prior to the Crown eliminations, she had not been worse than third in any of them, and had recorded a seasons record of 1:53 at Lexington in the International Stallion Stakes.
Before Sunrise had been third in her elimination, behind Michelle’s Jackpot and Decor, and it was that closing effort down the middle of the racetrack that gave Steve Condren the confidence to drive her like a winner the next week.
Michelle’s Jackpot was driven by Luc Ouellette, nephew of Hall of Famer Mike Lachance, and an established star in his own right. Known for his aggressive style of driving, it was ironic that he would lose the race because he opted for a conservative position on the rail and ended up locked in.
The eight fillies were stout. They were the only group out of the four divisions that night not to have a single contestant gallop or balk at the extreme weather. Heads down and hooves flying, they went at it from start to finish. Michelle’s Jackpot fired the first salvo, seizing the lead with a :28 first quarter. Despite the rail position, Before Sunrise ended up fifth as Condren eased her away from the gate and considered his options. John Campbell, driving Decor, defined Condren’s decision by offering perfect cover as he went off in pursuit of Michelle’s Jackpot. Condren pulled Before Sunrise and followed. Surprisingly, Ouellete let Decor go, and Before Sunrise was left out to dry on the wet night. However, the half in :57.3 did no harm, and Condren, who knows Mohawk like his own kitchen, let Before Sunrise roll along while keeping Michelle’s Jackpot pinned against the rail. As the threequarter pole came up Dave Miller erupted down the middle of the track with Dragon So, but she could not get past Before Sunrise. Though not thrilled with his trip, Condren’s mood brightened perceptibly when he put away Dragon So and saw Decor begin to labor on the lead while his filly still felt strong.
Luc Ouellete would have given anything for a passing lane as Michelle’s Jackpot boiled over with pace. With steps to go, Ouellete was able to squeeze her out past a fading Decor but Before Sunrise was already under the wire in 1:55.3. Brilliant handling by Condren and a filly with heart made the difference. Though Condren has driven in many Crown events, his first win came with Armbro Officer in 1995. His second trophy came as a result of a last minute phone call from owner George Segal who knew Condren had a map of Mohawk in his head.
Though George Segal has handled plenty of Crown crystal, it was a first for his frequent partner Bill Hayes, a longtime horse owner. Bred by Bill Brooks’ Shallcross Education Trust, Before Sunrise was by Precious Bunny out of the Sonsam mare Moonshaker, a cross which apparently results in speed squared.
Gene Riegle was inducted into harness racing’s Hall of Fame and already owns five trainer trophies because no one is better than he when it comes to generating the maximum effort from his charges at the optimum time. That he did it with a daughter of Precious Bunny, on the first go-round, is truly ironic.
Artsplace was denied a first-crop Breeders Crown credit by his nemesis on the racetrack, Precious Bunny. Runner-up Michelle’s Jackpot took the divisional title by dint of her impressive record, which included seven victories and more than $500,000 in earnings
Purse $575,533
Mohawk Raceway, Campbellville, ON - October 18, 1996
Extras
| Chart |
CR Kay Suzie - Open Trot
bay mare, 4, by Royal Troubador
Owners
Carl & Rod Allen Stable
The mile oval at the Meadowlands Racetrack has been trotted over by some of the greatest standardbreds of the past decades. As home to the Hambletonian and millions of dollars in stakes races, Meadowlands patrons could be forgiven for being hard to be impress.
Still, the 11 trotters entered for the inaugural $500,000 Breeders Crown Trot were a conspicuous group. With combined earnings just shy of $10 million, the Open field included four former Breeders Crown champions, a Hambletonian victor and a foreign trotter who had captured the premier events of France and Sweden, the Prix d’Amerique and the Elitlopp. The Hambletonian Society, desirous of attracting the top trotters in the world to these shores to compete in the Breeders Crown, extended invitations to nominate to the winners of the aforementioned events as well as the Lotteria and the World Cup point leader. The initial foray became a huge success when Coktail Jet won two of the four European races and was owned by connections skilled in the Trans-Atlantic transition.
Daniel Wildenstein, a Parisian native, is one of the world’s most exclusive art dealers and a respected art historian. The Wildenstein family is also involved in international banking. Their stables have numbered as many as 500 thoroughbreds and 300 trotters, with farms in Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. The family has owned three Breeders’ Cup champions and were seeking a unique double with Coktail Jet, a six-yearold son of French stallion Quouky Williams and Armbro Glamour, an exported American daughter of Super Bowl.
Wildenstein has won the Arc de Triomphe three times, but called Coktail Jet’s win in the Prix D’Amerique his greatest thrill. He purchased 50% of Coktail Jet from Jean-Etienne Dubois, and before the Prix d’Amerique the stallion was syndicated for $3.2 million. Coktail Jet commenced to breed a full book of mares after his Prix d’Amerique win, but an easy victory in the Elitlopp convinced Wildenstein and 26-year-old trainer/driver Jean-Etienne Dubois to accept the challenge of racing in the Breeders Crown. Though he had won his last three starts, many felt it was a formidable task to ask a horse to race, breed 160 mares, travel overseas, endure quarantine and adapt to the one-mile all-out American style of racing.
Two other trotting stallions in the field also worked their racing careers around stud duty. 1993 Two-Year-Old Crown Trot champion Wesgate Crown and 1995 sophomore Crown champion Abundance bred 60 and 17 mares respectively. Wesgate Crown had also raced in France early in the year, and had shown form reminiscent of his championship season in his recent efforts. Abundance, from the rough and tumble Ducharme stable, had raced just seven times in 1996, and was facing a pack of trotters in peak form. Eager Seelster, the 1992 Crown freshman champ, frightened onlookers with a monstrous 1:53.2 effort on Hambletonian day, and was respected, especially from the rail position. Deliberate Speed, successfully raced by Norwegian Per Henriksen overseas, suffered from allergies, and his connections were hoping for an August night with some moisture to it to give their trotter some relief.
Tagliabue was the first Hambletonian winner to resume a racing career in the U.S. since Mack Lobell in 1988. Usually they are hustled immediately off to the stud barn, or in some cases race overseas. Despite two winning efforts in June, the son of Super Bowl had galloped in next two starts and was coming into the Breeders Crown from the qualifying races, certainly no trainers choice of an approach to an event of this magnitude. Still, driver John Campbell has been known to author a miracle or two, so Tagliabue was neither the shortest or longest price on the board, but comfortably in the middle.
Stalwarts Impeccable Image, Goodtimes, Golly Too, Oaklea Count were all Breeders Crown alumni and of enormous profit to their owners, racing year round and racking up purse money with commendable regularity. Oaklea Count’s world record 1:52.1 Nat Ray victory was overshadowed in the Hambletonian Day glory surrounding Continentalvictory. The father and son combination of Ron Waples pere et fils had won this event twice before -- with No Sex Please, the first Ontario-bred horse to earn $1 million.
The eagerly awaited return to the races of 1995 Horse of the Year CR Kay Suzie was pushed further back on the calendar as the balmy spring days lengthened to hot summer ones. In mid-July she qualified in 1:53.4, a blistering mile for a trotter who hadn’t raced since November of the previous year. But CR Kay Suzie is no ordinary horse, and her connections had grown used to extraordinary effort from her slender presence.
Trainer | Driver
Carl Allen | Rod Allen
CR Kay Suzie is named for Rod and Dawn Allen’s daughter Kaylie. Originally, the filly’s earnings were to be set aside for Kaylie’s college education. After those earnings passed the $1 million mark, Kaylie was teased about buying the college, the Florida State University in Tallahassee. A winner of seven of nine races as a two-year-old, resulting 1994 divisional champion CR Kay Suzie set world records on every size track and in each case, shattered not just the filly mark, but any two-year-old trotting mark. Her world record of 1:55.1 for a freshman still stands today.
So dominant was CR Kay Suzie at three that the Hambletonian was more or less conceded to the fleet filly before it was actually raced. When she stepped offstride in her elimination, the reaction was seismic. Though the Allen family has produced a heady roster of equine notables, it is for the grace and poise they displayed under the pressure of CR Kay Suzie’s sophomore campaign that the Allen family may well be remembered. The season was repaired almost immediately when she won the World Trotting Derby in record fashion. Horse of the Year honors were earned after the Allens supplemented CR Kay Suzie to the Breeders Crown Open Mare Trot at Delaware, which she won easily.
Now four, the scene was all too familiar as CR Kay Suzie, headstrong from the ease in which she could assume the lead, refused to give in to driver Rod Allen’s attempts to settle her down in the Nat Ray, the last hope for an appropriate prep race for the Breeders Crown. She broke stride behind the gate and all hope was lost. The only recourse left for Rod was to ship to Pocono Downs and qualify, then hope and pray the months of swimming and jogging had laid enough of a foundation to carry her through the Breeders Crown mile.
With a large contingent of foreign press drawn by CR Kay Suzie and Coktail Jet presence, tension grew as the evening wore on. Coktail Jet was made the favorite for an impressive set of performances on several continents. As the gate left, Allen eased CR Kay Suzie out safely and the crowd expelled a collective breath. At the quarter, Oaklea Count had the front but gave it up immediately when CR Kay Suzie appeared beside him.
Now in control of the lead, CR Kay Suzie set a fast pace of :56.2 to the half with a comfortable but not overwhelming margin on the remainder of the field. Dubois had sent Coktail Jet wide around the first turn and then settled toward the back of the pack waiting to see what would unfold. The outer tier of trotters did not advance on CR Kay Suzie, and DuBois soon found himself hopelessly out of contention, with far too much ground to make up.
Meanwhile, CR Kay Suzie continued to do the unthinkable, striding out by four lengths at the three-quarter pole and looking strong at the head of the stretch. Trotters trailed in her wake, although Jack Moiseyev had freed Deliberate Speed from behind cover and was making a decent attempt to lessen the distance between the front-runner and the wire.
CR Kay Suzie and Rod Allen maintained a healthy two-length margin as they crossed the wire, in a jaw-dropping 1:52.3 effort, a stakes record and the second fastest trotting mile ever recorded in her division. Allen’s quote was truly telling: “I was worried it might be asking too much,” he said, “but she always surprises and always impresses me.”
Coktail Jet could never engage the field, and DuBois bitterly blamed himself for exposing his trotter to a task beyond his immediate capability. Travel and quarantine time along with shorter distance of a mile did not sit well with the European trotter. Deliberate Speed trotted smartly for second and was retired soon after to stallion duties in New Jersey. Goodtimes finished third under an impressive steer from Ron Pierce.
Rod Allen took CR Kay Suzie to Italy in the fall of the year, as a part-ownership in her had been sold to an Italian concern. That foray was not successful, but on the strength of her singularly brilliant Crown performance CR Kay Suzie was again named divisional champion for the third straight year. Now a double Crown winner, CR Kay Suzie is also the progeny of 1989 freshman trot winner Royal Troubador.
Purse $500,000
The Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, NJ - August 9, 1996
Extras
| Speed Records |
His Mattjesty - 2CP
bay colt, by Matt’s Scooter
Last at the half. Those words can chill the spine of the staunchest owner, especially when pertaining to an important stakes race on your home turf, with half a million hanging in the air. The eight hole, the last slot on a gate stacked with inside speed, was bad enough. The gusting wind, rain-puddled track and zero visibility had to be dealt with by all the freshman Breeders Crown colt pace contenders, but only the 10 people comprising the Mattduff Group had to force hopeful smiles when their colt His Mattjesty came up last at the half at Mohawk Raceway on a night not fit for man or beast.
Getting there was hard enough. The top colts throughout the country gathered at Mohawk in mid-fall, with the Crown title and $700,153 on the line. To survive the eliminations, the 24 juvenile pacers, the most ever entered in a Breeders Crown event, had to be first or second. Metro winner Gothic Dream squeaked into the final as the third place finisher with the fastest time.
That the final field contained Carl Gregg’s Arturo was no surprise, as the first-crop son of two-time Breeders Crown champion Artsplace had just reeled off a three-race win streak that included the Garden State Pace and the Lou Babic. With Luc Ouellette driving, Arturo was rightfully made the favorite after a strong elimination win. Next closest in the wagering was Gothic Dream, whose length victory over The Big Dog in the Metro Stake still had trainer Jack Darling and his co-owners Dan and Audrey Smith floating on air. The Big Dog had been felled by a virus and did not enter the Breeders Crown, giving Gothic Dream one less obstacle in his path to bolster his chances for divisional honors.
The expertly managed Megamind from the Joe Holloway stable was also accorded some respect, as was Stone Dragon, a son of 1984 freshman Crown champ Dragon’s Lair, whose big floating gait matched that of his sire. Arlene and Jules Siegel saw both their entrants, Ramses Two and Park Place, miraculously make the final, as did Instant Offense from the Greg McNair stable.
Jack Moiseyev wasted no time in hustling Stone Dragon out for the lead, and he appeared unencumbered by the sloppy footing. Though it took a :27 quarter to defend the lead, Moiseyev then put his colt on idle, stealing a :30 quarter in an attempt to force the challenge of whomever felt brave enough under the circumstances.
The bid came from the favorite, Arturo, but it was not a confident one. He seemed to have trouble with the footing and his threat to Stone Dragon grew non-existent as they cruised past the three-quarters in 1:25.
Gothic Dream, driven by John Campbell, had worked out a decent journey with cover from Park Place. His Mattjesty was last at the half. And going nowhere. A desperate Doug Brown sought some reaction from his colt who was some three lengths off the cover being offered by Gothic Dream. Brown missed his chance and Megamind snapped up the proffered cover and the car ride back home was beginning to look long and dreary to the Mattduff Group.
Champions overcome obstacles. And His Mattjesty began to answer the call. He swooped past horses on the backstretch, and in the final turn his dramatic four-wide move may have been overlooked, as Arturo finally broke stride as he’d been threatening.
Moiseyev was counting the money. Stone Dragon had skipped into a three-length lead, and Moiseyev was confident no one would emerge from the sloppy tiring track and collar him, especially not after Arturo took himself out by galloping. But His Mattjesty had just overhauled Gothic Dream and had his sights dead on Stone Dragon, who wilted immediately at the challenge. Those anxious frowns worn by the owners and trainer Stew Firlotte became yelps of joy and encouragement as His Mattjesty skated under the wire a length ahead of the valiant Gothic Dream.
Though the time was a creditable 1:54.4, it belied the effort of the mile that had just unfolded. Horses do not come from last at the half, under adverse weather conditions, from an antagonistic post position, and win Breeders Crown races.
The Mattduff Group, consisting of principals Claude Incaudo, Scott and Clay Horner and Firlotte, were no strangers to frustration. Thrilled with the promise shown by their lateblooming two-year-old of 1995, Mattduff, they’d combed the sales to find a sibling only to discover a full sister had been withdrawn from the sale. A second choice was a threequarter brother to Mattduff, but a confirmation flaw (they’d been advised His Mattjesty stood slightly “back” at the knees) allowed them to purchase the son of Matt’s Scooter for a mere $31,000. His Mattjesty did not offer up delusions of grandeur in training. But he showed enough for Stew Firlotte, who knows promise when he sees it, to never lose faith in him. In fact it was Mattduff who could not regain the form of his freshman year, and ended up the disappointment.
Bill Perretti’s standardbred nursery annexed a fourth breeders credit; premier stallion Matt’s Scooter his first crystal trophy, with Mystical Maddy making it a pair before the Crown series was over. The team of Doug Brown and Stew Firlotte recorded their fifth win as a duo, and His Mattjesty was chosen as the O’Brien Award winner for the year.
His Mattjesty was inexplicably slighted by voters when divisional ballots were returned. Though he finished second to The Big Dog by three-quarters of a length in the Governor’s Cup, his trip in the Breeders Crown was easily one of the five most impressive miles of the season.
Purse $700,153
Mohawk Raceway, Campbellville, ON - October 18, 1996
Extras
| Chart |
Jenna's Beach Boy - Open Pace
bay horse, 4, by Beach Towel
Owners
L & L DeVisser Partnership
There was electricity in the air that August night at The Meadowlands. Tthe world’s premier harness track was hosting its first Breeders Crown events since 1988. Normally the championship events are contested in the late fall, but this year the Hambletonian Society awarded the nation’s showplace of racing the three open events, to be raced the closing weekend of the 1996 harness racing session. And with a star-studded cast of eight pacers leading the way in the Open Pace, it promised to be a very special night, indeed.
Jenna’s Beach Boy, one of only four pacers to win back-to-back Breeders Crowns, was attempting to put his mark in the history books. If successful in this year’s Breeders Crown venture, Jenna’s Beach Boy would become the fourth horse and the only pacer to capture three or more championships. Peace Corps has her name etched forever on the list as the only equine to have made it to the Breeders Crown winners circle four times, while Grades Singing and Mack Lobell had done it three times each.
Jenna’s Beach Boy was actually trying to duplicate the feat of Mack Lobell, who is the only horse to have won Breeders Crown events at the age of two, three and four. But what distinguished Jenna’s try for the Crown trifecta, is that he would become the first pacer to do so, with his illustrious counterparts all being diagonally gaited.
For owners Lee and Linda DeVisser, a Breeders Crown victory would put them over the top after an up and down ride with a horse they named after their grandaughter. Lightly raced his freshman campaign, Jenna’s Beach Boy produced a strong second half of the season that included a Crown victory and earned him divisional honors. In 1995, withJenna’s Beach Boy in the midst of an astounding season, and the likelihood of annexing the two richest events for sophomore pacers, the DeVissers were suddenly brought to earth. An earlier minor injury suddenly flared up again while Jenna was warming up for the $1 million North America Cup, forcing trainer Joe Holloway to scratch his star. Holloway also had to reluctantly withdraw Jenna from the $1 million Meadowlands Pace a few weeks later. A fall comeback saw the DeVisser’s and Holloway breathe a sigh of relief, as Jenna became the fastest racing three-year-old of all time with a 1:48.4 score at The Red Mile, and an impressive Breeders Crown winning effort at Mohawk Raceway.
The DeVisser’s startled the harness racing world when they announced they would bring their homebred son of 1990 Horse of the Year and Breeders Crown champ Beach Towel back to the racetrack in 1996. Overjoyed with his performance to date, they were looking forward to one more thrilling season.
After a pair of victories and a second in his first three starts of the season, Jenna hit a bumpy road. The horse inexplicably broke stride in the Graduate Final, finishing ninth, and then one week later, a sizzling 1:20.1 three-quarters duel with arch-rival Riyadh in a Meadowlands Invitational resulted in a third place check. In order to get Jenna’s confidence back, Holloway put the horse through the paces in a winning qualifying effort, and what followed soon after was indeed remarkable. After exacting a measure of revenge on Riyadh in the Driscoll Pace Elim, Jenna’s Beach Boy’s effort in the Final was one for the ages. Wearing down Riyadh down the stretch, Jenna’s Beach Boy crossed the wire in a breath taking 1:47.3, the fastest race mile of all time.
Trainer | Driver
Joe Holloway | Bill Fahy
Going on to a track record performance at Hoosier Park in the Dan Patch Open, Jenna then bobbled in the American-National at Sportsman’s Park, finishing eighth, and some in the harness racing world were beginning to wonder about the sport’s brightest star. The resilient performer bounced back once again, with another sub-1:50 mile in the U. S. Pacing Championship, setting the stage for his Breeders Crown try for history.
It wouldn’t be easy, however, as seven strong rivals stood in his way. Of course Riyadh was there. The richest of the field, with over $2 million in lifetime earnings, was sporting impressive credentials of his own, having earlier won the Battle of Lake Erie, the U. S. Pacing Championship and two divisions of the Levy Series. Trainer Monte Gelrod was also sending out a stablemate of Riyadh, Stand Forever, who was coming off of two 1:49 and change victories of his own at The Meadowlands, and would be handled by John Campbell, the most accomplished driver in both the Crown series and the sport.
Also entered were a trio of millionaires: Ball and Chain, who upset Jenna’s Beach Boy in the Graduate Final, and a pair of rugged mainstays on the Ontario Jockey Club circuit, Historic, who was third in the 1995 Breeders Crown Open Pace, and Village Connection, fourth in the 1994 Two-Year-Old Colt Pace and runnerup to Jenna’s Beach Boy in last year’s sophomore Crown event. Misfit, who won the Levy Series Final, and Hi Ho Silverheel’s, with a Pres Jenuine Pace victory to his credit, rounded out the elite field of eight.
Everyone at The Meadowlands expected an early tug-of-war between Riyadh and Jenna’s Beach Boy. When the two big guns drew the inside posts it was guaranteed. And when the wings of the started gate folded, there wasn’t a disappointed person at the New Jersey oval.
Jack Moiseyev, driving Riyadh, protected his pole position, rocketed to a :26 first quarter, equaling the quickest opening panel in Breeders Crown history, set by Jenna’s Beach Boy in 1995. Bill Fahy, the driving force behind Jenna’s Beach Boy, dropped right into the pocket, but moving down the backside, pulled and brushed by Riyadh to take command.
Paul MacDonell, caught on the outside with Village Connection from the outset, put pressure on the leading Jenna’s Beach Boy, but a :53.1 half and 1:21 three-quarters took its toll and they faded out of it. At the top of the stretch, Fahy asked Jenna’s Beach Boy for just a little more, and the bay horse responded. Late surges down the stretch by Stand Forever and Hi Ho Silverheel’s fell just short, and they settled for place and show money, respectively. Riyadh hung in there until the top of the lane, but ran out of gas and faded to sixth, clearly no match for the winner this time around. Jenna’s Beach Boy’s winning time of 1:48.4 was the fastest Breeders Crown contest in the 13-year history of the series, and earned him a lofty spot in the record books as the first back-to-back-to-back pacing champ ever.
That win really capped off a special night for the DeVisser’s and Holloway. Earlier in the night they swept the top two positions in the Open Mare Pace. Their four-year-old pacing mare She’s A Great Lady atoned for a disappointing eighth-place finish in the 1995 Three-Year-Old Filly Pace with a sparkling 1:50.4 win, while stablemate Armbro Nest followed right behind.
The two victories gave Holloway the distinction of being one in a handful of trainers that captured two Breeders Crown Championships on the same night. Winning the Open Horse Pace with Jenna’s Beach Boy also made him the first non-Canadian trainer to win the event since Clint Galbraith scored in 1988 with Call For Rain.
When the 1996 racing season was put to bed, Jenna’s Beach Boy showed nine wins, seven in 1:49 or better (giving him a record eight for his career), and lifetime earnings just short of the two million dollar mark. His accolades include being honored as the Aged Pacer of the Year, and Pacer of the Year, though he couldn’t beat out the sensational sophomore trotting filly Continentalvictory for Horse of the Year.
Jenna’s Beach Boy and She’s A Great Lady both scored impressive victories on this banner evening. And the two will hook up once again in 1997, though not on the racetrack. Jenna’s Beach Boy, now standing stud at Carter Duer’s Peninsula Farm in Kentucky, will be bred to She’s A Great Lady in 1997
Purse $300,000
The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, NJ - August 9, 1996
Extras
| Speed Records |
Malabar Man - 2CT
bay colt, by Supergill
Owner
Malvern Burroughs
When amateur driver Mal Burroughs won the Hambletonian Oaks behind his top notch trotting filly Gleam, he was a curiosity, a story angle, a hook and an inspiration to all those armchair drivers and trainers out there.
After 1996, Burroughs can only be described as an amateur in the same way Carl Lewis’ performance in the 1992 Olympics could be called amateur. He holds an amateur license, but there the definition ends. He may not accept his driving percentage, but he proved himself on equal footing with any of his “A” license peers after the handling of the year’s top freshman colt, Malabar Man.
More impressive is that he bred the colt as well as drove him to each of his 13 victories. Malabar Man was the first foal born at Burroughs’ New Jersey farm, also called Malabar Farms, a combination of Burroughs first name and his wife, Barbara.
Burroughs can claim familiarity with three generations of the pedigree that went into making Malabar Man. He raced Fickle Yankee, and bred her, and one of her resulting foals was named Lady Love McBur. That filly showed tremendous trotting ability, but suffered a tendon injury that ended any hope of a racing career. Burroughs subsequently bred Lady Love McBur to Supergill, hoping to infuse a large dose of Super Bowl blood. And so Malabar Man was born.
Though Burroughs thought well of the colt, it was trainer Jimmy Takter who harbored big aspirations for him. There was something about him that earmarked him in Takter’s mind, and Takter’s had his share of good ones.
Malabar Man qualified in late June, like hundreds of other two-year-olds, and though he won his qualifier, the time of 2:04.2 was not an attention-getter. From there, Burroughs and the colt went to the fair. Though the New Jersey fairs today bear little resemblance to the primitive circuit it once comprised, it is still considered an easier path for a youngster than to be thrown immediately to the pari-mutuel wolves.
In his first four starts Malabar Man raced for a purse of $3,000 and did not crack 2:00, while his peers took down the big dollars offered in the Peter Haughton Memorial and other stake events. Malabar Man did win each of those four starts, and the New Jersey Futurity, which carried a respectable purse of $14,244 before trying open stakes competition. According to Burroughs this was a valuable learning experience, not only for the freshman, but for Burroughs himself.
In their first departure from their home state, Burroughs and Malabar Man ended their six-race win streak by finishing fourth (placed third) in the Champlain at Mohawk Raceway.
They stayed at Mohawk for the Campbellville the next week, which Burroughs won -- while a colt named Meadowbranch Lou won another division. Meadowbranch Lou would figure largely in their future, but for now Burroughs was just concerned with not making any mistakes with his obviously talented colt.
It was back to New Jersey, where Malabar Man and Burroughs won the Sire Stake Final and their elimination and the final of the Harold Dancer Memorial at Garden State Park. Word spread slowly that the team of Takter and Burroughs had come up with another trotter deserving respect.
The Breeders Crown has been a definitive factor in year end honors for this group, perhaps more than any other. Of the 12 champions, eight have been named top of their class. So it was an important race for both Malabar Man and Meadowbranch Lou, and also the richest purse the two had ever raced for -- over $400,000.
A total of 15 trotters entered the box, though early season sensation Yankee Glide opted out due to illness. The group after the eliminations ranged from the serious contenders -- Malabar Man and Meadowbranch Lou -- to the inexperienced but developing fast -- Sand Chaser, Divinator, BJ’s Super Son and Victory’s Force -- to the comicallynamed but capabaly gaited -- Buttafuco and Oneacme Trotterkit.
Oneacme Trotterkit, in particular, was a crowd pleaser. The small son of Cumin was a bargain basement $6,000 purcahse for innovative trainers Bud Burke and Liz Quesnel. With his high-stepping gait and his tail tied in a knot and carried high in the air, Oneacme Trotterkit raced like the little engine that could. His third place finish in the $500,000 Peter Haughton was ten times his purchase price.
Trainer | Driver
Jimmy Takter | Mal Burroughs
Malabar Man won his eight horse elimination, rather easily, by close to two lengths. Meadowbranch Lou won his too, in perfect fashion and the gauntlet was thrown down. The media made much of the “David -vs- Goliath” angle of the Breeders Crown. Meadowbranch Lou came from one of the most formidable owner-trainer-driver teams in the sport. Those involved, Chuck Sylvester, John Campbell, Lou Guida, along with coowners Neal Goldman and Gerry Donahue have been a part of 50 Breeders Crown titles. Burroughs on the other hand, owned one Breeders Crown winner, Gleam, and had been in the bike for one of the few defeats of her sophomore season. Gleam broke stride with Burroughs driving in her elimination of the 1994 Breeders Crown and did not advance to the final. That stigma was added to the already oppressive weight Burroughs felt the week between the elim and final of the Mohawk Breeders Crown when an even more pressing problem occurred.
Malabar Man suffered a minor infection in his hoof, but a painful one that made his racing in the final questionable. For two days he did not leave the stall, while caretaker Paavi Huuskonen soaked and treated his foot.
When Burroughs and Malabar Man took to the track on Crown night, the rain and wind were formidable. Malabar Man was second favorite behind Meadowbranch Lou in the wagering. The worry about the colt’s foot was momentarily alleviated when Jimmy Takter won the first Breeders Crown race on the card, the 2-year-old filly trot with Armbro Prowess. Takter barely had time to shower the mud out of his ears before Malabar Man went to post. Burroughs got away evenly, sitting third behind the sprinting Oneacme Trotterkit and a somewhat bewildered Buttafuco. As Oneacme Trotterkit tired, Campbell made his move with Meadowbranch Lou, a move he’s made many times in the past with success. Burroughs knew he was coming and refused to flush until it suited him, sitting coolly at the rail until the half mile marker. When he did pull, he refused to be hurried and confident of his colt’s ability, sat determinedly midtrack, and then began pass the leaders. Meadowbranch Lou, enjoying the best of trips, had him dead in his sights and was simply not good enough. No one was -- the Goliath was Malabar Man all along.
Malabar Man is a son of Supergill, who in one of the closest photos ever in a Breeders Crown, ended up second by a nostril to Firm Tribute. Another son, Running Sea, would win his Crown event a week later. Supergill would lead all stallions in Breeders Crown earnings for the year, his nine starters banking $642,893, with two championships. Ironically, Supergill had already been exported to Italy when his sophomore crop exploded on the scene.
Despite a loss to Allison Hollow in the Valley Victory final, Malabar Man went home with all the marbles at season’s end. Besides a healthy $464,041 in the bank, 13 wins in 15 starts (the two losses were a second and a third) add the fact that Malabar Man never, ever, went offstride, as a testament to his ability. Burroughs firmly established himself as a professional in every sense of the world, one regarded as an equal by Hall of Fame drivers and trainers alike
Purse $428, 676
Mohawk Raceway, Campbellville, ON - October 18, 1996
Extras
| Chart |
Mystical Maddy - 3FP
bay filly, by Matt’s Scooter
Owners
Peter Pan Stables
Sometimes the differences in big league sports are hardly noticeable. On a crisp fall night in New York, at two different sports venues, located just eight miles apart, there were major differences.
In the sport of baseball, even the major league players earn fame and fortune. In the sport of standardbred racing, there is no stardom for the mediocre. Only the elite can reap the riches.
In the Bronx, on a Yankee Stadium field where baseball greats Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle once played, the 1996 edition of the New York Yankees were about to capture the World Series. At Yonkers Raceway, where Handle With Care, Belle Action, Countess Adios and Fan Hanover put forth some of their greatest efforts, a three-year-old pacing filly named Mystical Maddy would attempt to make her mark and take her rightful place in history. In a sport where equal amounts of hard work, patience and luck must be combined to have any success, what occurred that evening at Yonkers Raceway was indeed electrifying. Owner Bob Glazer had waited a long time for a Breeders Crown victory. It took much effort and many years, races and dollars, but it was payoff time on this “mystical” night on the half-mile oval at Yonkers.
Glazer, the principle member of the Peter Pan Stables, knew what chasing a dream was about. Growing up in Cleveland, he watched his Indians baseball team strike out year after year, coming close some years but never quite reaching their goal. But he knew that his dream could come true. After all, it was his father Sam who took the status quo cup of morning coffee to new heights. Sam invented, marketed and eventually sold the rights to Mr. Coffee, the first automatic drip coffee maker for the home.
Bob’s mother Molly knew her son always wanted to catch the end of the rainbow. Like Peter Pan, said Molly, “Bob is just a big kid who didn’t want to grow up”. Hence the word “Pan” that is used in many of Glazer’s horses names, resulting in some very clever wordplay for track announcers. Most of Glazer’s horses are instantly identifiable by their “Pan” names, however he was unable to switch the moniker of Mystical Maddy, who he purchased after her two-year-old campaign for a respectable $130,000.
Mystical Maddy’s quest to the Breeders Crown got off to a slow, if not wet start. With 13 sophomore fillies entered, (including $45,000 supplemental entry Lizbet Kash), two eliminations were needed to pare the field down to the elite eight. Mother Nature stepped in, and heavy wind and pounding rain from a Nor’easter forced the cancellation of that night’s Yonkers card. It was actually the second time in the history of the series a Breeders Crown event was cancelled; the 1989 Horse Trot was delayed a day by Hurricane Hugo.
A two-day delay forced the eliminations to be raced as non-wagering events on a Monday night, making the final just five days later. With Mike Lachance aboard, Mystical Maddy won her elimination, leaving from the outside post and working her way up the outside the entire mile. Paige Nicole Q and Peter Wrenn were successful in the other elim, and the big daughter of Beach Towel was set to to defend her Breeders Crown Championship.
It wouldn’t be easy. Paige Nicole Q raced adversely when the weather didn’t suit her, and she preferred cold crisp weather to damp and humid. Ken Jacob’s Lizbet Kash was not only heavily backed by her supplemental fee, but also by her early speed and half-mile track ability, and her seven-race win streak that ended at the Crown elimination. Lizbet Kash was a daughter of the first ever two-time pacing Crown winner, Call For Rain. Jacobs, a long-time Yankees fan, gave up a box at the World Series to root for his mare.
Glazer was sure that the post position draw for the final couldn’t be any worse for his stable star. And he was right. It was just as bad, as Glazer himself pulled the pills, and was rewarded with the outside post eight once again. Though the post position was a detriment, Mystical Maddy had magical figures. With 17 wins in 19 starts, she had dominated the Tarport Hap, Mistletoe Shalee, N.J. Futurity (against colts) and the Nadia Lobell.
The road to certain riches took another stutter step, as Pretty Discreet caused a recall in the final, when she tried to duck under the starting gate. The second try went perfectly, and it was leading Yonkers driver Luc Ouellette who sent On Her Way “on her way” to the front. Once again, Lachance and Mystical Maddy were going to have to race on the outside the entire distance, and around the first turn picked up the cover of a couple of rivals. After a first quarter in :27.3, there were four fillies in and four fillies out, with On Her Way leading the way to the half as well.
Trainer | Driver
Brett Pelling | Mike Lachance
A lot of shuffling would take place from that point on, as the outside horses proved stronger than their foes racing along the pylons. Fillies moved two and three wide around the final turn, as their quest for the finish line loomed closer. First, Paige Nicole Q assumed command, with Lizbet Kash and Mystical Maddy moving even wider to get position. As the field straightened out into the stretch Lizbet Kash snared the lead with Walter Case, Jr. driving, but Mystical Maddy was hot on her heels.
Midway down the lane it appeared there would be no denying Mystical Maddy her crowning achievement. With a big surge, Lachance and Mystical Maddy drew clear to win by two lengths in 1:55.3 over a game Lizbet Kash, putting owner Glazer on cloud nine.
It also gave New Zealand native Brett Pelling his first taste of Breeders Crown victory, although later on that night he would add another to his resume with a win with Armbro Operative in the Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Pace. Driver Mike Lachance continued on his incredible streak, and would move to third on the all-time Crown drivers list with 14 trophies and close to $4 million in earnings.
Southwind Farm, well known for trotting stallion Valley Victory and pacer Artsplace, claimed their first breeders credit as the Skolnick family owned the Most Happy Fella mare Mossy and bred her to Matt’s Scooter, a 1988 Crown champ. He would pick up his second sire credit for the year, to lead all pacing stallions in the Crown earnings list.
Mystical Maddy’s effort earned her owner $195,000, adding her name to the exclusive millionaire’s list. And it put a fairy tale ending on a story in which
Purse $440,000
Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, NY - October 26, 1996
Extras
| Speed Records |
Personal Banner - 3FT
bay filly, by Royal Prestige
It’s a given fact that in a horse race someone has to win and someone has to lose. Those who have enjoyed the sport for any length of time come to realize how precious the wins are, and to be philosophical about the losses. In the history of the Breeders Crown series, there has never been a tougher loss than the one that went down in the 1996 Three- Year-Old Filly Trot. The $350,000 event was awarded to Vernon Downs in upstate New York, a coincidental locale that would enhance by fourfold the drama of the race.
The performance of Continentalvictory in 1996 transcended any of the traditional splits of age, sex or gait. She was simply breathtaking every time she stepped on the racetrack, and easily defeated all competitors. The Yonkers Trot, Hambletonian, World Trotting Derby -- all hers for the taking.
In the fall at Lexington, Continentalvictory was a race away from winning the first trotting triple crown title in 20 years. She was entered in the filly division of the Bluegrass Stakes as an easy prep for the Kentucky Futurity and in the backstretch Continentalvictory broke into a gallop.
It was an ominous sign that Continentalvictory did in fact have limits. Just prior to the Futurity, trainer Ron Gurfein announced she would not race again in 1996. Her achievements were more than enough to insure her Horse of the Year honors, and her return to the races at four was eagerly awaited.
The filly that won that division of the Bluegrass, Personal Banner, also defeated Act Of Grace, considered the second best racehorse in the division, and also a filly. Act Of Grace was trained by Stanley Dancer and driven by John Campbell, a team with enough star power to dull the lights of any other contender. But Personal Banner had star power of her own.
Young Bill Gallagher graduated from one of the toughest shedrows in the sport, that of Team Nordin. There he acquired valuable skill with trotters, and the experience of dealing with the autocratic Nordin family would prepare him for the biggest oportunity of his life. Gallagher inherited a horse owned by N.Y. Yankees team owner and maverick George Steinbrenner. When Gallagher improved the reject and sold him for double what Steinbrenner had hoped, the bond was forged.
Steinbrenner sent Gallagher to the yearling sales, where Gallagher’s girlfriend and assistant trainer Annette (Suzie) Collins selected Personal Banner on looks and pedigree, along with two other yearlings. Despite getting all three yearlings to the races, Gallagher got the “Billy Martin” treatment from Steinbrenner and had the horses (including Personal Banner) yanked from him in April. When results were still not forthcoming, Personal Banner was returned to Gallagher. After defeating Continentalvictory in the Bluegrass, Personal Banner then bested Act Of Grace in the Kentucky Filly Futurity. Steinbrenner sold Personal Banner, practically on the eve of the Breeders Crown. If anything, the sale improved her chances of winning. The purchaser was the Biasuzzi family of Italy, owners of some 200 to 250 horses, both racing and breeding stock. Their Nalda Hanover won the 1988 Three-Year-Old Filly Trot (paying $97.00 to win) and Jean Bi captured the 1990 two-year-old edition. It was up to Personal Banner to keep their batting average at 1.000.
Eleven fillies entered the Crown at Vernon, including one filly who had a home run streak of her own going. Trainer Bill Andrews attracted very little media attention in 1996, despite an achievement of such magnitude that record books don’t yield the last time it happened, if indeed it ever happened.
All Andrews did was win 18 straight races with a three-year-old trotting filly, who never put a foot wrong. No matter the track, the weather, the size of the field, the waxing or waning moon, no matter who drove her or in what state. She was simply a Moni Maker.
Andrews had an incredible luxury, which is to work for a group of people who may arguably be the best owners the sport has to offer. E. Carlyle Smith, David and Tim Smith, and Dr. Alan Foster have been in the sport long enough to stay on an even keel, but as Moni Maker racked up win after win, the pressure began to build. The group stood back and let Andrews do his job.
As a two-year-old, Moni Maker had the credentials to be good. Jim Giannuzzi, who advises the Smiths and Foster on yearling purchases, remembers circling the filly over and over, debating over a minor confirmation flaw. She was bred in the purple, the offspring of Speedy Crown and Nan’s Catch, who won both the Breeders Crown and the Hambletonian Oaks. Ironically, it was Wally Hennessey, who would end up steering the filly to 15 of her 18 wins, who convinced Gianuzzi to follow his instincts and buy the filly. She went for $87,000, which seems expensive, but since the first two foals of Nan’s Catch cost $150,000 each, Moni Maker was a bargain.
Moni Maker was a capable freshman, winning six of 14 starts and $72,610, but when she opened her 1996 season with an overnight win at Pompano -- establishing a season’s record in the process -- the die was cast.
Moni Maker won her elimination and the final of the Currier & Ives at The Meadows, and the Reynolds at Pocono, interspersed with New York Sire Stakes victories at Saratoga, Vernon, Monticello and Buffalo. No diva she, Moni Maker arrived at The Meadowlands to prep for the richest race of her career, the Hambletonian Oaks, with zero fanfare, despite her undefeated record.
Rarely does the sophomore trotting filly division feature performers with the depth of Continentalvictory, Act Of Grace, Personal Banner, Real Diamond, Spinning Reel and of course, Moni Maker.
Guy, Frank and Gerry Antonacci’s Lindy Racing Stable have enjoyed some of the greatest trotting performers of the recent decade, and they liked what they saw in Moni Maker. Based on her flawless breeding, impeccable manners and ideal record, Lindy Racing purchased a share in Moni Maker. Nothing about her conditioning would change, and the Antonaccis would assume control of the filly when the Smiths and Foster decided she was finished racing for the season.
“Her willingness to win” was what made her special, according to driver Wally Hennessey. “If you gave her the chance to win, she would”, he was quoted as saying, time after time.
Andrews tried the colts after the Hambletonian and successfully won the Zweig with Moni Maker at Syracuse. Next it was off to Mohawk, where she won the Simcoe Stakes. Some of her most demanding races were to come, in the New York Sire Stakes program, where the tenacious Real Diamond refused to acknowledge her supremacy, fighting her week after week.
Moni Maker prevailed however, her toughest task coming in the NYSS Final, where the sloppy track was just one of the deterrents to getting close to the pace-setting Real Diamond. Her nose victory was a heart-stopper, but it went on the books as her 18th straight win.
Andrews took Moni Maker back home, to Vernon Downs, where a pair of qualifiers served as a tightener to her biggest test. Perhaps it was predestined that her biggest challenge would come on Andrews’ home turf, outside of Syracuse, hometown of her owners.
No crowd has been so partisan since Jeff Mallet and Dragon’s Lair beat Nihilator at his home track of The Meadows in 1984.
The Crown competition was the toughest Moni Maker would face. Personal Banner was sharp as a machete, and Act Of Grace, driven by John Campbell was always a threat, as was the persistent Real Diamond. Post position seven, to the outside of two of the aforementioned fillies, was not an ideal place to be, but Andrews and Hennessey had played every hand they’d been dealt to date, and weren’t going to start making excuses at this point.
A decent trip unfolded for Hennessey behind Act Of Grace but soon turned into a double-edged sword. As Hennessey tipped three-wide around Act Of Grace to trot clear, Act Of Grace broke into a gallop, and Campbell pulled her out of the way. This action opened up a space off the rail for maybe half a second. Peter Wrenn, driving Personal Banner, dove for that space, and the pair of fillies trotted as a team down the stretch. At the wire, Personal Banner had the audacity to stick her head in front of Moni Maker and end her immaculate season in her 19th try.
Moni Maker gave up nothing in defeat. She went on to win the Matron in Florida, and then earned a well-deserved rest. She raced creditably in Europe in early 1997 and may yet win her Breeders Crown this year. Neither she nor Personal Banner got any awards or year-end honors, though no two horses have been more deserving, after the display they gave on a fall evening at Vernon.
Purse $350,000
Vernon Downs, Vernon, NY - October 25, 1996
Extras
| Speed Records |
Running Sea - 3CT
bay colt, by Supergill
For more than 40 years scenic Vernon Downs has been a cornerstone of the New York State harness racing industry. It has produced famous horses and legendary horsemen, and has alway been popular as a summer training destination due to a charming rural setting and a unique three-quarter mile track, with the horses starting on the straightaway and foregoing a standard first-turn.
As a first-time host for the Breeders Crown series, Vernon drew the sophomore trotting divisions, a pair of superior races in 1996. Though the fillies outshone the colts, the colts came on in two distinct sets, early season sensations and those who came to their peak later in the fall.
Mr. Vic, an early darling, did not make the Hambletonian or the Breeders Crown. Lindy Lane, valiant runner-up to the phenomenal filly Continentalvictory in the Hambletonian, raced in the Breeders Crown elimination, but was withdrawn from the final for failing to show at top form.
That left the spotlight solely to Running Sea. When Jorgen Jahre bred his $200,000 earner to the fastest trotter of 1988, he was hoping to capture the best traits of Wish For Speed and Supergill, and add an extra twist of trotting talent. Though it was not evident at first that he had succeeded, the offspring of the two had already begun a march to the races. Relatively unnoticed at two, Running Sea logged on the scene as a solid performer, banking $88,000 under the steady tutelage of trainer Eddie Howard for owners Howard Guggenheim, David French and Don Johnson, who make up the DDH Racing Stable. Abe “Colt-Man” Stoltzfus, with an unerring eye for inexpensive champions, selected Running Sea as a yearling for $8,000. The son of Supergill showed definite promise as a freshman, yet it took until September of 1995 before he posed in the winner’s circle. It would be ten long months before his picture was taken again. At the close of his two-year-old season, Running Sea finished in the money behind Lindy Lane, the late season sensation and eventual divisional champion of 1995, in the Valley Victory. His owners, pleased that he had finished his freshman campaign strongly, entertained winter-long thoughts of having a top colt in 1996. They could never have imagined that by the same time next year, Running Sea would be the headliner, as Lindy Lane slowly faded from the scene.
In the beginning of 1996, Running Sea displayed perfect form -- in qualifying races, that is. In the betting contests, which came with purse money attached, he galloped. That’s pretty much the way April and May, the cruelest months for the DDH Racing Stable, unfolded. Running Sea qualified well, then ran. Qualified well again, then ran. Finally in June, in the Colonial at Woodbine, Running Sea showed a glint of his ability, finishing fourth and trotting in 1:55.4. Unfortunately, with just one flat mile behind him, it was time for Running Sea to head south and hit the Hambletonian trail. Despite a skip behind the gate, Running Sea finished third in a prep race for the Yonkers Trot, the first leg of the trotting Triple Crown. But, for all the marbles the following week, he went offstride and finished sixth, 24 lengths behind the astounding winner. Not that anyone beyond Guggenheim, French and Johnson noticed. All eyes were on the filly, Continentalvictory, amazingly called the third best horse in a trio of juggernauts that included Lindy Lane and Mr. Vic. All were offspring of Valley Victory, and were more or less conceded all the money, all the accolades and all the acclaim for the rest of the year.
Of course, that’s why they call it horse racing.
The owners of Running Sea were not new to the vagaries of racing. Guggenheim is a vice president of Smith Barney, a brokerage firm in his hometown of Boca Raton, Florida. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he has three children who still live in the horse-saturated Buckeye state, which is where, in the late ‘60s, Guggenheim first became interested in the horse business. Seeking a diversion from the long hours at work, he bought some yearlings to race the county fair circuit, perfect outing opportunities for the family. As the years went by, Guggenheim found himself with a healthy number of horses, his stable usually numbering around a dozen. About three years ago, Guggenheim made a pitch to two of his friends, Johnson, a client of Guggenheim’s investment firm, and French, an attorney in Boca Raton, to invest in a package of race horses. French is the bookkeeper for the stable. Though standardbreds may rate as “high risk” as investment prospects, the partners did well.
Guggenheim wanted more. He wanted a “big” horse, one that would be talked about, written about and feared the way Lindy Lane or Continentalvictory was. And French believed they had one in Running Sea. Time was slipping away.
The owners decided to make a change. Running Sea had the potential to become that “big” horse, and it was their responsibility to give him every opportunity to do so. After that frustrating gallop in the Yonkers Trot, time was running out for Running Sea.
The Hambletonian was less than a month away and they were sure they had a trotter capable of giving a good showing. They approached Chuck Sylvester about taking the colt. Sylvester has long since proved his worth in this business, and has been adamant about keeping the size of his stable scaled down. He doesn’t take horses he doesn’t want or owners just for the sake of a training bill. When Abe Stoltzfus convinced Sylvester that both Running Sea and his owners were first class material, the trotter was moved to the Chuck Sylvester Stable.
Well, Sylvester didn’t win the Hambletonian with Running Sea. But D(avid), D(on) and H(oward), as the DDH stable, were dancing a jig over Running Sea’s third place finish. Their instincts to go with Sylvester were justified. And Sylvester, who needed a driver since Campbell was committed to Act Of Grace in the Hambo final, went with his instincts, and grabbed Wally Hennessey, straight from the winner circle of the Hambletonian Oaks with Moni Maker.
A win in the Zweig Memorial and a proper showing in the World Trotting Derby refueled their hopes.
Running Sea would not lose another race. As the harness world focused on Lexington and the final stage of the trotting triple crown, several dramatic events occurred. Personal Banner beat both Act Of Grace and Continentalvictory in the Bluegrass Stake, a traditional filly prep for the Kentucky Futurity. Continentalvictory would not race again, and the scramble for position among the colts to seize control of top dog status began in earnest. Running Sea romped in the colt division of the Bluegrass Stake.
The Kentucky Futurity was all Running Sea. Sylvester had honed the medium-sized colt to razor sharpness, and Hennessey helped him control and use his best feature -- quick gate speed -- to his advantage. No challenge materialized from Lindy Lane in their Futurity elimination, and the final was a two and a half length jog, a perfect present for Hennessey on his 40th birthday, in the midst of the best year of his driving career. As for Sylvester, he took his seat in the floral Futurity chair for the fourth time.
The Breeders Crown saw a dozen trotters flood the entry box, vying for the last big purse of the season. If Running Sea was going to make voters forget the spectacle of August and the dominant Meadowlands performance of Lindy Lane, a Crown win was a must. First, Hennessey guided Running Sea through the elimination at Vernon Downs, sitting carefully in the bike as if the trotter were made of spun glass.
“I just didn’t want to anything stupid and not make the final,” Hennessey reported afterwards. This horse is so sharp now I just didn’t want to make any mistakes.”
Hennessey did let Running Sea open up four lengths at the wire in his elimination, thinking ahead to the next week and hoping to quell any thoughts of Running Sea being open to challenge, He wanted the others to recognize him for what he’d earned -- the title of the favorite and the best horse in the race. The eternally smiling Hennessey also marked a second personal milestone with a Running Sea victory, chalking up his 4,000th victory in the Crown elim.
Running Sea had no trouble in the Breeders Crown final, winning comfortably in 1:55.2, hardly blowing as the exuberant crowd of owners joined him in the winners circle. Caretaker Krista Williams steadied her charge as a stream of people caromed about him. The only member of the winning team missing was the coach. Sylvester’s wife Sharon had been hospitalized with breathing problems and he had decided to stay by her side, leaving son Troy in command at Vernon.
Another son of Supergill, Super Grit, was also improving his sire’s credits, with six wins coming into the Breeders Crown. John Campbell deftly steered him to a second place finish, and Ron Gurfein’s second-stringer Score A Success, who’d won the Founders Gold Cup at Vernon earlier in the season, was third. With the scratch of Lindy Lane, Edge of Glory moved into the final and picked up the fifth place check.
Supergill lost this event to Firm Tribute in 1988, in one of the closest finishes in Crown history. Vindication came from both Running Sea and Malabar Man, winners of both the freshman and sophomore trots. Supergill would lead all stallions in Crown earnings for the year.
Guggenheim and French were almost speechless. At the beginning of the season they’d hoped to have a solid competitor, a horse who would make a good showing and they ended up with the star of the show. A win in the Matron in Florida, in front of their hometown crowd, capped the year. Nearly the entire staff of Smith Barney crowded the winners circle. The title of three-year-old trotting colt of the year was imminent. Running Sea was an outstanding investment -- the $8,000 he cost turned into $686,338 in purse money and a sale price of $750,000 to Swedish interests and Finnish trainer Juoko Parssinen. The three partners had agreed to dissolve their interests win, lose, or draw, and kept to their agreement when the buyers came calling. Though the financial rewards were vast, the real return came in the thrills department for Guggenheim, French and Johnson, who realized the experience of a lifetime through Running Sea.
Purse $400,000
Vernon Downs, Vernon, NY - October 25, 1996
Extras
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She's A Great Lady - Mare Pace
bay mare, 4, by Dexter Nukes
Owners
L & L DeVisser Partnership
No pretender has ever won the Breeders Crown Open Mare Pace. Though the ten mares who’ve won the event may not have been the post time favorite, each and every winner was a renowned mare at the time of her victory, and proudly retained that classification until her racing days were over. In the overall pacing hierarchy, names like Samshu Bluegrass, Follow My Star, Anniecrombie, Armbro Feather and Caesar’s Jackpot preserve their luster, and few onlookers privy to the battles of Shady Daisy and Swing Back will forget those epic battles.
In other divisions there have been upsets, poor racing luck, ill-timed strategy or a fresh newcomer who seizes the moment. But never in the Open Mare Pace. Since 1985 it’s the one event that never features the understudy, but always showcases the star.
Bob Grand’s Headline Hanover was the defending sophomore Crown champion. In late 1995 the filly had been honed sharp as a tack by trainer Stew Firlotte, and leading Ontario Jockey Club driver Doug Brown took no prisoners as he sent Headline Hanover to the front and never looked back.
Had he looked back he would have seen that overwhelming favorite and $45,000 supplement She’s A Great lady, a cinch to win the event on her way to divisional honors was nowhere to be found. A foot injury thought to be healed was obviously not, and Headline Hanover stole the race, if not the season, from She’s A Great Lady.
The owners of She’s A Great Lady, Lee and Linda DeVisser, did not want to see history repeated. A planned mid-spring return to the races for the four-year-old daughter of Dexter Nukes came off as scheduled, and in her second start at the Meadowlands She’s A Great Lady signaled her intentions towards the Crown with a 1:51.4 effort.
She’s A Great Lady was not the only standout under the DeVisser shedrow. Trainer Joe Holloway also handled their homebred Jenna’s Beach Boy, a double Crown champion and currently the fastest racing standardbred. He was representing their interests in the Crown Pace later that evening. Over the winter Holloway also purchased the runner-up in the 1995 Crown sophomore pace, Armbro Nest for $160,000, tabbing her as a solid moneymaker and excellent stablemate for She’s A Great Lady. His instincts were correct. After a decent freshman season, this daughter of 1984 Breeders Crown winner Dragon’s Lair blossomed into an ultra consistent performer, finishing on the board in 38 of 54 lifetime starts to date. Armbro Nest pulled a shocker in June at the Meadowlands, recording a 1:50.4 mile. Though She’s A Great Lady was the headliner, Armbro Nest kept stealing the limelight. She won the Roses Are Red over Swing Back and She’s A Great Lady, and had banked more than double the numbers of her stablemate by Breeders Crown time.
Trainer | Driver
Joe Holloway | John Campbell
Seven other mares, all hovering on the lip of greatness entered as well. One who did not, the defending Mare Pace champion, Ellamony, was fighting for her life. An infection raged through her bloodstream, and though every effort was made to save the heroic mare, her system was eventually compromised and she had to be humanely destroyed.
Bob Grand and Headline Hanover were hoping for lightning to strike twice, though Headline Hanover was not close to her form of the previous year. In addition, Doug Brown was off his turf and in the territory of the formidable John Campbell. The rest of the mares were blue chip stock, but, with the history of this event, that wasn’t good enough. This is an event won only by the great ones, and the Holloway-trained entry seemed insurmountable.
Headline Hanover gave it a good shot. Brown blazed the mare out of the gate and shot past the quarter in 26.4. Jack Moiseyev aimed Gabrielle for the front, continuing the torrid pace past the half. She’s A Great Lady and Campbell were dwelling in the rear of the pack, causing Holloway’s brow to furrow in concern. Driver Bill Fahy wheeled Armbro Nest to command past the half and repelled the valiant challenge of Cammie’s Lady. It appeared that Armbro Nest might save the day for the DeVissers, when suddenly Campbell appeared in the outer tier, with clear aim once they turned for the stretch.
She’s A Great Lady had a big task. But her name speaks for her actions. She uncorked a 26.4 last quarter, blew by her stablemate and captured the Crown title she should have rightfully captured the year before. By Campbell’s expert maneuvering to have her in position for a final drive, he had saved all her valiant effort for when it counted. A three-length margin was the reward, and a stunned Holloway had to have it pointed out to him that he took win and place honors. He had not believed at the last turn that She’s A Great Lady could win. Armbro Nest held strongly for second, while defending champ Headline Hanover had to settle for show honors this time around.
Sire Dexter Nukes captured his first Crown stallion title, and breeder John Cummins his first Crown credit as well. The Mare Pace was Campbell’s sole win of the 1996 series, but it boosted him to 29 trophies overall, and more than $9 million in purse money. The DeVisser’s had a unique double since their four-year-old pacer Jenna’s Beach Boy would become the first pacer to win three Crown titles later that same evening. Both She’s A Great Lady and Jenna’s Beach Boy were rewarded with divisonal honors.
Purse $300,000
The Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, NJ - August 9, 1996
Extras
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