Artiscape - 3CP
bay colt, 3, by Artsplace -- Delinquent Account, by On The Road Again
Owners
Brittany Farms & Brian Monieson
As 1997 faded away and the racing world geared up for the new year, the bar was already set quite high for Artiscape. The blue-blooded son of Breeders Crown champions Artsplace and Delinquent Account, Artiscape had already done more in his freshman year than most. A winner of six of eight races as a freshman, Artiscape made history when he won the Breeders Crown at Mohawk - the first contestant to win a Breeders Crown whose sire and dam were also Breeders Crown winners.
Trainer Bob McIntosh is capable of turning a deaf ear to the siren song of rich but early-season purse money, and brought his colt along slowly as a two-year-old. It was September before Artiscape made his pari-mutuel debut, which probably cost him divisional honors against the more polished slate of Sealed N Delivered. But McIntosh felt the strategy that had served him so well in 1997 would do in 1998 as well. He purposely avoided the early big money races, including the two worth a cool million -- the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace -- believing a horse that is sharp for the North America Cup will not be a fresh horse in the fall. Convinced that because of some nagging injuries Artiscape was better pointed for the end of the season, McIntosh watched as Straight Path annexed the North America Cup and Day In A Life took the Meadowlands Pace.
It was July 4th to be exact, before Artiscape even qualified, a 1:57.1, 12-length stroll around Mohawk’s oval. From there, McIntosh sent his prize pupil down the road less traveled, avoiding the east coast and picking up wins at Woodbine and Chicago, where Artiscape won the American National final by more than nine lengths in 1:50. Among the rivals he trounced that night were Day In A Life, the Meadowlands Pace winner. Then came post position 12 in a 12-horse field in the Oliver Wendell Holmes at the Meadowlands on August 8th. Despite being carried extremely wide around the last turn, Artiscape emerged from the crowded field to finish second. It was in the Holmes that Artiscape was reunited with Mike Lachance, the man who had guided him to victory in four of six starts together the previous year.
From there, it was west to Indiana for the Hoosier Cup. Sailing through the elimination in 1:51.2 for a comfortable one-and-a-quarter length win, Artiscape was the public's choice in the $500,000 final, but a :26.2 opening quarter found Lachance and his colt ninth in the outer tier. More than eight lengths out of it at the half in :55.2, Artiscape devoured ground with every stride, unleashing a final quarter of :26.4, but finished third.
Three consecutive wins in the Provincial Cup elimination, Final and Simcoe Stakes did much to restore the luster to Artiscape's reputation as the multi-heat test of the Little Brown Jug loomed large on his horizon. In the interim, Shady Character had come to the fore as the dominant pacer of the division, with wins in the Jersey Classic, Art Rooney and Cane Pace. His regular driver was Mike Lachance.
Trainer | Driver
Bob McIntosh | Mike Lachance
Other than trainer McIntosh, the one person most able to accurately assess the ability of Artiscape was obviously Lachance. On Jug day, his faith in the colt was put to the test. Lachance drove Shady Character, on his quest for the second leg of pacing’s Triple Crown, to a 1:53.1 victory in the first elimination.
In the next elimination, Artiscape, also piloted by Lachance, finished second to Cam's Knows Best in 1:52.3. For the final, Lachance was forced to choose. Stick with Shady Character - a horse whose proclivity for the half-mile track was well known - or go with Artiscape.
Before the post positions for the final were drawn, with no hesitation, Lachance chose Artiscape. Howls of protest and indignation rose from the Delaware County Fairgrounds - all coming from the connections of Shady Character. It seemed everyone questioned Lachance's judgment that day: owners, trainers, drovers analysts and fans. Two years earlier, Lachance had opted to drive Firm Belief over eventual Jug winner Armbro Operative. When Shady Character won the Little Brown Jug with catch driver Ron Pierce, Lachance's critics felt vindicated. Lachance himself never wavered, answering all questions politely, until finally stating emphatically some days after the Jug. "I stuck with him because I think he's the better horse. And you know what, I still think he's a better horse."
Wins in the Bluegrass and Tattersalls and pacing in 1:50.2 over Kentucky's Red Mile bolstered Lachance's confidence in Artiscape and sent him into the October 16th Messenger Final as the betting choice, where he again met Shady Character, just one win away from becoming a Triple Crown winner. The two horses dueled to the half in :55.2, with Shady Character refusing to yield the lead and Artiscape taking the long way around the Meadows' oval. The torrid pace took its toll on both horses; Artiscape finished third and Shady Character sixth.
Shady Character had won the New Jersey Classic, Art Rooney and Cane Pace, Day In A Life was the winner of the Meadowlands Pace, Fit For Life had won the Messenger, Dragon Again had won the Hoosier Cup.
Artiscape had won the American National, Provincial Cup, Simcoe Stakes, Bluegrass and Tattersalls. The stage was truly set for the November 14th Breeders Crown showdown at Colonial Downs in Virginia. For Artiscape, the November 8th elimination was a pocket-sitting walk in the park to beat Shady Character. In what turned out to be their final meeting, Artiscape drew off to win two-and-half lengths in 1:54. For Shady Character, the season was over. Pelling sensed he would not offer his best effort and decided to let his pupil, who'd earned a million dollars and won 10 races be retired. Instead he sent Browning Blue Chip, another pacer from his seemingly endless supply, after Artiscape.
Artiscape drew post eight in the $440,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Pace, the outside post a potential problem over Colonial Downs' sweeping one-turn mile with its initial long straightaway. Lachance sought to negate the outside post by controlling as much of the pace as he could and sent Artiscape rocketing away from the gate and after the lead. Tony Morgan and Sealed N Delivered had other ideas though, and the quartet blew through the first two panels in :26.2 and :53. Artiscape prevailed by the three-quarters in 1:21.1, opened up one-and-half lengths in the stretch, then doggedly fought off the late rush of Browning Blue Chip to win by a nose in 1:49.3.
"This horse is like a bulldog,"' Lachance said after his 17th career Crown victory. `"He just keeps on grinding out the mile. I have never had to work so hard as I did in this race with this horse. It paid off.'"
For Bob McIntosh, it was Breeders Crown trophy number 11, which tied him for the moment with Chuck Sylvester as leading Crown trainer. Muscles Yankee’s performance in the next race put Sylvester ahead to an even dozen. For George Segal (who also won the two-year-old filly trot with Musical Victory earlier in the evening) and Brian Monieson, who bred and own Artiscape it was their fourth Breeders Crown trophy as partners. Monieson, seriously ill, insisted on coming to Colonial Downs to watch his dream colt perform "To win this race for Brian Monieson was the proudest moment of my life," said McIntosh. "Artiscape is as good as it gets."
With his second consecutive Breeders Crown win, Artiscape became the fastest and richest son of the leading pacing sire Artsplace and the only son of dual Breeders Crown winners to win not just one, but two Breeders Crowns. When casting votes to award Artiscape divisional honors as three-year-old
pacing colt of the year, many voters cited Artiscape's stirring Breeders Crown win as the deciding factor. As has been true so often in the past and will be in the future, "In harness racing it all comes down to the Breeders Crown “
Purse $490,000
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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Badlands Hanover - 2CP
bay colt, by Western Hanover – Behave Hanover, by Tyler B
Owner
John Celii
Fifteen freshman pacing colts entered the Breeders Crown at Colonial Downs, including three who had never tasted defeat in their young lives.
In the first elimination, Grinfromeartoear, the Woodrow Wilson and Metro Pace winner, had a slate reading six for six. The son of Artsplace had also earned $730,175, under the services of red-hot Luc Ouellette, and was taking dead aim on divisional honors. He was matched against an unbeaten The Panderosa, with five wins in five starts, who had taken the road less traveled. Trainer Brett Pelling didn’t even qualify The Panderosa till August and planned to race him about eight times. His plan was to have The Panderosa in peak form for the Breeders Crown and Governors Cup.
The extremely fast Falcon’s Icon headed up the other elimination. An early starter, he’d won 10 races in 10 starts and more than $300,000 for the team of trainer Kelvin Harrison and owner Joe Alflen. The pair had been in a similar situation with Direct Flight in 1991; that colt galloped in the final as the favorite. Falcon’s Icon counted the Smullin, Babic and New Jersey Futurity among his wins.
Things did not go his way however, and driver George Brennan encountered traffic problems with his headstrong colt and finished out of the money, a shocking development that was about to be repeated. Instead, Island Fantasy recorded his eighth win in 14 starts for owner Bob Waxman and trainer Bob MacIntosh.
Grinfromeartoear was clearly off his form, as he was able to manage an easy trip but faded to finish sixth behind Badlands Hanover, who streaked past The Panderosa to score in 1 :52. Both Grinfromeartoear and Falcon’s Icon were out of the rich final and The Panderosa had experienced his first loss.
Trainer | Driver
Joe Holloway | Ron Pierce
Badlands Hanover drew post two for the final, contested on a wet and dreary Virginia night. Paul McDonell sent Ft. Apache Hanover rushing to the front from post six and Pierce quickly settled Badlands Hanover into second. Shortly past the :27 first quarter, Badlands Hanover was tipped to the outside, and with a quick rush, seized the lead. Moving through a half in :54.1 and three-quarters in 1:22, Badlands Hanover opened up a two-length gap over the field.
Lachance, behind Island Fantasy, moved up into position on the outside, but as the field headed into the stretch, he ducked in behind the pacesetter. From there all Lachance could do was to chase Badlands Hanover to the wire, missing by two and a half-lengths. Ft. Apache Hanover gave a good account of himself, coming back on a bit to just miss catching Island Fantasy for third.
The Crown championship for Badlands Hanover meant he’d tied the record as the fastest freshman performer in the sport with his 1:50 mile. Owner John Celii and trainer Joe Holloway watched in awe as their charge sent his earnings past the $500,000 mark.
Holloway earned his fifth Breeders Crown trophy thanks to Badlands Hanover, who was a $105,000 yearling purchase at Harrisburg for Celii. From the Hanover Shoe Farms consignment, Badlands Hanover gives the farm its 11th Breeders Crown championship, and maintians its position atop the earnings board with more than $5.5 million in Crown dollars.
Most of the top freshman contenders went on to race in the Governors Cup, where Island Fantasy emerged victorious after an inquiry involving The Panderosa and Badlands Hanover. The ivisional champion selected from this stellar group of youngsters was Island Fantasy, who displayed a marvelous consistency and closed out the season on a winning note.
Purse $551,700
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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CR Commando - 2CT
bay colt, by Royal Troubador – Airborne Gal, by Spellcaster
Owners
Carl & Rod Allen Stb & Niss Allen
Two-year-old colt trotters are the apples of every breeder’s eye, as their potential seems unlimited from the first early races of the season through the serious contests of fall. With 14 freshman entered in the Breeders Crown Colt Trot, divisional honors were at stake along with bragging rights between two first-crop sires, Victory Dream and Pine Chip.
Victory Dream had two sons, Raffaello Ambrosio and Self Possessed, both handled by trainer Ron Gurfein who had guided the stallion to a 1994 Hambletonian victory. Winner of the Valley Victory at Garden State Park, and tops in money in the division was Starchip Entrprise who along with Peter Haughton winner Enjoy Lavec represented the sire Pine Chip, a double Breeders Crown winner.
Add Canadian champion Armbro Scorpion from the Bob McIntosh barn (which had taken this same event in 1995 with Armbro Officer), Angus Hall, GV’s Whiteface and San Pellegrino (a son of Valley Victory, Breeders Crown champion of 1988) and it was truly a ‘breeders’ Crown.
CR Commando had scored a convincing 1:57.1 victory in his Breeders Crown elimination one week prior. The robust bay colt ticked off quick fractions with a 27.4 final quarter. Self Possessed, with Mike Lachance at the lines for trainer Ron Gurfein, stalked the winner at every call, but could come no closer than one length at the wire.
Angus Hall placed a new world record on the books in his Crown elimination heat, winning in 1:54.4 for driver John Campbell and owners Lynda Stewart (wife of trainer Bob Stewart), Mimi Lenenberg, Jerry Semer and Allister Stables. Angus Hall flew home from fourth at the top of the stretch to edge out the tempo-setting Starchip Entrprise and Jim Doherty by onehalf length. That time of that elimination surpassed the previous mark of 1:55.3 that was set by the great Mack Lobell in 1986 at Lexington’s Red Mile.
Bob Stewart had sent sophomore trotter Conway Hall (and full brother to Angus Hall) to Italy for the Orsi Mangelli, but he himself stayed behind, knowing Angus Hall needed work schooling behind the starting gate. The time spent with the youngster at Colonial Downs obviously paid off.
The match-up seemed set, the landing strip of Colonial Downs the perfect setting.
Trainer | Driver
Carl Allen
Called by Allen, who is also the colt’s owner, breeder and driver as, “the best in 31 years that I’ve ever had,” CR Commando collected his Breeders Crown victory on November 14 in near wire-to-wire fashion. Allen was confident prior to the Crown Final that his colt had the edge in both soundness and speed, with the rail post position as an added advantage.
The Royal Troubador youngster followed Jim Doherty and Starchip Entrprise, who had bolted to the top from the seven-hole in the first furlong, but then Allen took “command” and tripped the timer in :27.1, eased to a :56.3 half, followed by a :27 third quarter (1:24.1) with a steady drive to the wire. He was never challenged by rivals San Pellegrino, who finished second or the hard-trying Breeders Crown elimination winner Angus Hall, who ended up third, both some three and a half lengths back.
Self Possessed got away fourth from the gate and then was parked from the half on, and managed to finish a respectable fourth. Starchip Entrprise made a couple of breaks late in the stretch and ended up fifth.
CR Commando epitomized a Breeders Crown champion, winning the final test of his twoyear- old campaign in a world-record clocking of 1:53.2 at Colonial Downs. The apple of trainer Carl Allen’s eye, the freshman standout won six of 12 races in 1998, displaying blistering speed that led to him win division honors as Two-Year-Old Colt Of The Year by a landslide.
The time of 1:53.2 was more than a second faster than any freshman had trotted before, and the new world champion was remarkably fresh, wringing his neck and tossing his head about after his impressive performance on a cold, damp night at one of North America’s newest trotting venues.
CR Commando acquired the third Breeders Crown trophy captured by the Allen’s Golden Cross Farm in Ocala, Florida (two from 1995 Horse of the Year CR Kay Susie, and almost ten years ago, with Royal Troubador in 1989) and also is the fourth freshman divisional champion to be conditioned by the Allens, along with pacing filly CR Daniella, Royal Troubador, and CR Kay Susie. It also gave Carl Allen his second Breeders Crown victory as a driver. Interestingly, CR Commando and San Pellegrino produced an exacta price of $99.60.
CR Commando’s could not match his sire, Royal Troubador, who had paid a hefty exacta price when, coupled with secondplace finisher Meadowbranch Eddy in 1989 at Pompano Park, the pair paid $272.80, the highest exacta price ever in the history of the Breeders Crown two-year-old colt and gelding trot. CR Commando also set new records for each of the fractions in this division, thanks to Colonial’s one-turn configuration. The former record for a three-quarter time, set by King Conch, was 1:27.1 in the 1991 Breeders Crown at Pompano Park) and was shattered by CR Commando, who reached the three-quarters in 1:24.1.
CR Commando gave Carl Allen his second win in this division, tying him with trainer Per Eriksson, who won the event in 1991 with King Conch and in 1992 with Giant Chill.
Purse $390,700
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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Galleria - 3FP
bay filly, 3, Artsplace -- Emory Girl, by Sherman Almahurst
Owners
Jules & Arlene Siegel
Rarely has the sophomore pacing filly division treated onlookers to a year like 1998. Instead of a single dominant filly there were several, and their hard-fought battles and courageous performances often eclipsed those of their male counterparts. Five of the seven pacing fillies entered had earnings greater than $400,000, an unprecedented occurrence.
Armbro Romance had been a slight margin on the divisional leader board coming into the race, which many called the finest field of distaffs assembled in recent memory. The homebred daughter of Artsplace-Armbro Intimate, owned by Armstrong Bros., started out the year strongly, racking up five victories in six starts, all at The Meadowlands. Her career best 1:49.4 world record performance victory over Galleria in the Historic-Ladyship Stake set a new speed standard for her group.
Armbro Romance held up her end of a Little Brown Jug sweep for trainer Brian Pelling by winning the Jugette on Wednesday while stablemate Shady Character won the Little brown Jug the next day. She finished off the board just once in her 15 starts in 1998, and if she had a flaw, it was that she was susceptible to “tying-up” or muscles cramping. It was thought that condition contributed to her two important losses to arch-nemesis Galleria, in the Miss New Jersey Final and in the elim and final of the $400,000 Mistletoe Shalee.
After a brief two-year-old campaign that saw her score four wins in four starts, Galleria put it all together at age three for trainer Jim Campbell and owners Arlene and Jules Siegel of New Hope, Pa. Campbell had come into 1998 expecting a lot from his three-year-old pacers, but his eyes had been on the male side of his ledger, not the female side. Although he liked the prospects of the lightly raced Galleria, few would have expected the average-sized Artsplace daughter to be the star of the stable.
Galleria owned several impressive victories of her own. She won the Breeders Filly Stake at Hoosier Park in a resounding 1:50.4 mile over Ohyouprettything. After a frustrating loss to Armbro Romance in the Jugette where the short stretch and the post positions hampered her racing style, Galleria racked up the Helen Dancer Memorial and Shady Daisy in short order.
Trainer | Driver
Jim Campbell | George Brennan
Galleria had ten head-to-head match-ups prior to her Breeders Crown pairing with Armbro Romance, and the Brett Pelling Stable trainee had bested Galleria seven times. However, Galleria had the distinction of being the only sophomore filly to have beaten Armbro Romance, had won the biggermoney contests between the two. The Breeders Crown final would be the tiebreaker.
As if the top pair weren’t glitzy enough, the Joe Anderson stable had supplemented Ohyouprettything, the richest Illinois-bred filly in history with an incredible $890,093 to her credit. The daughter of Sportsmaster was only the second Illinois-bred pacer ever to enter a Breeders Crown final. Most of her earnings came from taking advantage of the rich Illinois-bred program, and she appropriately mined the Prairie State for all the fiduciary opportunities available, with only three of her 25 wins coming outside it’s boundaries. She did win the Breeders Filly elim at Hoosier Park, finishing second to Galleria, in the final, and her elim and final of the Nadia Lobell at Garden State Park. Ohyouprettything would end up 0-4 in her matches with Galleria when the year was over.
There was another filly in the race who drew attention, not just for her ability but because she was a geographic anomaly. Undercover Lover N, making just her ninth start in North America, was the second New Zealand-bred pacer and first filly ever to compete in the series. She is the daughter of former U.S. champion In The Pocket, who stands double stud duty in both Ohio and New Zealand. Undercover Lover earned $248,252 down under before shipping stateside, winning 17 races in her native country. She won an elimination of the Fan Hanover at Woodbine and was second to Stonebridge First, another Crown entrant, in the final. Stonebridge First was the only returning Crown contestant, having finished third in 1997 to Take Flight. Under Cover Lover N made another good showing at Garden State Park, when she scored a 1:52 victory in the Nadia Lobell elimination at Garden State Park and was second to Breeders Crown hopeful Ohyouprettything in the final.
Armbro Romance was coupled with stablemate Pan Yankees in the Crown Final. Rounding out the field was Fresh Start from the Bret Schultz stable, a bit overmatched but with national driving champion Tony Morgan in the bike, she was in capable hands.
Even New Zealand was tuned in via satellite simulcasting to watch what promised to be a match for the ages.
Galleria left sharply for lead and was parked to the :27 first quarter by a hard driving Undercover Lover N and Luc Ouellette. When Armbro Romance took over the lead at the half, Galleria yielded to second on the rail, while a charging Pan Yankees zoomed up on the outside. Positions remained unchanged to a 1:22.4 third quarter, while Galleria waited patiently to angle free.
Down the stretch the two Pelling trainees raced side by side, as Brennan stayed snugly in behind. Midway through the stretch Brennan found the room he had been looking for, and quickly tipped Galleria to the outside of the long straightaway, and around the tiring Armbro Romance. Also making a big sweeping move around the turn was Joe Anderson and Ohyouprettything, who came closing with a tremendous burst of speed, but the wire arrived in time for Galleria, who stopped the timer in stakes record time of 1:51.
Galleria and driver George Brennan upset Armbro Romance’s bid for a Crown title and also won the divisional championship on the strength of her stellar effort. It was Brennan’s second trophy of the night, his first ever in the Breeders Crown.
Undercover Lover N, who kept to the inside for the entire journey, finished third, three and a quarter lengths back.
Driver John Campbell, the pilot of Armbro Romance, who was looking for his fifth Three-year-old Filly Pace Crown title (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993), could take solace in the fact that his brother Jim won his first Breeders Crown victory in ten tries. The victory gave Galleria $925,132 in earnings for 1998. Bred by Mrs. Lester Vance, Galleria was a $38,000 yearling purchase at the Kentucky Standardbred Sale. Sire Artsplace picked up his fourth stallion credit, and owners Jules and Arlene Siegel happily carried their first Breeders Crown trophy home.
Purse $480,000
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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Jay's Table - Mare Pace
bay mare, 6, by Run The Table -- Jay’s Omaha, by Armbro Omaha
Owners
Siegel, Scharf, d'Elegance & TLP Stables
The Breeders Crown is often the only event that brings the top pacing mares from every part of North America together on the racetrack. 1998 was no different, as slowly word began to drift back to the host track of the Meadowlands about this mare or that, from Ontario or Ohio, who was tearing up the competition. After the 1996 Crown victory of Indiana import Extreme Velocity, a little more respect was given to the out-of-town interlopers, but generally the Meadowlands fans and analysts stuck by the familiar.
The eleven mares entered ranged from the sensational Sanabelle Island to the supplemented Jules Jodoin, who had found new life in her fourth year of racing for the Joe Anderson stable. From Indiana came Miss Kitty Hanover and Shania, hoping to replicate the success of Extreme Velocity, who entered the Crown winner circle via Hoosier Park. Leading owner Bob Glazer salted the field with two of his Peter Pan stable mares, Keep Your Pans Off and One If By Pan, and Meadowlands open-ranked regulars Western Azure, Dragon So and Cami Whitestocking were representing the home team.
From Canada came the indomitable mare Oohs’ N Aah’s, making her third start in the profitable Breeders Crown program and Jay’s Table, a six-year-old homebred owned by Ontario native Joe Leonardis. One could forgive Leonardis for thinking of the Breeders Crown as a bad dream. In 1996, with Jay’s Table, one of the top pacing mares in the country in his barn, he missed the entry date for the $282,500 event. He had to watch the mare contentedly munching hay in her stall as Extreme Velocity and John Campbell blazed to the Breeders Crown winner circle. Leonardis admits to some sleepless nights over his error, and then finally was able to put it behind him as something that “wasn’t meant to be.
” After all, his homebred daughter of Run The Table (best remembered for his incredible duels with Jate Lobell at The Meadowlands, and as the second place finisher to Call For Rain in the 1987 Breeders Crown, now a super successful Ontario stallion) and the Armbro Omaha mare Jay’s Omaha owed him nothing.
Unraced at two, Jay’s Table made just 16 starts at three, mostly in overnight and Ontario Sire Stake contests. At four, chronic foot problems kept her off the track, but when capable of racing, she flashed the promise Leonardis knew she was in her. With her decent record, Jay’s Table could have retired then as a blue chip broodmare.
Instead she was just beginning to show her brilliance. As a five-year-old, Jay’s Table won 9 of 20 races, was on the board 15 times, and missed checks just twice in 1997. Adding to Leonardis frustration in missing the Breeders Crown box, Jay’s Table went on a three-race tear after the event had been raced without her, beating many of the same mares in the first two legs of the Roses Are Red before finishing second to Mystical Maddy in the final. Leonardis was left to wonder what might have been. In 1998 he found out.
Jay’s Table started out 1998 in January for regular OJC trainer Jim Kerr. With her chronically bad feet, she faltered at first, but by February was back to winning in Open company as she pleased. She dropped her mark to 1:53.1 at Mohawk, and was sharp as a tack through April and May, winning five straight times. By late July, Jay’s Table’s hoofs were in good shape and Leonardis had probably circled the entry date for the Breeders Crown on every calendar in the house, barn and office.
There was one problem. Jim Kerr didn’t want to leave the stable and go to the Meadowlands, and suggested Leonardis send her to one of the top outfits in New Jersey. Leonardis chose Nat Varty, a trainer for the Bill Robinson Stable. He’d has great success sending another mare, Miatross, to them to race at the Big M, and agreed with Kerr that sending her down to them was the best thing.
Trainer | Driver
Monte Gelrod | Luc Ouellette
It was the first time in her four-year racing career that Jay’s Table had ventured out of Ontario. Still, Leonardis was shocked to see her made 15-1 on the morning line for the Breeders Crown. After all, she had the rail and the services of John Campbell, who had no fewer than 31 Breeders Crown trophies on his shelves. Leonardis also remembers Campbell asking him if his mare could leave, and him replying that she could, but was actually better from off the pace, and whatever happened -- don’t hit her. That’s some strong advice to the leading driver in the country, in a race like the Breeders Crown, but to his credit Campbell took it.
Western Azure was sent off the lukewarm favorite, with sentiment ranging across the field. Only Ooh’s N Aah’s, and the Peter Pan stable entry reached double digits. Even Jay’s Table was reconsidered from her morning line odds and was about 7-1. Sanabelle Island had been scratched due to her sub-par performance in the Breeders Crown prep race. Trainer driver Steve Warrington knew his mare was ailing after the race and decided to give her some rest and relaxation.
It was the hotheaded Dragon So who shot out of the gate first, with Western Azure in torrid pursuit. The pair took the field to the half in :54.4. Campbell had gotten away fourth, reserved Jay’s Table off the pace and tipped her out for the drive with the confidence of a man with the best horse. She did not disappoint -- she never has -- and streaked home for a two length victory over Jules Jodoin and Western Azure.
Leonardis remembers running up the track to embrace his mare, the driver, the groom, the winners circle attendant -- whoever crossed his path -- and thought the 1:49 he saw on the tote board was the time of day on that August afternoon. Blinking in the sunlight he squinted and realized it the time of the race, and his six-year-old homebred mare had just paced a mile in a world record 1:49.3!
To prove her Breeders Crown effort was no fluke, Leonardis left Jay’s Table at the Meadowlands for the next week. She raced and won, in the same fashion, in 1:50.1. Then Leonardis took his champion and went home.
Jay’s Table went back to Jim Kerr and continued to win. She won a leg of the Roses Are Red and was fifth in the final. Her foot problems flared up again, and she got some well-deserved time off. In early December she qualified again, and by year’s end had won an incredible 13 times in 28 starts, was the richest pacing mare of her peers (and only Red Bow Tie, Pacific Fella and Noble Ability out-earned her among the boys) and stood as the fastest female pacer of all time, an all-age world record holder. Year end honors on both sides of the border were a cinch. Jay’s Table and Joe Leonardis got the respect they deserved.
Purse $282,500
Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, New Jersey August 1, 1998
Extras
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Lassie's Goal - 3FT
bay filly 3, by Armbro Goal -- Missy Hadagal, by Speed Bowl
Owners
Rompaway Fms & Waldo Frankenstein
With few exceptions, the three-year-old filly trot division has been one of great predictability at Breeders Crown time. Fillies like Fancy Crown, Armbro Devona, Armbro Fling, Peace Corps, No Nonsense Woman -- all Breeders Crown champions, that went to the gate in their respective Breeders Crown events expected to win and all behaved as expected.
As the old adage goes when a heavy favorite is upset “that’s why they race horses” and indeed the 1998 version of the division had one of the most unpredictable results in history.
A filly with flashy speed but temperament problems at two, Fern blossomed at three for trainer Arild Eggen and owners Jim Sprow of Castleton Farm and Stein Sjolie.
Fern controlled the division early on. She won her first three starts and roared into the Meadowlands at the peak of her form. She left with the Del Miller Memorial money, a Hambletonian Oaks title, and three new owners. With two-time HTA Driver of the Year Luc Ouellette at the lines, her charmed life seemed assured.
Eggen, the epitome of a level-headed horseman, was none the less thrilled. The four weeks at The Meadowlands was a turning point for the stable, which also featured Fern’s stablemate Box Trot, originally thought to be the better of the two fillies by her freshman record. Box Trot was fourth in the Oaks, and Eggen, who’d grown up on the fantastic Scandinavia trotting classics like the Elitlopp, was determined to keep both feet on the ground as he found himself with managing two of the best sophomores in the division.
Fern won her next start, a PA All Stars contest, then the distaffers headed out to DuQuoin. In the first heat of the World Trotting Derby Filly Division, she was impeded, boxed in and never had a fair chance, finishing fifth. Latest Lover owned the first heat but in the second, Lassie’s Goal, a $7,200 Tattersalls yearling, found her best stride in a 1:54.2 mile, forcing a race-off. Lassie’s Goal took the raceoff from Latest Lover as well, and Fern showed the first crack in her composure.
In Lexington, Fern won the first heat of the Kentucky Futurity filly division, with Lassie’s Goal second. The next heat was won by Latest Lover, with runner-up True Blue Victory driven by Norwegian import Hans Tholfsen. The final heat saw Fern trot away from the field, with Baltic Region second and Lassie’s Goal third. The stage was set for the Breeders Crown.
Despite the presence of Fern, enough trotting fillies dropped in the box to necessitate elims, including defending Breeders Crown champion My Dolly, Colonial Lady winner Warrawee Kes and the lightly-raced That Fabulous Face. Colonial Downs, in New Kent, Va., was the newest harness track in the U.S. and figured to be a trotter’s dream with it’s unique one-turn mile with sweeping turns and a start from a chute.
One trotter who found something about the track completely not to her liking was Fern. She made a totally out-of-character break behind the gate in her Crown elimination. Ouellette steadied her and despite being some 14 lengths off the field, was able to salvage a third place finish, but the elimination was an unfortunate harbinger of things to come.
That Fabulous Face won her Crown elimination, while Fern stablemate Box Trot took the other.
In the final, Ouellette did yeoman work maneuvering the favored Fern around in the chute till it was post time. But again, it was clear Fern was one unhappy filly. There were three lead changes before the half in the Crown final, and one could almost hear the drivers wondering “Where is she?”
Trainer | Driver
Mark O'Mara
With the three-quarters reached in a mild 1:25.3, Ouellette was at now or never time and sent the filly for the front. But she struggled to make the top, and heading into the sweeping final turn, Ouellete lost control of Fern and she galloped.
Mike Lachance, aboard That Fabulous Face, drove as if she were the best in the race and she very nearly was. He’d hurried her from the gate for position and found himself able to angle out in deep stretch (which goes on for a very long time at Colonial) and get more trot out of filly as they headed for the wire. He was pursued by Hans Tholfsen doing a masterful job with True Blue Victory and Mark O’Mara driving Lassie’s Goal through a disastrous trip that was going to go golden at the last possible second. O’Mara had trouble getting into any flow in the race, and was finally forced to take his filly fourwide around the last turn and drive furiously to the wire. He got there a few steps short, but they were trotting steps, unlike those of That Fabulous Face, who just lost it and galloped at the thought of winning a Breeders Crown with just $44,245 on her card. .
For the first time Breeders Crown races, a winner was placed first. Lassie’s Goal got the trophy and the $220,000 for Michigan partners Tom Smith of Rompaway Farm and Dr. Waldo Frankenstein, who had not been able to travel to Virginia. Lassie’s Goal had endured a roller derby campaign, raced at 13 different tracks, had her number taken down at Springfield in the Castleton Stake and found her best foot amidst the cornfields of DuQuoin, her finest hour till she traveled to Virginia.
Trainer Frank O’Mara has a well-respected reputation with trotters, and Lassie’s Goal was a pleasant reminder of his accomplishments over the past 20 years. Son Mark had last visited the Crown winner circle ten years ago with sophomore Crown victor Firm Tribute.
The daughter of Armbro Goal got a third Breeders Crown credit for the stallion, and strangely enough, a breeders credit for Continental Farms, a partnership of Jan Johnson and Berndt Lindstedt and one of the leading training concerns in the Breeders Crown series. So Continental Farms bred the winner and finished second with True Blue Victory. Owner Bill Perretti and trainer Ron Gurfein were philosophical about their loss with That Fabulous Face. They had expected little from her and gotten plenty.
The loss at Colonial Downs could not take away from Fern’s tremendous accomplishments of the season. Aside from her gaudy roster of stakes, her $644,823 in earnings made her the richest of the division, and sealed the decision for year-end honors.
Purse $440,000
Colonial Downs, New Kent, Virginia November 14, 1998
Extras
Juliet's Fate - 2FP
bay filly , 2, by Jate Lobell – Loving Proof, by Cam Fella
Owners
Southwind Farm
The first of the eight Breeders Crown races to traverse the newest pari-mutuel track in the country was the two-year-old pacing fillies; a group that has always out-performed the high expectations set for them. As always, in their diversity lays their charm. Her Mattjesty represented the high end of the spectrum – royally-bred, a sister to 1996 Breeders Crown champion His Mattjesty, and the highest priced pacing filly of 1997 at $150,000. Her owner Bob Waxman, possessed champion thoroughbreds and standardbreds alike and had for many years. Trained by Bob McIntosh and driven by Mike Lachance, who between them had captured 26 Crown trophies, Her Mattjesty had won six of her 12 starts, and a nice collection of stakes. Her stablemate, Mattaroni, was owned by Armstrong Bros., and driven by John Campbell who wins races as he pleases. She won the richest race of the season, the Sweetheart, and had an earnings lead on the field with $565,784.
At the opposite end of the spectrum was Future Millbank, who luckily was not told of her humble origins. Trainer Carl Conte had plucked her from a yearling sale for a mere $5,200, on the say-so of his 10-year-old daughter. In four starts Future Millbank managed three wins and close to $300,000, most of that from the hefty purse attached to the Three Diamonds. Owned by Conte, and Marilyn Tully and her son John, Future Millbank was better than a winning lottery ticket to her connections, and the pride of their very small stable.
Alan Riegle had won this event before for Brittany Farms with Take Flight in 1997, while his father did the same the year before with Before Sunrise. The Riegles were going for a triple with Under Your Spell. Lost At The Beach, also a $5,200 purchase, was looking for another Crown credit for her sire Beach Towel, who’s Paige Nicole Q won this event in 1995. Stew Firlotte trained the great pacing mare Town Pro – she was the first pacer to ever win back-to-back Crowns -- and he sent two fillies to post. Possesive Jate and Mary Mattgalene, who was owned in part by the E-Mail Stable, a group formed among members of an internet list that focused on harness racing.
Who would stand in the Crown winner circle? Neither end of the spectrum on this night, but a filly who truly defined the word formful. Juliet’s Fate was a moderately expensive yearling at $55,000, and she had qualified somewhat late in the year, in August. A lot of the big summer money had gone by already. Yet she picked up close to $300,000, raced eight times and was never worse than second. Though not flashy, she was purposeful, and rightfully attracted the wagering public’s eye despite the value entries in the field.
Driver Jack Moiseyev had piloted Future Millbank to victory in the first of two Breeders Crown elimination heats one week prior to the final at Colonial Downs. The Falcon Seelster filly was making just her third lifetime start, yet bested the game Her Mattjesty in the final strides to win by a length in 1:54.2.
Trainer | Driver
Brett Pelling | George Brennan
Future Millbank had to wait for eight hours in the horse trailer when it broke down enroute to Colonial Downs prior to her Crown elimination victory. Trainer Conte said he thought it may have “dulled her a bit,” despite her impressive win.
Genuine Lady, who represented classic breeding lines, being by Abercrombie from a Niatross mare, captured the other Crown elimination, closing from last to best four rivals in a Colonial Downs track record time of 1:52.3. Juliet’s Fate was second, while Mattaroni finished third, beaten two lengths. The daughter of Abercrombie was making just her second trip to the winner’s circle in 14 starts for trainer Ivan Sugg and owners RX Lex Stable.
Leaving from the unique Colonial Downs chute, the field of freshman distaffers quickly jumbled for positions. Her Mattjesty, handled by Mike Lachance held the early lead, but at the quarter marker let the Lost At The Beach and Tony Morgan go to the top. John Campbell then ranged up into second with Mattaroni, and the field hit the half-mile marker in 54.3. The order remained unchanged as the eight fillies headed around the sweeping turn, and as they straightened out for the 1,400-foot stretch, Brennan began to tip Juliet’s Fate, following the cover of Mattaroni, in route to his first Breeders Crown driving title.
With no Romeo in sight, Juliet’s Fate added her name to the list of Breeders Crown victors as she captured the $431,800 Two-Year-Old Filly Pace in an impressive come-from-behind victory for driver George Brennan and trainer Brett Pelling in 1:52.
With a fast Colonial Downs racing surface, the Jate Lobell filly turned on the steam in route to her Crown win, her sixth of the year in nine outings. She also won by the widest margin of any of the Crown finals contested in 1998, by four and three-quarter lengths. Mattaroni stayed game to keep second money while Genuine Lady and Duke Sugg who had been following Juliet’s Fate, closed for third, another length behind.
Trainer Brett Pelling picked up his fourth Crown victory with Juliet’s Fate, who won for the sixth time in nine starts and posted a career and national season’s mark with her effort. The time also obliterated the previous stakes best of 1:53.3 set by Central Park West in 1988. A $55,000 yearling purchase by Allen and Connie Skolnick’s Southwind Farms, Juliet’s Fate gave the Skolnick’s their first Crown championship, as their only previous taste came as the breeders of Mystical Maddy in 1996. Juliet’s Fate, who had finished second to Genuine Lady in their Breeders Crown elimination heat, was bred by William Weaver’s Valley High Stable, who has had remarkable success from his small broodmare band, including the prolific sire Valley Victory, a Breeders Crown champ of 1988.
The Crown victory by Juliet’s Fate gave sire Jate Lobell his 48th Crown starter and his fourth Crown victory as a sire.
Purse $431,800
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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Muscles Yankee - 3CT
bay colt, 3, Valley Victory -- Maiden Yankee, by Speedy Crown
Owners
Perretti Farms,Liverman & French
There are two kinds of talent that can make the difference between a successful racehorse and one that can make millions on the track and be worth millions when the racing days are done. The first is trotting talent and the second is training talent. The record books are full of promising two-year-olds who do not fulfill that promise at three. The trotter who shows off his early form and improves it as he matures is a rarity indeed.
Chuck Sylvester is the definition of training talent. With horses like Mack Lobell and Pine Chip, Britelite Lobell and Winky’s Goal, and scores of others to his credit, his induction to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame could not have come in a more providential year. Muscles Yankee had been a solid twoyear- old, who won about $160,000 and six races. Yet he faltered at the end of the year, breaking stride in the finals of Breeders Crown and Valley Victory. Sylvester took him home to Florida and started again from the drawing board. When Sylvester shipped north, he didn’t make the trip in one fell swoop, but instead stopped off at Colonial Downs, a track built for trotters, to let his stock ramble over the new surface. Muscles Yankee qualified there in June with Chuck’s son and assistant trainer Troy Sylvester in the bike, his first start of the new year, and he would end his career over the very same surface.
From Virginia it was off to the Meadowlands to prepare for the biggest event of the year, the Hambletonian. After a smart effort in an open event, Muscles Yankee was beaten in late June in the Historic by a nose by Arden Homestead Stable’s Kick Tail, who was coming into his own after a year of setbacks at two.
Muscles Yankee was an easy winner of the Beacon Course in 1:54.3. Most of the challenges Muscles Yankee had to stave off came from his own stablemates, Armbro Rotary, David Raymond and Silver Pine. In an ironic confluence Sylvester already had three valuable trotters in his barn, with Muscles Yankee topping off an embarrassment of riches to make four. After a 1:52.2 Hambletonian win over David Raymond, Muscles Yankee leapfrogged straight to the Yonkers Trot, which he won in 1:57.3.
Trainer | Driver
Chuck Sylvester | John Campbell
Muscles Yankee now had dead aim on the Trotting Triple Crown title, but the toughest and final leg of the trio of prestigious events, the Kentucky Futurity at The Red Mile, was to elude him. Sylvester and Campbell had been in this spot in 1987 with Mack Lobell, and were denied in the final strides by Napoletano. There had been no Triple Crown sweep since Stanley Dancer had won it with Super Bowl 26 years previously.
Muscles Yankees inadvertently choked down in the first heat, and finished out of the money for first and only time all season. He struggled the second heat, but his game heart still managed to push him to a third-place finish behind Conway Hall and Trade Balance. Trade Balanced, a son of Balanced Image of the pacing-bred mare Lexi Tree, was the image of perfection in winning the Kentucky Futurity for his trainer/driver David Wade. Wade, also a trotting specialist operated on a far more modest scale than Sylvester, but has had great success with the square-gaiters. His owners made the decision to supplement to the Crown at $45,000.
"Trade Balance has been climbing the ladder all season long," David Wade said. "We feel like he's finally gotten to the top rungs. In his last eight starts he's just gotten extremely sharp, and the money he's earned has given him the right to get into this race.
Also joining the rush to supplement (the events at Colonial attracted a record six supplemental entries) was defending divisional champion Conway Hall. Much like Red Bow Tie who was paid in for $50,000 while under veterinary observation for colic, Conway Hall’s check was due while he was still in Italy, where he’d been shipped to race in the Orsi Mangelli. Considering his Kentucky Futurity showing -- defeating Muscles Yankee in his heat and a second-place finish to Trade Balance in the final, trainer Bob Stewart and the owners (of which his wife, Lynda, was one) just had to figure out if they could go to the Mangelli and the Crown.
Conway Hall won his elimination handily and faced the local favorite, Italian Derby winner Varenne in the $345,000 Mangelli Final. Conway Hall won the final by a nose, but with the six-hour time difference, Stewart went ahead and committed to the non-refundable supplement without knowing the result of the race. Since his charge had been the model of consistency with $686,384 on his card and from his 15 starts it was a calculated gamble.
With two supplements and nine other entries, eliminations were needed. That meant Conway Hall had to get out of Italy, back through quarantine and to Colonial Downs by Friday, Nov. 6. After flying home and going through mandatory quarantine, Conway Hall arrived at Colonial Downs on Wednesday, in time to race in his Sunday elim and have a few days to acclimate.
In the first elimination Muscles Yankee breezed to a 1:55.4 victory, followed by Kick Tail and Indurain. Conway Hall, showing no ill effects from his Italian sojourn, was a wire-to-wire victor in 1:54.2. Trade Balance was locked in until deep stretch, and beaten just a length by the hard-driving Conway Hall, who won in a wire-to-wire effort in 1:54.2. But Wade wasn’t happy the effort, as the big stallion had carried on his stall all night and also didn’t seem to be grabbing the Colonial Downs surface very well.
The three-year-old colt trot was the final race on the card that night at Colonial. A win for Muscles Yankee meant divisional honors were assured and his chances were increased at giving Moni Maker a run for Horse of the Year honors.
Trade Balance was unsettled almost immediately and went on a gallop, as did Stormont Bronze. Kick Tail trotted to the quarter in :27.1 and Conway Hall was quick to step around him and settle on the rail for position. Muscles Yankee was already powering up on the outside, and cleared his stablemate, Silver Pine who broke stride a few seconds prior. From that point, Muscles Yankee displayed the peak form that Sylvester’s conditioning talent had nurtured in him, winning in 1:53 by a leisurely two lengths. Conway Hall turned in a remarkable effort but was second best to Muscles Yankee on this night.
A model of consistency, the son of Valley Victory was the fifth offspring of the 1988 Breeders Crown freshman champ to in turn take a trophy. His earnings of $1,258,611 were a season’s best for his age group. Happiest in the winner’s circle was Irving Liverman, a horse owner for close to 40 years, acknowledging the best horse he’d ever owned.
Co-owners David French, who also owned 1996 Crown champ Running Sea, and Bill Perretti of Perretti Farms had no more plans for their champion. The three top trotters of 1998, Muscles Yankee , Conway Hall and Trade Balance, went to stud, while Kick Tail returned to racing the following year.
The team of John Campbell and Chuck Sylvester will go down in the record books on some of the greatest classic wins of all time. Sylvester leads all trainers in the series with an even dozen champions, while Campbell book-ended the series, winning the first and last events. His 33 trophies and $11.4 million are more than double the earnings of the next closest driver.
Purse $480,000
Colonial Downs, New Kent, Virginia - November 14, 1998
Extras
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Moni Maker - Open Trot
bay mare, 5, by Speedy Crown -- Nan’s Catch, by Bonefish
Owner
Moni Maker Stable
If it’s true that all things come to those who wait, the 1998 Breeders Crown Trot proved an exemplary lesson in patience and reward. Trotters are funny animals, and their gait and balance requires those who train them to be combination horseman, engineer and psychic. Some trot naturally, and then the temptation to extract too much too early comes into play. The Breeders Crown Trot brings together the established superstars and the carefully nurtured, the reclamation projects and the veterans who practically trot in their sleep.
In the first year of the Crown Trot, CR Kay Suzie astounded spectators by winning in a sizzling 1:52.3 with just one pari-mutuel start on her card, in which she made a break. The following year, Wesgate Crown, a 1993 freshman Crown and divisional winner who went winless at three returned to take another Crown title as a six-year-old. The third edition would be a coronation of a head that had not worn a Crown, despite three tries.
Westgate Crown was back for another attempt at a title, after campaigning successfully in Europe and breeding a few mares in his leisure time. He is the first Breeders Crown stallion to race in an event the same year as one of his offspring also raced in the Crown program. Glory’s Comet, practically a member of the Peters family from Ontario, had started his year in January by winning the Horsemen’s Series final and was trotting strong in June to annex the Titan Cup. Goodtimes, another Canadian veteran, had taken his Nat Ray elim in a lifetime best 1:54, showing spry foot for a seven-year-old.
Georgia Limited had raced in the Elitlopp and finished a game second, and won the American- National upon his return. Bred by the sport’s greatest ambassador, Delvin Miller, Georgia Limited led a two-horse entry from the Joe Stutzman stable, his stablemate the expensive and richly bred Pietro Pan who faced obstacle after obstacle in returning to the racetrack. Though five, he’d made just a handful of starts, but managed to record a 1:54 mark earlier in the month.
Two sons of Supergill, Supertoy and Super High Test, were promising youngsters who went awry of the lofty plans laid out for them early on and returned to the racetrack for a trainer who had the time and the patience to coax their best from them. T Cody, a son Ohio stallion Armbro Iliad, was nearing the $400,000 mark from his modest beginnings. B Cor Pete, driven by the famous Olle Goop who steered the legendary Grades Singing to many wins in Europe and a dramatic Crown victory in her home town of Montreal, was not in top form but could be counted on to give his best effort.
Lastly, there was the product of patience, foresight and providence, Moni Maker. The daughter of Speedy Crown, one of the greatest trotters and most prolific sires in the history of harness racing, was rising through the trotting ranks at the same moment the stallion was retiring from the breeding shed. As progeny of one of his last crops, she would be one of the most brilliant performers in a group of more than 2,200 foals, whose earnings exceeded $104 million. With $2.3 million on her card, Moni Maker was the richest, and most would agree, the best.
Trainer | Driver
Jimmy Takter | Wally Hennessey
Moni Maker’s dam, Nan’s Catch, but was brought back home from the yearling sale by breeders David and Rikki Caldwell, because they saw in her a much greater value than the bidders were willing to give. Nan’s Catch won the Breeders Crown as a two-year-old and the Hambletonian Oaks as a threeyear- old for the Caldwells, proving their vision to be well-founded.
An $87,000 yearling purchase for her first owners, Moni Maker turned in a solid freshman year. But her sophomore year was the attention-getter. Among her peers were the sensational Continentalvictory, who overshadowed Moni Makers phenomenal accomplishment of 19 straight wins, including the Hambletonian Oaks. Her head loss in the Breeders Crown that year to Personal Banner was gutwrenching, but time was on her side in a big way.
In the midst of that three-year-old season, her owners, Edmund and David Smith and Alan Foster, were approached by those in the current partnership. An agreement was struck where they would share 50/50 partnership through the close of the year, with Bill Andrews remaining in charge of her conditioning. The Moni Maker Stable would then take over. The partners in the Moni Maker Stable are people who have had been associated with some of the finest trotters of the slat two decades, but they were about to become part of something special.
Among the members are Frank Antonacci, KR Leasing, Paul and Antoinette Nigito, Harvey Gold, Geoffrey Stein and David Reid. KR Leasing is the family of Hambletonian Society director Frank Antonacci, as well as his brother Gerry and their father, Guy. Their Lindy Racing Stable name was derived from their first Hambletonian winner, Lindy's Pride, who swept the 1969 Triple Crown. The family got involved in harness racing in 1966, with an emphasis on owning, breeding and racing trotters. Guy “Sonny” Antonacci has been in partnerships responsible for no fewer than four Hambletonian winners.
Paul Nigito, a realtor, and his wife Antoinette have been partners with the Antonaccis on many of their top performers, including Mr. Chin, Uconn Don and Lindy Lane and was co-owner of Joie De Vie, the favorite in the 1981 Hambletonian. They have bred and owned many champions, but none of the caliber or Moni Maker. David Reid credits Sonny Antonacci as the man with the vision, who persisted in trying to obtain Moni Maker, because she represented one of the last racing Speedy Crown mares.
The partners had a grand time in 1997. At the end of the three-year-old season Moni Maker had gone to Europe and raced well in the Lotteria and the Elitlopp. Her fifth-place finish in the final of the Elitlopp in May of 1997, was the last time she would be worse than third.
Her return to the U.S. in the summer of ‘97 saw Wesgate Crown beat her by a head in their Breeders Crown contest, but already the superlatives were being heaped upon her. She turned the tables on Wesgate Crown in the Nat Ray (and remains the only mare to ever win the Nat Ray) at the Meadowlands in a time of 1:52.2, the fastest trotting mile of 1997. She was the overwhelming choice in the 1997 USHWA/USTA voting as the top older trotting mare in the sport.
At five, Moni Maker grew even taller and stronger. She returned to Europe, as the pickings are notoriously slim for older trotters in this country. The team of caretaker Roman Kogalin, trainer Jimmy Takter and assistant trainer and blacksmith Conny Svensson, and driver Wally Hennessey had a very tough task ahead of them.
Moni Maker raced in the Prix de France and the Grand Criterium Vitesse in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, and won in Italy in the Premio Costa Azzurra. She was being prepped for an event that was very close to Jimmy Takter’s heart, another try in one of the grand trotting spectacles of Europe, the Elitlopp.
On the last day in May, she became the first American trotter to win the Elitlopp since Mack Lobell. Her win was hard fought, a demonstration of speed and stamina that merged to produce what all of Europe called “the best trotting mare in the world.”
The partners, who rarely miss a Moni Maker race no matter on which continent it occurs, were treated to one of the greatest thrills in the racing game, and the search was on for those adjectives to describe Moni Maker and her ability. Her race time in the Elitlopp was 1:53.3, the fastest in the history. Her time also smashed Mack Lobell’s long-held world and Breeders Crown record of 1:54.1, set on the five-eight mile of Pompano Park in 1987.
Her remarkable, double-heat triumph was only the latest effort in along line of memorable victories for this splendid mare. She then added another European Grand Circuit victory to her list when she won the Copenhagen Cup in a new world record time of 2:26 over one and one quarter miles. She also won at Torino in Italy. Then it was time to pack her tack and come home.
In her first North American start of 1998, Moni Maker was upset by Goodtimes in the Nat Ray eliminations, the victim of John Campbell’s smart drive with the veteran Goodtimes, and traffic problems. Once Wally Hennessey got her to the outside, she charged quickly from third to finish just a neck back. Her last quarter of 26.2 served notice that she was fit and ready to race in the $500,000 Breeders Crown the following week.
Moni Maker had been in three Breeders Crown events to date, and lost her last two by less than a quarter of a length. Campbell sent Glory’s Comet to the front in a vain attempt to control the race. When Moni Maker swept by him, the lone mare in the field, driver Wally Hennessey was just riding. The outcome was not in doubt after the first quarter, and Moni Maker cruised to a three length win in a remarkable 1:52.3 effort, tying the stake record a set by CR Kay Suzie, the fastest trotting mile in Crown history. The Nat Ray was more of the same, as she idled around the Meadowlands mile track in 1:52.4. She had now proved her supremacy on two continents, and could have stopped there. Instead she took Horse of the Year honors and became the first American trotter-owned to win the Prix d’Amerique since Delmonica Hanover in 1975.
Purse $500,000
Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, New Jersey August 1, 1998
Extras
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Musical Victory - 2FT
bay filly, 2, Valley Victory -- Allegro, by Arnie Almahurst
Owners
Brittany Farms
An even 20 trotting fillies appeared in the box by the Breeders Crown deadline 1998, perhaps drawn by the alluring straight-aways and wide turns offered by Colonial Downs. There was also no dominant filly to frighten away her fellow freshman. Three eliminations were necessary and the cast of characters at the time of the final was familiar faces with a few exceptions. Per Eriksson, one of the youngest of the Swedish imports to make an indelible mark on the trotting archives in North America, harnessed two fillies of good standing. Decapode was on the board in 12 of her 14 starts, a model of composure for a young trotter. She was the richer stablemate, and won her elimination in a smart 1:58.2 clocking. Musical Victory claimed the Hayes Memorial and American-National among her wins, and was being handled with kid gloves to preserve her potential. Eriksson had won this same event with Delphi’s Lobell and Lookout Victory.
Continental Farms Stable, which has the most starters in the 15 years of the Crown program with 90, had won this division with Nan’s Catch and was trying again with Dream Valley OM for Italian clients. Tom Haughton, who started the great trotter Peace Corps on her career, winning the 1988 Breeders Crown, was represented by Reynolds and Keystone Classic winner Unborn Smiles.
Mario Zuanetti had the good fortune to be associated with a tremendous trotting filly called Almost An Ange, so he too was no stranger to the Crown, bringing a first-crop daughter of Victory Dream named Softly Dream. Bill Andrews had been to this event before with a growthy filly named Moni Maker. The Merrie Annabelle winner Rae was his best shot at a Crown title for him, though with nearly $400,000 and seven wins in 13 starts Rae could rest on her laurels.
Ron Gurfein, like Continental Farms stable, only trains trotters, and is a frequent participant in this Crown event. In 1995 he finished one-two with his entrants, Continentalvictory and Southwind Rise. With just three starts on her card the lightly-raced Bloodstock’s Chat was no Continentalvictory, but Gurfein had to have confidence in his filly to have entered her.
The only two trainers who were not familiar faces in this group were Bob Stewart and Dave Smith and they had a pair of eliminations winners. Stewart had a top trio of trotters in 1998 with freshman filly trotter Canland Hall, her counterpart Angus Hall and three-year-old trotter Conway Hall, all offspring of Garland Lobell.
Dave Smith had Midori Hanover for owner Arthur Rudolph, his wife and son, and a close childhood friend Bernie Owens. Long-time owners of racehorses of both breeds, their filly was the result of the first year of having Dave Smith as their trainer.
One filly not present was Rum Boogie, who showed signs of being the divisional leader, yet ran twice in her Crown elim.
In truth no one was sure of the driving strategy needed to be successful at Colonial. It seemed impossible to get into trouble on the accommodating track, yet some managed to nonetheless. Luc Ouellette, whose transition from raceway driver to Grand Circuit stakes winner was seamless, gunned Musical Victory to the front before most were even aware the was gate leaving. He then settled her and waited for the approach of the others. It came in the form of Berndt Lindstedt and Dream Valley OM and Ouellette let them pass on by. Musical Victory was able to pick up cover from Decapode and merely had to drift wide in the Colonial Downs stretch to zip home in a world record 1:55.2
Driver | Trainer
Per Eriksson | Luc Ouellette
The two-year-old filly field was the only one of four trotting events to traverse the Colonial Downs track and not have a single contestant give in to galloping. Their older sisters behaved so badly that the winner had to be placed first, while the colt events each featured breakers as well.
Mario Zuanetti drove Softly Dream to a well handled second place, while Midori Hanover hailed from another county to be third. Musical Victory is owned and bred by Brittany Farms, i.e. George Segal, a savant of the horse breeding world. It seems he has to merely wish to breed a champion and one appears, no matter the gait or age. Segal leads the owner standings in the Crown by a serious margin, and his breeding concerns are closing the gap on such dynasties as Hanover Shoe farms and Armstrong Bros.
Musical Victory advanced his cause by another trophy in both categories.
Per Eriksson took home his eighth Crown crystal, his third from the freshman trotting filly set. For Luc Ouellette, it was a mere capper on a sensational season that saw him win his first $1 million race, a Woodrow Wilson, Hambletonian Oaks, and a pair of Breeders Crowns. He cracked the millionaires club in Crown earnings, with four trophies and a UDRS of .250 in the series.
Formidable Rum Boogie took the Goldsmith Maid and the division away from Musical Victory, but had to concede the Colonial Downs winner circle.
Purse $327,600
Colonial Downs, New Kent, Virginia - November 14, 1998
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Red Bow Tie - Open Pace
bay gelding, 4, by Raging Glory-Cheers Lauxmont, by Royce The
Owners
Siegel, Scharf, d'Elegance & TLP Stables
The open pacing division of the Breeders Crown has yielded eight divisional championships in 14 years of classic pacing battles. Others have been tremendous upsets that still retain historical significance. The 1998 edition attracted ten pacers with conglomerate earnings of $8.2 million from the most powerful stables in the sport, and the air in the Meadowlands front paddock awaiting post time was alive with tension borne on the humidity of a summer night.
Bob Glazer of the Peter Pan Stable has topped the owner standings in the sport for three straight years, culminating 1998 with a record $4.5 million in purse money. He hates to see a race go the gate without one of his horses, and on this night he had two outstanding representatives – Noble Ability and Bad Bert. Both were top class performers at The Meadowlands, with nearly $1 million earned between them.
Western Dreamer made harness racing history in 1997 by winning the Cane, Messenger and Little Brown Jug, to become the first pacing Triple Crown winner in 14 years. He was also the first Triple Crown winner to return to the racetrack since Rum Customer in 1969. However, his peers showed him little respect, and Western Dreamer had to work to record five wins this season. His victories did include the Battle of Lake Erie and a free-for-all in Canada that lowered his mark to 1:49.4.
Dream Away, a son of two-time Crown winner Artsplace, had taken the 1997 Meadowlands Pace, won the Adios but been disqualified to fifth, and taken eliminations of the Messenger and Little Brown Jug. He closed with year just shy of $1 million in earnings, but astonishingly was winless on the year in 1998. He was runner-up in six of his seven starts and was looking to break through in the Breeders Crown. The second-place finisher in the Meadowlands Pace, At Point Blank, also could not get any numbers in the win column in his sophomore year but came back at four with renewed vigor for the Monte Gelrod stable. At Point Blank entered the Breeders Crown with a four-race win streak.
Armbro Emerson showed his heels to a celebrated field of superstars in the 1987 Crown pace at Roosevelt Raceway, and ten years later was comfortably ensconced in an Ontario stallion barn. One of his richest sons, Master Barney, had banked more than $600,00 and was attempting to duplicate the feats of his pop.
Up against the big stables with the stranglehold on the leading trainers standings were the one-horse operations like Andy Kovath and Milan Smith. Kovath’s Tune Town was a six-year-old son of Big Towner, a stallion with a reputation for siring long-lived hard-knocking pacers. In Tune Town he’d outdone himself, as the defending divisional champion was regarded as the Energizer Bunny of the racing world.
Hi Ho Silverheels was $1,800 yearling purchase whose bankbook had swelled to more than $1.1 million in his five years of racing. Owned and trained by former Hollywood stuntman Milan Smith (who’d renamed the colt after his good buddy actor Jay Silverheels, who was Tonto to Clayton Smith’s Lone Ranger. “Hi Ho” had started in the 1996 Crown event at the Meadowlands, and finished a flying third to Jenna’s Beach Boy. The seasoned veteran had slowed a step in his vintage years, but entered the Crown with a 1:50.1 invitational win at Hoosier Park fresh under his belt, where he’d equaled the track record of 1:49.4 earlier in the month.
Unbelievably, the aforementioned pacers were the supporting players. The real ammunition came in the form of Red Bow Tie and Pacific Fella. Red Bow Tie was top-drawer three-year-old of 1997 who went through the Harrisburg Sale ring and brought the good but not eye-popping price of $147,000, allegedly due to his fragile hooves.
A partnership of Cliff Siegel, David Scharf and the d’Elegance and TLP Stables went in together on the purchase and he was turned over to Monte Gelrod. Red Bow Tie came out on opening night of this year’s Meadowlands meet (Dec. 26) and blasted through a 1:53 mile. The flimsy-footed gelding had earned his owners back more than $250,000 and they were willing to gamble one-fifth of it, $50,000 to supplement Red Bow Tie to the Crown. Only one supplement had ever won a Crown race and very few even made back their supplement fee.
Red Bow Tie had clashed repeatedly throughout the season with Pacific Fella, a tall, big-boned son of Cam Fella driven by Cat Manzi and trained by his cousin Ed Lohmeyer.
Trainer | Driver
Monte Gelrod | Luc Ouellette
Pacific Fella led the group in earnings on the year with close to $600,000, and had easily handled most of the field at his leisure. His slate of wins included the Freehold Cup, legs of the Classic and Graduate series, Dan Patch invitational and Pacing Classic final. Red Bow Tie had turned the tables on him in a leg of the Classic series, but the Crown would truly decide the division. Pacific Fella was named the public’s choice at 7-5. On the Meadowlands website where the most discerning of harness racing cognoscenti dwelt, he also garnered 22% of the vote in a Breeders Crown cyber-poll.
Their final confrontation was to occur two weeks before the Breeders Crown in the Pacing Classic Final. But at the eleventh hour, Red Bow Tie was scratched sick from the $275,000 Pacing Classic, with a bout of colic. He was taken to the University Of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Clinic in the early morning hours for treatment. He did require surgery, but remained at the clinic for a few days for monitoring.
The supplement amount of $50,000 came due while Red Bow Tie was at the horse hospital. The owners had to make a tough decision, but left the entry in. Their horse would have to race the biggest race of the season off a 29-day lay-off.
If driver Luc Ouellette, in the midst of a sensational year, had any doubts about the fitness of his mount he never let them show. He stepped on the gas immediately and barreled Red Bow Tie through a quarter in 26.2. From that point he practically lolled on the front end, daring the field to challenge through a relatively easy middle half of :57.1. The move came surprisingly from Dream Away and John Campbell, who rolled up on the outside hoping to pick up cover as they moved forward. None came, and Manzi elected to keep Pacific Fella tucked on the rail third.
From the three-quarters the end result was predictable. A horse as versatile, speedy, and determined as Red Bow Tie was not going to let anyone by after such a nice breather. Ouellette tapped him with the whip and he dug down and held off Dream Away in 1:50.1, relegating that one to yet another second place finish. Oddly, Dream Away would end his year with 11 starts and no wins but seven seconds.
Pacific Fella raced up for third but was clearly not himself and was retired soon after the race. Red Bow Tie returned to win the US Pacing championship the following week, the Des Smith Classic and the Prix d’Autoumne as well as his divisional honors, Pacer of the Year, HTA Pacer of the Year, and the hearts of all who watched the courageous horse bounce back from adversity.
Purse $340,000
The Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey August 1, 1998
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