Somebeachsomwhere won one crown Saturday night and is assured of winning another after pacing to his 20th career victory in the $500,000 Breeders Crown for 3-year-olds. Before a crowd of 10,750 fans at the Meadowlands, the son of Mach Three raced to a 1 3/4-length victory over Shadow Play while pacing the mile in 1:48.3.

That impressive mile coupled with the loss of Deweycheatumnhowe in the Crown contest for 3-year-old trotters provided voters all the evidence they needed to cast their ballots for Somebeachsomewhere as Harness Horse of the Year in year-end balloting.

Driver Paul MacDonell wasted no time in sending his colt away from the starting gate and into the lead while his nine rivals dropped in behind him. He took the field to the quarter in :27, the half in :54.3 and the three-quarters in 1:22 before Shadow Play who had stalked him every step of the way moved off the pylons to challenge him. At that point MacDonell said, "I just was thinking, 'Buddy take me home.'"

Somebeachsomewhere ended his racing career by posting his 20th victory Saturday night in the $500,000 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old pacers at the Meadowlands. The victory also assured him of Horse of the Year honors when votes are cast on Dec.13 because Deweycheatumnhowe, the other candidate for that honor, lost in his Breeders Crown contest.

Driver Paul MacDonell sent his son of Mach Three away quickly from the No. 3 post and Shadow Play, his main rival left with him and tucked in behind the leader around the first turn. He took the field through quarters of :27, :54.3 and 1:22.

"I thought 'Take me home from here, buddy,'" MacDonell said about moved around the final turn. And Somebeachsomewhere responded with a :26.3 final quarter to stop the teletimer at 1:48.3.

Purses totaling $5 million and the chance to be named Harness Horse of the Year are on the line Saturday night at the Meadowlands.

There will be eight Breeders Crown events on the 13-race card and those races for 2- and 3-year-old trotters and pacers carry purses ranging from $500,000 to $700,000. The two that will be the most significant are the Breeders Crown for 3-year-old trotters and the one for 3-year-old pacers.

Deweycheatumnhowe, the Hambletonian winner, and Somebeachsomewhere, the colt who set a world record of 1:46.4 at Lexington in July, are the two Horse of the Year candidates, and their performances Saturday night (Dewey in the sixth and Beach in the ninth) will determine who gets the most votes in year-end balloting for that honor.

The Big M will not conduct a winter harness meeting next year but instead will race from Jan. 1 through Aug. 21. The track has asked the state racing commission to approve a date meeting that will include a shift of the Hambletonian from the first Saturday in August to Aug. 8, the second Saturday of the month. The Big M has been racing an abbreviated program from mid-November through December since 2002 but raced until mid-August before that.

It switched to the later dates when racing after the Hambletonian drew disappointing turnouts.

He may be the fastest 3-year-old pacer in the sport's history, but that hasn't frightened the opposition from challenging Art Official in the $551,225 Little Brown Jug. The 63rd edition of the second jewel in pacing's Triple Crown drew 20 entries for Friday afternoon's event at the Delaware (Ohio) County Fair Grounds.

Art Official, who paced his record-1:47 mile in the Meadowlands Pace on July 19, will have to win two heats over the half-mile track to capture the Jug. In two appearances over Freehold Raceway's half-mile track he posted victories in 1:51.1 and a track-record 1:50.4. He was a $35,000 supplementary entry for the Cane Pace, the first jewel in the crown and that win earned him a chance to be supplemented to the Jug for $45,000.

Next stop: Delaware, Ohio.

That's the home of the Little Brown Jug and that's where Art Official will race next in pursuit of the second jewel in the Triple Crown.

Art Official had not originally been nominated for the Jug, just as he had not been nominated for the Cane Pace, which he won handily on Monday. But the colt had been supplemented for $35,000 to the Cane, the first jewel, and justified trainer Joe Seekman's confidence in him by taking the $196,425 winner's share of the purse.

Driver Ron Pierce has won the venerable Little Brown Jug three times but his chance to do it for the fourth time rests with Art Official, who is currently not nominated for the 63rd edition of the event.
Pierce will be driving Art Official in Monday's $392,850 edition of the Cane Pace at Freehold Raceway. The Cane is the first leg of pacing's Triple Crown and The Jug is the second leg. Art Official, who was supplemented to the Cane for $35,000, earned back $32,731 of that Saturday when he won his elimination heat for the Cane in 1:50.4, breaking the track record as he became the first pacer to race under 1:51 over the half-mile oval.
Now if the 3-year-old son of Art Major wins the final he will earn a chance to be supplemented to the Jug and have a chance to become the sport's first Triple Crown winner since No Pan Intended in 2003. Only the winner of the Cane can be supplemented to the Jug.

Somebeachsomewhere set another world record on the road to the goal his trainer, Brent MacGrath, has set for him -- a sub 1:47 mile.

The son of Mach Three reeled off a 1:49.2 mile Sunday over the track at Flamboro Downs in Hamilton, Ontario, to win the $593,000 Federation Cup and become the first 3-year-old to pace a sub 1:50 mile on a half-mile oval. He eclipsed the previous world mark of 1:50 that Mr Feelgood set in 2006 on his way to victory in the Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

What a trifecta!

The unbeaten favorite to win the Meadowlands Pace, the unbeaten favorite to win the Hambletonian and harness racing's top older pacer will all be in action this weekend at the Meadowlands.