Standardbred Racing and Take Them Through Race Office Management and Race Night Operations
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$100,000 Guaranteed WE’RE Early Pick 5 Every Race Night BACK! NORTHSTANDARDBRED AMERICA’S #1 RACING 5 NIGHTS A WEEK | Post Time: 7pm (ET) CLICK FOR DETAILS Thursday,Day, Month July 00, 9, 2021 2021 Stable success helping Millar heal from double lung transplant horror story “I had to learn how to walk all over again,” Millar said. “The only thing that kept me going through it all was getting reports on how my horses were training.” by Sandra Snyder Last Call For Sale Supplements! Millar Farms homebreds have been on a roll since racing resumed in Ontario in June. Three-year-old gelded pacer Powertrain clocked a 1:49.3 mile at Woodbine Mohawk Park in his second lifetime start on June 28, 2-year-old pacing filly Prohibition Legal won an Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Series division on July 2, freshman pacing colt Betterhavemymoney Hip 39 The Greek Freak p,3,1:49.4f ($264,344) followed suit one day later, and 2-year-old pacing filly Silver Label captured a Grassroots division on June 6, drawing driver TATTERSALLS JULY 18 SUMMER MIXED SALE James MacDonald to Georgian Downs for a single drive. Supplement closes Sunday, July 11. Enter online now! “It’s a little surreal so I’m kind of pinching myself a little bit and just enjoying it,” said owner/breeder George Millar. “I said to (my trainer) Nick (Gallucci), ‘It’s kind of strange this week because Preferred Equine Marketing we were all pretty excited.’ The whole farm was pumped about PREFERREDEQUINE.COM Powertrain last week. To have a colt go sub-1:50 his second (914) 773-7777 lifetime start, you kind of think this is what we’d be all focussing on this week, but it was like hardly anybody is talking about him because the 2-year-olds are racing so well.” “It was like a horror show, I had a double lung transplant and found out a day later the lungs they gave me had COVID. So The early season success has had extra meaning for the entire instead of being in the hospital for two weeks I wound up being Millar Farms team because 2021 started out on an appalling in the hospital for 13 weeks and lost 35 pounds. I had to learn note for its owner. The Stouffville, ON resident, who is in his 71st how to walk all over again,” said Millar. “The only thing that kept year, had a double lung transplant in February that resulted in a me going through it all was getting reports on how my horses 13-week stay in hospital and a rehab program that is ongoing. were training. I think maybe my horses got together and said, Harness Racing Update | Page 1 | July 9, 2021 Summer Mixed Standouts From The Sport’s No. 1 Seller Hip 65 Eurobond 4,1:50.1 ($349,150) CATALOG PAGE | PAST PERFORMANCES SELLING SUNDAY, JULY 18 | 12 NOON AT THE MEADOWLANDS This classy World Champion trotter — winner of his last 3 starts in the Open at Plainridge — leads Preferred’s draft of 1:50 speed at the Summer Mixed Sale. There are many others like The Greek Freak p,3,1:49.4f ($264,344), The Devils Own N p,1:48 ($228,926) and Betterthanthebeach p,4,1:51f for opens or upper conditioned events wherever you race! Summer Mixed Sale Preferred Equine Marketing BRIARCLIFF MANOR, NY | (914) 773-7777 ONLINE CATALOG PREFERREDEQUINE.COM with the latest JOIN OUR SALES NETWORK UPDATED RACELINES GSI, LLC 2021 | Photo: Tom Melanson Harness Racing Update In today's HRU Communication must be paramount in Yonkers tote malfunction page 05 You make the call page 09 Önas Prince wins “Swedish Hambletonian” page 14 New owner remembers dad with ‘Chuck’ page 15 SUMMER ‘George needs a break this year so let’s race good for him.’ So that’s what’s happening.” Millar and Gallucci selected two trotting fillies out of the London MIXEDSale Virtual Yearling Sale last fall, but they have been delayed due to some fractious behaviour in the paddock, so all of the young- sters currently tearing up Ontario racetracks are homebreds, some of them third generation products of Millar’s breeding program. “I pick the breedings out and then you’re there when they all get broke, so it’s kind of like you’re there from start to finish. FINAL CALL FOR SALE SUPPLEMENTS SUNDAY JULY 18 12 NOON | MEADOWLANDS It’s your last chance to join this high-quality racehorse sale! Contact your sales agent, enter online, or call (914) 773-7777. Closes July 11. Claus Andersen Owner/breeder George Millar underwent a double lung transplant in February and said the only thing that kept IN-PERSON | PROXIBID | VIEW CATALOG him alive was thoughts of seeing his horses race. Harness Racing Update | Page 2 | July 9, 2021 Harness Racing Update It’s a nice feeling. And a lot of these babies I have I raced their Newer members of the broodmare band are also starting to dams, I raced their great dams, I raced their great-great dams,” have an impact. Shadow Play son Powertrain is the first foal said Millar. “Prohibition Legal is out of a daughter of Little Black from Mmillion Blue Chip, a daughter of Rock N Roll Heaven Book, who was kind of my foundation broodmare, and we had and Molly Can Do It that Millar acquired for $100,000 at the a good time with Catch A Wish racing, too. She’s produced me 2013 Lexington Selected Sale. The mare did not find success on two or three in 1:50, so she’s just a good mare. Serious Matter the racetrack, but her owner hopes she has found her groove is still around, she’s walking the field. They call her grandma. as a broodmare. Powertrain is two-for-two and makes his OSS She’s not having foals anymore but when Steven weans the debut in the second 3-year-old pacing colt Grassroots division babies she goes out and looks after them.” at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday (July 10). The Little Black Book line is being carried on in 2021 by fresh- “I bought a lot of mares, like really well-bred mares, over the man pacing filly Prohibition Legal (Big Jim–Catch A Wish) and last three or four years and a lot of them didn’t turn out too 2-year-old pacing gelding Silk Road Smash (Bettors Delight– well on the racetrack, expect for Bestseller Hanover, so a lot of Chocolate Truffle). Two-year-old pacing gelding My Blueberry them are already in the broodmare band,” said Millar. “Their first Buck (Thinking Out Loud–Mind Over Matter) is a great-grandson babies are being dropped on the ground this summer, they’ve of Serious Matter. Three-year-old pacing fillies Cyclone Sister already had them on the ground, and more will drop next year, (Shadow Play–Riveting) and Cantstoplying (Sunshine Beach– so I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re going to produce.” Musical Voyage) are great-granddaughters of J Bs Elizabeth and Gallucci and his team will break seven yearlings this fall and Betterhavemymoney (Betterthancheddar–Whosluckierthanme) there are 11 foals on the ground. Millar enjoys getting in the is a great-grandson of Natchitoches. jog cart behind the young horses and is working hard on his “You know the funny thing is, that Betterhavemymoney colt, I rehab program to make sure he does not miss a mile behind was going to cull his dam,” said Millar. “She was marked in the the 2020 and 2021foal crops. book to cull after she foaled out this year and I liked him so “Last week I went up and jogged one, but when they did the much in January I told Steve Samis, my broodmare farm manager, surgery, they kind of split you right open you know, they did I said, ‘Stevie, I changed my mind. I like this colt, I think we’ll some nerve damage to my left arm. My right arm is great, but breed her back to Betterthancheddar,’ and I’m so glad I did now.” New Image Media Millar Farms’ Powertrain (Louis-Philippe Roy) clocked a 1:49.3 mile on June 28 at Woodbine Mohawk Park in his second lifetime start. Harness Racing Update | Page 3 | July 9, 2021 Harness Racing Update I don’t have the strength in my left arm and the horse kind of bolted sideways like it was going to go in the infield and when I went to pull on the left line I would have liked to have a little bit more strength there, so I think I’ve got to do a little bit more exercise before I go back,” said Millar. “But guaranteed I’ll be sitting behind my yearlings in September and jogging them on the farm. That’s what I like to do.” In the meantime, Millar is enjoying watching his racehorses compete and the babies frolic in the fields with their mothers. “After spending that much time staring at hospital walls, it’s so nice to be back at the farm, and be around the horses,” said Millar. “It’s getting busy around here now which is nice. And I have all my grandchildren here swimming in the pool right now, so actually life couldn’t get better.” New Image Media Millar Farms’ homebred Prohibition Legal (James MacDonald) won an Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Gold Series division for 2-year-old pacing fillies on July 2 at Mohawk in 1:54.