Accepting Entries
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020 ©2020 HORSEMAN PUBLISHING CO., LEXINGTON, KY USA • FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION CALL (859) 276-4026 Atlanta Vs. Manchego; The Rivalry Resumes ACCEPTING ENTRIES It’s a rivalry as great as any currently in harness racing and For The it will get restarted again on Friday night when standout 5- year-old trotting mares Atlanta and Manchego line up be- hind the gate in the $40,000 opening leg of the Miss Versatility Series at the Meadowlands. Scheduled as Race 4 on the marathon 18-race card that gets underway at 6 p.m., Atlanta and driver Yannick Gingras will start from post 4, while Dexter Dunn will direct AUGUST 25 & 26, 2020 Manchego from post 6 in the seven-horse field. BLACK TYPE YEARLING SESSION - TUESDAY, AUGUST 25 The rivalry arguably began in “The one extra start the 2018 Casual Breeze at Online Bidding Will Be Available (for Manchego) Woodbine Mohawk Park. The BLACK TYPE YEARLING ENTRIES CLOSE JULY 1 definitely doesn’t late August race came three Mixed Sale entries close July 20 or when full. hurt, but I think weeks after Atlanta bested her Atlanta really male peers in the Hambleton- ENTER ONLINE NOW AT doesn’t need any ian and Manchego captured www.bloodedhorse.com starts anyways.” the companion Oaks for fillies –Yannick Gingras at the Meadowlands. In the Ca- sual Breeze, Manchego, who was driven by Gingras, won in 1:51.4, defeating the Scott Zeron-driven Atlanta by 1 3/4 lengths. Last year had a bit of a different look for the two trotters as “There’s No Substitute for Experience” both raced for new trainers. After being sold, Atlanta went JERRY HAWS • P.O. Box 187 • Wilmore, Kentucky 40390 to the barn of Ron Burke, while Nancy Takter took over the Phone: (859) 858-4415 • Fax: (859) 858-8498 • [email protected] conditioning of Manchego following the retirement of her father, Jimmy. Atlanta and Manchego faced each other five times last mutuel win under her belt. That victory came in Race 1 on year, with Atlanta finishing ahead of her rival in each, in- the reopening card at the Meadowlands on June 5, with cluding three victories. The last time the two stars raced Manchego trotting to an impressive 1:50.3 score in the against each other came in the $450,000 Maple Leaf Trot at $22,500 Preferred. Mohawk Park on Aug. 19, 2019, with Atlanta finishing sec- Atlanta won her first qualifier on May 31 by 10 lengths in ond and Manchego seventh (behind Guardian Angel As). 1:54.1, and then on June 8 the daughter of Chapter Seven Manchego then went on a tear, winning six straight, until romped by 14 1/4 lengths in what was likely a track-record finishing second in the TVG Open Trot to Six Pack. Despite 1:51.4. Despite the huge tune-ups, Gingras admits the late-season push, Manchego came up just short in vot- Manchego may have an edge on Friday having already ing for Dan Patch divisional honors, with Atlanta’s early-sea- made a winning Big M appearance. son dominance and head-to-head resume arguably leading “It doesn’t hurt her, that’s for sure, having raced already,” her to garner the trophy by a vote of 74-72. said Gingras. “(Manchego), with the conditioning part of it, While Atlanta comes into the Miss Versatility off a pair of definitely hurts. For this week.” winning qualifiers at Gaitway Farms, Manchego has a pari- Continues on page 2 ›››› WHAT’S INSIDE . Full weekend calendar of racing—pg. 2 Zero Tolerance making first 2020 start—pg. 8 Ducharme has high hopes—pg. 4 Donato Hanover recovering from colic—pg. 8 Looks can be deceiving—pg. 5 Faraldo issues statement—pg. 8 First Over: Being black in harness racing—pg. 7 Ones To Watch—pg. 10 HarnessRacing Weekend Preview, 2 of 13 June 19, 2020 www.harnessracing.com Dunn said Manchego’s winning return may give her an ad- vantage on Friday, but he admits he’s been keeping an eye FREE THIS WEEKEND’S on Atlanta. Program “Atlanta qualified at Gaitway last week and she looks Pages FEATURED RACES pretty good, but we already have the one race and she went All times listed are local. a big race,” said Dunn. “I’m looking forward to this.” Friday, June 19 Despite Atlanta not having a pari-mutuel start since she finished third last Oct. 26 in the Breeders Crown Open Trot, 6:00p M1 NJSS 3FT div. Trackmaster PPs Gingras expects a big effort. 6:20p M2 NJSS 3FT div. Trackmaster PPs “I think Atlanta is a mare that races better fresh,” said Gin- 7:00p M4 Miss Versatility OMT Trackmaster PPs gras. “All the times we’ve raced her off layoffs she’s been 7:20p M5 NJSS 3FP Trackmaster PPs tremendous. The one extra start (for Manchego) definitely 8:20p M8 NJSS 3CT Trackmaster PPs doesn’t hurt, but I think Atlanta really doesn’t need any 9:00p M10 NJSS 3CP Trackmaster PPs starts anyways. I think it will be a good race.” Click here to download all Friday PPs Gingras said the 1:51.4 win at Gaitway was impressive. Saturday, June 20 “I stretched Atlanta out a little bit at Gaitway and let her 6:00p Nfld1 Buckeye Stallion 3FT div. Trackmaster PPs trot a little,” he said. “That was a big mile for sure. It’s a 9:00p M10 Preferred Trot Trackmaster PPs mile track and it’s fast, but it’s not the Meadowlands. I 9:22p Haw7 Violet 3FP Trackmaster PPs would say that it was a mile in 1:50 at the Meadowlands.”— 10:20p M14 Preferred Pace Trackmaster PPs By Gordon Waterstone Click here to download all Saturday PPs Full Weekend Calendar Of Racing After being shut down for nearly three months due to the covid-19 pandemic, harness racing is back. Make that, harness racing is BACK! Racetracks across the country have reopened, and with hundreds of horses being dropped into the entry box, plus qualifiers and now baby races, there is no shortage of action. A sign of things to come at the Meadowlands came last weekend when 777 horses were entered for the two nights of racing and more than 500 were left out. Thir- teen races each night weren’t enough, so the track, after being rebuffed in its request to the New Jersey Racing Commission to add Wednesday programs, instead added five more races on Friday and Saturday this HarnessRacing Weekend Preview weekend. With 18 races, the Meadowlands moved post Kathy Parker Heather Kemper time from 7:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. [email protected] [email protected] With 36 races over two nights as well as another 16 Editor/ General Manager Production Manager baby races and qualifiers Saturday morning at the Big Lynne Myers Hannah Reynolds [email protected] [email protected] M, it will be a busy time for horsemen and horsewomen. Advertising Manager Editorial Production Yannick Gingras is one who will be in constant mo- Gordon Waterstone Vanessa Flannery tion. Gingras will race at the Meadowlands on Friday, [email protected] [email protected] Associate Editor Accounting & Circulation and then after baby races on Saturday that get under- For mail sent via U.S. Postal Service, way at 8:30 a.m., he’ll head to The Downs at Mohegan either P.O. Box 8480, Lexington, KY 40533, Sun Pocono for a few drives during the afternoon. or 1910 Harrodsburg Rd., Suite 200, Lexington, KY 40503. (859) 276-4026 He’ll then jump back into the car to return to the Big © Copyright Horseman Publishing Company. M for the night-time races. On Sunday, he’ll be at A product of Horseman Publishing Company, publishers of the website Tioga Downs for the late-afternoon card that features www.harnessracing.com and The Horseman And Fair World magazine. This newspaper may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, the first leg of the Graduate Series for 4-year-old pac- electronic or mechanical, without prior written permission. ers, the Roll With Joe for older pacers, and the first New York Sires Stakes leg for 3-year-old filly trotters.— To sign up for the Weekend Preview please visit By Gordon Waterstone www.harnessracing.com/members_sign_up.php DOUBLE WWOORRLLDD CCHHAAMMPPIIOONN Action Uncle 2,1:54h; 3,1:53.2h-’20 ($256,075) By UNCLE PETER! By Uncle Peter - Action-Broadway - Broadway Hall JJ Zamaiko Photo The current 2-year-old World Champion on a half-mile track, Action Uncle is now the current 3-year-old World Champion on a half with his 1:53.2h victory in a $50,000 Ohio Sires Stakes divi- sion at Northfield on June 13! The time is also a new Northfield track record for sophomore trotters. Last year at 2, Action Uncle set the Hickory Lane is selling two sensational Uncle Peter current World Record for a freshman yearling fillies this fall, both out of top Muscle Hill mares... trotting colt on a half-mile track, winning a division of the OBC at the Delaware I’ll Annie Up (Uncle Peter- Annapolis-Muscle Hill) County Fair in 1:54. a full sister to It’s Academic 3,1:55.1f-’20 ($147,502) You Zig I Zag (Uncle Peter-Hillosophical-Muscle Hill), Action Uncle was bred by Kenneth the first foal out of a stakes-winning mare from the family of Sommer and is owned by Carl Howard, Joyce McClelland and Larry Wills.