DRF HARNESS HOME DIGITAL HARNESS EYE HARNESS PPS DRF BETS ENTRIES ARCHIVE THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2021 All hail the undefeated: KING OF THE NORTH & VENERABLE Even Hall of Fame driver David Miller, no stranger to handling top young horses, was EDITOR’S EYE surprised and impressed by the fight and staying power of the Walner filly. By Derick Giwner “She’s very, very special,” said Miller about @DRFHarness Venerable, now undefeated in four career starts. “I thought I was using her way too hard in the mile but at the top of the stretch she The post-Hambletonian question of the found more. I was very impressed with her.” day on the DRF Harness Twitter account was “Which Hambletonian Day performance impressed you most?” Unfortunately on Twitter you can only list Inside this issue four choices and we went with Captain Corey, Venerable, Manchego and Bella Bellini, while also asking people to comment if they felt Jay Bergman: Will lightning strike twice strongly that another horse was more deserv- for Hill/Ryder with Niki Hill?, Page 7 ing. Here are the results: Captain Corey 47.5%, Manchego 24.2%, Keith Gisser: Standard colors for Venerable 15.2% and Bella Bellini 13.1%. Standardbreds, Page 9 King Of The North (3), Tattoo Artist and Atlanta (2), and Catch The Fire and Jujubee Charlie May looks for hometown all received write-in votes. advantage in $300K Milstein, Page 11 It was no surprise to see Captain Corey top Dan Patch field has Catch The Fire to the list and everyone loves Manchego, but Venerable got my vote. As Whiteney Hous- beat at Hoosier, Page 13 ton sang, I believe children are the future, and Hoosier & Northfield Analysis, Page 15 the 2-year-old trotting filly Venerable along with fellow freshman colt King Of The North On The Backstretch: Profile of Chris appear to have a very bright future. Schick, Page 17 Venerable was parked almost every step of the first five-eighths of the mile in the Jim DERICK GIWNER Best Bets & Analysis, Page 21 Doherty Memorial and felt immediate heavy Owner David McDuffee won the James pressure once she assumed the top spot with Doherty with Venerable and the Industry Headlines, Page 22 pylon position. After such a disastrous jour- Hambletonian Oaks with Bella Bellini. ney, reaching three-quarters in 1:23 4/5, a Comments? Questions? clocking that was a full second faster than the As giddy as Miller was speaking about the Email the Editor [email protected] Hambletonian Oaks recorded and only two- filly, David McDuffee, who shares ownership fifths slower than older trotters went one race with Mel Hartman, Paul Bordogna and Steven later in the Vincennes, Venerable not only Arnold, was beaming after watching not only TO ENSURE PROPER DELIVERY found more but laughed at her competition. Venerable finish first in the $326,850 race but OF THE NEWSLETTER VIA She easily drew clear of those closest to her at Delilah Hanover, another he co-owns, picking EMAIL, ADD [email protected]. three quarters and lost no ground to the clos- up third. ers in the field while stopping the clock in a com to youR coNtact LIST BHSCo.-Summer PTA_Layout 1 8/9/2021 11:55stakes-record AM Page 1 1:52. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 PLAN TO ATTEND 330 Entries! Online Catalog at www.bloodedhorse.com JERRY HAWS P.O. Box 187 Wilmore, Kentucky 40390 Phone: (859) 858-4415 ONE DAY! AUGUST 24, 2021 Fax: (859) 858-8498 “There’s No Substitute for Experience” © 2021 Daily Racing Form, LLC - 10 Grand Central, 3rd Floor, NY, NY 10017 CAPTAINTREACHEROUS DOMINATES THE PACING RACES ON THE HAMBLETONIAN DAY CARD LYONS SENTINEL - Hanover Bred & Sired p,4, 1:48-’21 ($1,510,134) · Dam: Tutu Hanover by Western Ideal $191,050 Lady Liberty Final winner. OWNED BY: Threelyonsracing TRAINED BY: James King DRIVEN BY: Tim Tetrick BRED BY: Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. LISA PHOTO We will offer her half-sister by Stay Hungry, TALLCHIEF HANOVER, in Harrisburg this fall. ROCKYROAD HANOVER - Hanover Bred & Sired p,3, 1:48.1-’21 ($294,626) · Dam: Romantic Moment by American Ideal $276,150 Cane Pace Final winner. OWNED BY: Riverview Racing Llc., Brad Grant, Ken Jacobs, Plouffe Head And Vj Stable TRAINED BY: Tony Alagna DRIVEN BY: Dexter Dunn BRED BY: Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. LISA PHOTO ALLYWAG HANOVER - Hanover Bred & Sired p,4, 1:47.1-’21 ($551,108) · Dam: Anderosa Hanover by The Panderosa $158,500 Sam McKee Memorial winner. OWNED BY: Allywag Stable TRAINED BY: Brett Pelling DRIVEN BY: Todd McCarthy BRED BY: Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. LISA PHOTO We will offer his half-brother by Stay Hungry, APROPOS HANOVER, in Harrisburg this fall. CATCH THE FIRE p,4, 1:47.2-’21 ($881,421) · Dam: Dream Outloud by Bettor’s Delight $157,100 Sam McKee Memorial winner. OWNED BY: Llc Black Magic Racing, Ct Stables Llc TRAINED BY: Todd Luther DRIVEN BY: Scott Zeron BRED BY: Fred Kruszelnicki LISA PHOTO PURCHASE A YEARLING BY CAPTAINTREACHEROUS THIS FALL! (717) 637-8931 fax: (717) 637-6766 www.hanoverpa.com [email protected] ANDOVER HALL · BAR HOPPING · BETTING LINE · CANTAB HALL · CAPTAINTREACHEROUS · GREENSHOE INTERNATIONAL MONI · NUNCIO · PAPI ROB HANOVER · STAY HUNGRY · TALL DARK STRANGER NIKKI SHERMAN Venerable, with David Miller in the bike, set a stakes record of 1:52 in winning the Jim Doherty Memorial. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “I was thinking she’s as good as I thought she was,” said McDuffee with a laugh when asked about his thoughts in the stretch. “That is a hell of a mile. Obviously if you set a track record at The Meadowlands you have a hell of a filly.” McDuffee, who is not afraid to spend for what he views as quality at the yearling sales, spent $210,000 to buy Venerable from breeders Maumee River Stables, Black Creek Farm, Martin Schmucker and Steve Stewart at the Lexington Selected Sale and $440,000 for Delilah Hanover at the Standardbred Horse Sale in Timonium. While Vener- able has already made back the initial sales price, McDuffee wasn’t exactly worried about her Nifty Norman barnmate. “They are both good horses,” said McDuffee. “I think you’ll see a lot more from Delilah Hanover going forward. I think she’s a really good horse. She threw in kind of a clunker a week ago but she was good today.” From $231,673 winner Jolene Jolene, Venerable has already out- earned 3-year-old sister Ineffable (Cantab Hall) and is halfway to her 4-year-old Father Patrick sister Crucial ($528,598). Delilah Hanover NIKKI SHERMAN is the second foal from Danielle Hanover and a Muscle Hill sister to The team behind King Of The North hopes he comes close to his Hambletonian Oaks fourth-place finisher Darlene Hanover ($356,462). mother Check Me Out’s level of greatness. Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, the first colt from Danielle Hanover, Declan Hanover (International Moni), is slated to sell at Lexington it corrected and took off from there.” in the fall. Armed with a 27 2/5 final quarter, King Of The North was sent Also owner of an unblemished record (5-for-5) and certainly impres- widest by MacDonald and charged home to make up more than five sive on Hambletonian Day is Peter Haughton Memorial winner King lengths while out-finishing the mostly rail-skimming (until the Of The North. With Mark MacDonald in the bike, the son of Walner’s stretch) Classic Hill by a half-length. obstacle to victory was a somewhat slower pace (1:25 2/5 to three For Schnittker, who is no stranger to training star 2-year-old trot- quarters) and plenty of traffic in front of him as he sat seventh with a ters having conditioned Deweycheatumnhowe to a 10-for-10 record quarter-mile to go. and King Of The North’s mom Check Me Out to a 14-for-16 record as a “He showed how good he was,” said trainer Ray Schnittker, who freshman, it never gets easier despite the experience. also bred the colt along with Steve Jones. “You don’t know until they “I think all it does is make you know that it is tougher than hell,” have to dig and he had to do that a little bit because it was kind of a said Schnittker. “His mother won the Merrie Annabelle by open tough trip with the traffic in front of him. “It looked like he might’ve taken a bad step down the lane but he got CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 DRF Harness Digest | 3 | August 12, 2021 Visit us online at drf.com/harness Train Keeps Rollin’ Lexington Selected Yearling Grad | Hambletonian Champion CAPTAIN COREY Lexington Selected Yearling Sale graduates won back-to-back Hambletonians and five more stakes on this year’s card, including the Peter Haughton (King Of The North), Jim Doherty (Venerable), Shady Daisy (Grace Hill), Sam McKee (Catch The Fire) and John Cashman (Manchego). This train is charging nonstop to the Breeders Crown. Lexington Selected Yearling Sale 2021 Yearlings Sell Oct. 5-9 at Fasig-Tipton’s Newtown Paddocks Click to request catalog or call (859) 255-8431 GSI, LLC 2021 | Photo: Michael Lisa/Lisa Photo CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 Interestingly, handle for the eliminations is also recorded and for the last two years these races were placed as the lead-off leg or middle lengths here on the same day, so he’s right in the same footsteps.” leg of the Pick 4. If those races ended the two Pick 4s and we could get Check Me Out was a superstar on the track, earning over $1.9 a couple of 10-horse eliminations, total handle for the race (including million in three years of racing.