Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

American National Elimination Results
October 31, 2004
By Kimberly A. Rinker

As expected, the two favorites in their respective American National eliminations easily cruised to victory on Saturday night, October 30, at Balmoral Park, in suburban Crete, Illinois.

The $28,000 American National elimination for freshman colt and gelding pacers was taken by Lexington Legend in 1:53.3, with Dave Magee in the sulky for trainer Nelson Willis. The Jate Lobell youngster took the lead at the :55.1 half, after a :27 opening panel by rival Machine Maker (Tim Tetrick), and cruised through the 1:24.4 three-quarter marker before storming home to win by nearly four lengths. It was the fifth win of the colt's brief career in seven starts for owners James Jesk and Cynthia Willis of Illinois.

"This is a great-gaited, quick and very smart youngster," Magee said. "He had almost a month off and to come back and have a giant mile like this was really something. I think that gave him a very good tightener for the final next week. I really felt that he was the best in there, and he didn’t have any trouble proving me right."

Cherry Picker (Dean Magee) was second, followed by Jenna's World (Andy Miller) in third. Village Joshua (Tony Morgan) was fourth, Machine Maker (Tetrick) was fifth, That Thing (Dale Hiteman) was sixth and Chesapeake Royal (Duke Sugg) was seventh. These youngsters will join Team Hutch, Getting Real and Chevie Cash in the $170,000 Final on November 6, who all earned "byes" based on their seasonal earnings.

The $44,000 American National Aged Pace stake elimination was captured by Quality Western and driver David Miller in a blistering 1:50.4. Trained by Blair Burgess for owners Brittany Farms, Robert Burgess and Karen Olsson of Kentucky and Ontario, it was the fourth win of the season for the four-year-old Western Hanover horse in 15 trips postward.

Leaving hard from post six, Quality Western snared the lead at the :26.2 first quarter and never looked back, rattling off fractions of :55.1, 1:23.2 and using a :27.2 final brush to hold off his hard-trying rival Peruvian Hanover (Tim Tetrick) by a little less than a length. Quality Western pushed his lifetime bankroll to $557,046 with the win.

"He didn’t have an easy go of it tonight," Miller said. "He was parked to the quarter and he raced really tough considering the conditions he was racing under—very strong winds. I still think that can be a factor and that it often takes its toll on horses."

Johnny Be Cool N (Andy Miller) nailed down show honors, with Sagebursh (Mike Oosting) fourth, Foxy Maneuver (Donald Eash) fifth, Constant Change (Dave Magee) sixth and Execujet (Pat Berry) seventh. These seven will join Royal Mattjesty, Casimir Camotion and Boulder Creek in the $260,000 Final on November 6 at Balmoral Park.

On Sunday night, three fields of American National Final hopefuls raced under much milder conditions than the previous night. With Cantab Hall and Coventry earning "byes" in the sophomore trot division of the $250,000 American National Final, the first seven finishers in the $42,000 American National elimination were decided from a field of ten.

John Campbell wasted no time in showing why Justice Hall was the biggest money-earner in the field, as he guided the Garland Lobell colt Justice Hall to victory in 1:56.3. Trained and co-owned by Kevin Thomas for Mary Katz, Berto Stable and Nathan Fink, it was the fourth victory of the year in 17 starts for Justice Hall.

"I really didn’t have any pre-race strategy in mind," Campbell said. "This horse is just very easy to drive and is very professional. He’s one of those horses that is the ultimate professional and can just go anywhere and do well. For instance he was at Lexington, then went up to Mohawk and came back to Lexington and then shipped here. He’s just a standout individual in that regard."

Cambell eased Justice Hall off the gate and away from post eight, letting the colt settle as Rose Run Fastball (David Miller) took the field to a :28.2 first quarter, a :58 half and a 1:28.1 three-quarter clocking. Customize (Dave Magee) grabbed the lead at the top of the stretch and appeared to be on his way to his 11th victory of the season, but was mowed down by a hard-driving Justice Hall, who used a :27.2 final brush to win by nearly two lengths.

Uncle Vernon (Tony Morgan) was third, with Rocky Balboa (Andy Miller) fourth. Castle Of Fortune (Eric Ledford) was fifth, Double Helix (Ron Marsh) sixth and Sky Watch (Dale Hiteman) was seventh—all thus guaranteeing themselves a starting berth in the rich final.

Earlier in the night Campbell had steered the freshman colt Diesel Don to victory in 1:57.2 in a conditioned trot. The Muscles Yankee youngster, conditioned and co-owned by Chuck Sylvester, Neal Goldman and Having Fun Stable LLC won his second start of his brief career in only five tries.

"This colt has been fighting sickness for a while, and it’s taken him some time to get over it," Campbell noted. "It’s too early to tell if he’s going to be as tough as his father (Muscles Yankee), but he was right on tonight. He handled the track really well and that’s a testament to Chuck (trainer Sylvester) who had this colt at Lexington and made sure he was ready to go here."

Diesel Don easily bested rival Southwind Rose (Ron Marsh) by five lengths, with John R Yankee (Dirk Simpson) nailing third. The colt’s previous time of 1:58.1 had been scored in a Red Mile qualifier for Campbell on October 8.

Mutineer rocked to a new track record clocking of 1:53 for a four-year-old horse in the $16,000 Open Trot that night. Guided by regular reinsman David Miller for trainer and co-owner Chuck Sylvester, it was the second win of the season in eight tries for son of the Muscles Yankee, who is also co-owned by Gerald Donahue and Neal Goldman.

"This horse was great tonight," Miller said. "He really trotted his guts out, and I just can’t say enough good things about him."

The victory pushed Mutineer’s career earnings to $498,017, and lowered the record set by Rotation (1:53.1) only a year before in the American National Aged Trot. The bay horse scored his win a full three lengths ahead of Elegant Man (John Campbell), with All Sundon N (Dave Magee) nabbing show honors.

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