Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Breeders Crown Doings

November 21, 2007

No Raccoons for Rathbone & DiManggio
On Wednesday morning, conditioner Larry Rathbone grinned after training DiManggio in 2:20 at Showplace Farms, happy with the 2-year-old’s performance. Rathbone will harness the youngster Saturday night for the $650,000 Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt Trot at The Meadowlands.

“We’ll be fine, as long as there are no raccoons in East Rutherford,” Rathbone joked. “I’m not superstitious, but if I saw a raccoon at The Meadowlands, I might be.”

Rathbone, 60, conditions the son of Yankee Glide for owners M And L of Delaware, Inc., and is referring to DiManggio’s ill-fated start in the Valley Victory elimination at Woodbine on Oct. 20, when a portly raccoon dashed between the colt’s legs in the first turn, causing him and another youngster to break stride.

“He was going to the quarter and here comes this very well-fed raccoon out of nowhere,” Rathbone said. “He went right between my colt’s back legs. Yannick (driver Gingras) said the thing was as big as his dog. If you watch the replay of that race, you can see the horse turning his head, looking at the raccoon as it’s running toward him. The animal got tossed around and kept right on going. Of course, my colt and another made breaks and never recovered their gaits. I think it really scared them badly.”

Woodbine had been having trouble with the track lighting earlier in the evening, and the only lights that were out, were a few in the first turn.

“I think that was pretty traumatic for him at the time, but it hasn’t affected him since, thank God,” Rathbone added.

It would seem not, as DiManggio went on to finish third in the $37,338 elimination and the $244,024 Matron final at Dover Downs on Nov. 3 and 10 with George Brennan at the lines. He followed that up with a fourth place finish in his $25,000 Breeders Crown elimination last Saturday at The Meadowlands, clocked in 1:59.3 with a :28.4 final brush.

“The track was a little loose that night and was a bit tiring,” Rathbone said. “I think he’ll be a little sharper for the final—although we’ve got Deweycheatumnhowe to contend with and Bobby’s (Myers, Lear Jetta) to contend with. They are both very nice horses, but I think other than them, it’s pretty wide open.”

While the colt wears trotting hobbles, a pair of hind boots, a tie-down and an inside (left) head pole, Rathbone said he made only a few slight adjustments to DiManggio’s rigging and shoeing this week in preparation for the Breeders Crown final.

“I changed his front shoes from steel to aluminum—and I lengthened his trotting hobbles a hole,” Rathbone offered. “I think this might be a way to get a little more speed out of him. I’ve had aluminums on him before and he handled them okay, so I don’t think it will be a major adjustment for him.”

Rathbone currently has 14 horses in training, 11 yearlings and three freshmen—all of which are already in Florida save for DiManggio.

“This will be it for him, it’s time for him to be put away for the winter,” Rathbone noted. “He’s raced tough this season and earned his time in the sun.” Rathbone—a native of Salem, N.J.--has been training Standardbreds for three decades and has amassed $3,181,687 in his career from 111 winners. His best year was 2004, when he conditioned the winners of $1,043,402. A former raceway trainer, he now concentrates his efforts exclusively on 2- and 3-year-olds. It was last year at the Lexington Select Sale that he first laid eyes on the Yankee Glide colt.

“I had wanted a Yankee Glide colt, because I think he’s a good sire and because I had never had Yankee Glide as a baby. He fit our criteria, and I liked the way he looked and the way he stood. He was just an all around nice yearling and we were able to get him in our price range.

“This is a group effort—when we buy yearlings,” Rathbone noted. “The owners, I and Abe Stolfus usually go to the sales together, looking for youngsters in the $25,000 to $50,000 range. We try each year to buy a few trotting colts and fillies and a few pacing colts and fillies.”

The gavel fell at $35,000 for the bay colt out of the Joie Di Vie mare Keyser’s Cousin 3,1:59 ($35,784), and he was promptly shipped to Florida with the rest of Rathbone’s yearlings.

”My brother Jim gets to Florida and starts breaking the babies before I head down there,” Rathbone said.

During the winter months Rathbone and his team train at the South Florida Trotting Center before heading north to Vernon Downs in May, where he headquarters until after the Lexington Fall Trots.

“I think Vernon is a great place for young horses,” Rathbone noted.

When Rathbone began working with DiManggio earlier this year, the youngster had trouble staying focused on his work, so the decision was made to geld him.

“He was a little ornery—he would make breaks and wouldn’t pay attention to his job the way I thought he should,” Rathbone recalled. “He also had the habit of chasing himself around the stall a lot. I don’t like to castrate any horse indiscriminately, but in his case, it certainly helped.”

Rathbone qualified the youngster at Vernon on June 21 and 26 himself, then harnessed him to his pari-mutuel debut on July 3, when he finished fifth for driver Ruel Goodblood in 2:04.2. He next finished third for Cat Manzi on July 10 in a Vernon baby race, but made a break in a Geers elim at Tioga Downs on July 21, before rebounding on Aug 5 to win in 1:59.3 in a Tioga $10,000 baby race for Manzi.

”It was late in the summer when he started to show me more, and I put the trotting hobbles on him,” Rathbone recalled. “That start at Tioga he drew off by five lengths, with a :29.2 last quarter and I really thought then he could probably trot with the better 2-year-olds.”

DiManggio broke stride in his next outing on Aug.12 at Tioga Downs, but then just missed by a neck to Surtees Hanover in the $84,942 Champlain Stakes on Sept. 2, trotting in 1:57.4 when he was partnered with George Brennan for the first time. He followed that up with wire-to-wire victory in the $17,689 Wellwood elim on Nov. 9—besting his rivals by five and ½ lengths, trotting in a career best of 1:56.1 for Brennan, before finishing fifth in the final. He had a pair of starts at Lexington—finishing second to Deweycheatumnhow on Sept 27, vying for $92,000 over a rain-soaked Red Mile oval, and then fifth on Oct. 4 to Surtees Hanover, again over the red clay. He then shipped to Woodbine for his Valley Victory elim, where he encountered the mischievous and interfering raccoon.

“This colt has raced hard and knows what the game is about now,” Rathbone noted. “However, I do believe that had he not met up with that raccoon, he’d have twice as much money on his card as he does.”

Through it all, DiManggio has earned $131,356 this year from 14 career starts and a 2-2-3 record under Rathbone’s care.

“We laugh about it now,” the affable Rathbone said. “But I don’t think I’ll ever look at raccoons in the same way again.”

DiManggio probably won’t either.

Just a few more….
--ONLY Donato Hanover is back from last years 2 Year Old Breeders Crown winners circle.

--FIRST time ever that a $1.5 million single season TROTTING and PACING colt will appear on the same card. Donato Hanover and Tell All. The ONLY other time this happened in the same YEAR? 1985-Nihilator $1.8 million and Prakas $1.6 million

--TWO wins in one year in the Breeders Crown for a driver in his 20s? Never happened-Mark MacDonald (28)-Moving Pictures and Tim Tetrick-26 on Thursday (Artistic Fella) already are on the board this year

--TWO Wins in a row on the Breeders Crown for Mystical Sunshine-so far the ONLY repeater from 2006

--2-SECOND time-If Donato Hanover wins the Breeders Crown-that Steve Elliott will have won a Breeders Crown Pace (Artistic Fella) AND Trot-same year-TWICE! 1988-Valley Victory-Sweet Reflection

--3-$3 Million for Donato if he hits the top 2 in the final-just 22 starts. The QUICKEST any horse has ever made it to $3 million. It took him just 16 starts to $2 million-also the fastest.

--3-Mike Lachance won 3 last year-just 6 weeks from his 56th birthday

--3-THREE million $-Donato can become the third COLT to do it-Nihilator and Presidential Ball the other two.

--3-THREE brothers were in action in the elims-No NOT horses-Kevin Lare-half brother to Toby Lynch-step brother to Dylan Davis

--3-THREE Breeders Crowns one year as a sire? Done in 1985 by Super Bowl and 2005 by Muscles Yankee.

(NOTE-Last year-12 Breeders Crown events-12 DIFFERENT sires won)

--4-FOUR straight $12 million driving seasons for Ron Pierce. In the HISTORY of the sport, there've only been 7 such seasons-Pierce owns over half, and has done it consecutively. (Others-Campbell-Sears-Tetrick)

--5-FIVE Straight years that Yankee Glide has sired a Breeders Crown winner-current. NO other sire has done so.

--5-$5.043 million in purses-one night-was the Meadowlands record set in July, 1986 for the very first Million $ Babies night. Two prominent players from THAT night appear on THIS years Breeders Crown night. John Campbell-the winning driver that night with $879g in purses, and Steve Elliott-who was second with a maiden in the $1.5 Million Wilson with Ali Khan (To Cullin Hanover)

--6-SIXTH $10 Million season for Dave Miller is likely to be reached Breeders Crown night. 2001-2002-2003, 2005-2006-2007 Second highest total behind Campbell all-time in $10 million seasons

--6-SIX Breeders Crowns in the new Millennium for Sears/Smedshammer-THE most lethal combo since the turn of the century.

--6-Jody Jamieson-SIXTH in North America in earnings-is the ONLY driver in the top 6 who finished in that SAME spot last year.

--6-2 YO Pacing Filly Crowns for Campbell-he looks to make it 7 with A And Gs Confusion

--8-EIGHT Meadowlands-only Breeders Crowns for Sears-2nd highest total ever

--9-NINE Meadowlands-only Breeders Crowns for Pierce-THE highest total ever.

--10-TEN Years have passed since Malabar Man was the last 2 AND 3 YO trotting colt to win the Breeders Crown both years. Donato Hanover tries to duplicate that this year.

--11-ELEVEN of the last 16 finals in the Breeders Crown for 3 Year Olds (2003-2006) have been won by the two-headed monster Sears-Pierce!!

--12-TWELVE years since John Campbell won his record 6th 2 Year Old Pacing Filly division. He did it with Paige Nicole Q-who just so happened to be the ONLY PACING Breeders Crown win for #2 trainer in Breeders Crown history-Chuck Sylvester.

--13-THIRTEEN wins for Always A Virgin in 2007-including TWO Triple Crown wins-The Cane and the Messenger.

--14-FOURTEEN Years since the last time a trainer won the Two AND Three Year Old Filly Pacing Breeders Crown. Bob McIntosh 1993-Immortality and Electric Slide. Mark Steacy is in position with Stylish Artist and Hana Hanover to repeat history. (Bruce Nickells the other trainer to do so-1991-Miss Easy and Hazelton Kay)

--14-FOURTEEN Years since a trainer won THREE Breeders Crowns-SAME year. Bob McIntosh 1993-Staying Together-Immortality and Electric Slide. Steve Elliott-won with Artstic Fella September 1-is in position with two favorites-Donato Hanover and Southwind Tempo-to duplicate this.

--16-SIXTEEN wins in 2007 for Won The West-16/27. This is especially interesting considering he has the most wins in this power packed field, and his stablemate has none-0-18 Watta Hotshot.

--19-NINETEEN wins for BOTH Donato Hanover and Southwind Tempo. How would like to be the trainer of this pair-one is 19-21 lifetime-Donato and the filly is 19-23-and they are STABLEMATES!!

--22-TWENTY-TWO-Is it really 22 years since Kelly O'Donnell won a Breeders Crown with Stienam? Time flies.

--22-TWENTY-TWO lifetime starts for Donato Hanover After the Crown. --22-TWENTY-TWO years since the last time, and the ONLY time-there was a sophomore pacing colt and trotting colt BOTH over $1.5 million together in the same year. Nihilator and Prakas. Until now, when Donato and Tell All hit the track for their final career races November 24.

Intimidator Carries Porcelli's Hopes for Breeders Crown Victory
Trainer Carl Porcelli is riding a big wave with a trotter he conditions for Indiana owner Jon Lewis.

Lewis' 2-year-old colt, Intimidator, will vie in East Rutherford, N.J., on ThSaturday night in the $650,000 Breeders Crown Freshman Trot.

Porcelli, 56, has been training horses for Lewis for nine years, and said thesthis colt is the best Lewis has owned.

Lewis, 52, manufactures and markets hyperbaric oxygen chambers, and has owned racehorses since the mid-1980s. He purchased Intimidator on Aug. 16.

"I went to Canada to look at Intimidator with no real intentions of buying him, but when I trained him, I really liked him," Porcelli said. "He's super fast for a 2-year-old trotter, and he was staked to the Breeders Crown.

Porcelli, who stables horses at Odds On Acres in Crete, Maywood Park and White Birch Farm in New Jersey, has been training and racing horses since the late 1960s. The Chicago native has conditioned 462 winners to $3,441,188 in career earnings.

Until a few years ago, Porcelli was also driving horses at the Chicago ovals.

"It's a young man's game," Porcelli said. "You have to know when it's time to stop and let the younger guys take over the reins. But you can train horses forever."

Porcelli has had his share of winners. From 1977 through 1998 he scored 1,005 victories worth $5,464,146 steering Standardbreds.

"I give Jon a lot of credit," Porcelli said. "He spends a lot of money, buying horses on his own, without partners. It takes a lot of courage in this day and age to do that because in horse racing, there's never a sure thing."

Loch Katrine--a Lock for Lohmeyer?
Last Saturday night at The Meadowlands, the Eddie Lohmeyer-trained Loch Katrine brushed a brisk :28.1 last quarter for driver Cat Manzi in her Breeders Crown elimination. As a result of that fifth-place finish, the daughter of Andover Hall nabbed the final starting berth in this Saturday’s $500,000 Breeders Crown 3-year-Old Filly Trot at The Big M.

“It wasn’t the easiest of trips,” Lohmeyer noted, “But she came out of it in great shape and seems to be healthy and cheerful this week.”

“I was really pleased with the way she raced,” Manzi added. “She was really trotting fast at the end of the mile, and I think she’s got a solid shot in the final.”

Lohmeyer has worked hard to get Loch Katrine to the point of Breeders Crown contender, after first spying the filly at the 2005 Lexington Select Yearling Sale.

“I was looking for an Andover Hall filly for (owner) Mr Tucker because he wanted one as a broodmare,” Lohmeyer recalled. “We were looking in that medium price range, and were able to buy her for $60,000. She’s not as top bred on the dam’s side, but for that price, you’re not going to get premium bloodlines.”

Loch Katrine was “big, tall and very correct,” according to Lohmeyer. “She was a very nice looking mare with a lot of presence.”

But good looks are not everything, as most horse trainers will tell you. The first born daughter out of the unraced Armbro Goal mare Shan Riches, took a long time to find her stride, Lohmeyer said.

“Early on, she was very tough to get gaited,” he said. “Her 2-year-old season was very tough and I nearly gave up on her at one point. She made a lot of breaks and had a really hard time getting herself together. Eventually, she’s kind of worked out of it.”

Loch Katrine had just eight starts at 2, with a pair of wins, one second and a third, earning $57,130.

“Her best race at 2 was when she won the $85,000 Kindergarden Final (in a seasonal best of 2:00.1s) at Vernon,” Lohmeyer noted. “Actually, I had to drive one that I owned, but Cat (Manzi) drove her and beat me by a neck—so we were one-two in there.”

Loch Katrine’s other freshman victory came just two week’s prior to her Kindergarden win, on Sept. 3 at Tioga Downs when she took a $10,000 2-year-old overnight in 2:02 with Lohmeyer at the lines.

“She always showed me that she had trot, but she just wasn’t great gaited early on—she had a little bit of colt soreness, but we weren’t able to pinpoint where it was coming from,” Lohmeyer said.

This season, the big-gaited filly has been behind the gate 20 times, posting a 4-3-3 record and amassing $111,298 in seasonal earnings for owners Robert and Lauren Tucker of Glen Gardner, N.J.

Loch Katrine owns a career mark of 1:56.2, taken in a $10,000 conditioned trot at Chester on Oct.22. She also won the $100,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final in 1:56.4 on Sept. 29 with Lohmeyer in the sulky.

“She’s really gotten a lot better here in the last three months,” Lohmeyer noted. “She seems to have worked her way through her soreness issues. We didn’t train her last week, prior to her Breeders Crown elimination and she raced really well in there, so we’ll stick to that program and just jog her this week.”

Other than her gaiting issues, Lohmeyer said that Loch Katrine is a great horse to handle and drive.

“There’s nothing fancy when it comes to her rigging or shoeing,” he said. “She’s a real lady in the barn and is very nice to work with.”

Lohmeyer has sent seen horses postward in Crown competition, including the favored Pacific Fella in the 1998 Crown Pace at The Meadowlands. Pacific Fella finished third to Red Bow Tie in that event. Bob Tucker, a former Hambletonian Society director, also had an entrant in the event, Dream Away, who finished second.

Facts & Notes & Quotes
Ten facts we love about the Breeders Crown
1) Camluck and No Nukes are the ONLY two sires over $100 million WITHOUT a male Breeders Crown winner. Each have three FEMALE credits.
2) The winningest active $ sire in the Breeders Crown? Jate Lobell $2,483,994
3) Two wins for Muscles Yankee on Breeders Crown night and he'll be THE leading sire of Breeders Crown winners still active at 7
4) The top 4 pacing sires and the top 3 trotting sires in Breeders Crown history have all passed away.
5) Who is the last horse to win a Breeders Crown race who sire RETIRED prior to the Breeders Crown's 1984 debut? Eternal Camnation-2003 Cam Fella retired 1983
6) Oh Brother! The Two leading trotting sires in North America are Andover Hall-$8.6 million and Angus Hall $8.3 million-BROTHERS
7) Super Export? TWICE a daughter of Self Possessed has lowered the world 2 YO record since he was exported. 1:54.2 Possess The Magic and Snow White 1:52.4.
8) Western Hanover has set a record the same year he passed away. FIVE fillies-SAME year-past $250g-Thong-Hana Hanover-Elusive Prey-Western Graduate and Captiva Island
9) For the first time ever-2007-the Breeders Crown for 2 and 3 Year Olds will go WITHOUT Balanced Image (7 credits) Artsplace (9 credits) and Western Hanover (10 credits) being alive
10) Flirtin Victory looks to add to her own record. If Flirtin Man wins, it'll be THREE Breeders Crown winners for the dam-who already has had full sisters (Sire: Malabar Man) win, Pick Me Up and Flirtin Miss Friday:

Quiz: John Campbell and Toby Lynch own AND drive tomorrow night. Flirtin Man, Southwind Tempo. Can you name the last driver to win a Breeders Crown who was also the owner? 1999 Rod Allen C R Renegade Carl/Rod Allen Stable

Ten More Facts:
1) Apecs (0-8) and Watta Hotshot (0-18) try to do what Fast Photo did last in 2000-win their ONLY race of the year in the Breeders Crown
2) IF Watta Hotshot finishes second, he'll become the first horse to have 500g on his card for a year WITHOUT winning a race.
3) Yannick Gingras is hoping "13" is lucky for him. He's looking for that first Breeders Crown 13 0-2-0
4) Donato Hanover is looking to join Nihilator and Presidential Ball as colts who hit $3 million at 3.
5) If Brian Sears has a big end to his year-$1.5 million more, he can join Ron Pierce as the only other driver to hit $50 million combined 4 straight driving seasons.
6) Nine trainers have doubled in the Breeders Crown on the same night, two of them twice-Pelling/Takter.
7) Per Eriksson won 9 Breeders Crowns BEFORE his 39th birthday; Ron Gurfein has won 6 Breeders Crown all SINCE turning 50.
8) Steve Elliott won three Million $ races-all with different drivers-Pierce, Webster and Manzi But he's won five Breeders Crown races with FOUR different drivers-O'Donnell (2), Pierce, Tetrick and Sears
9) EACH time Bob McIntosh had a HOY-he had another horse or two win a Breeders Crown that SAME year. Artsplace 1992 So Fresh; Staying Together 1993, Immortality and Electric Slide. Steve Elliott is very likely to do the same-He has the overwhelming HOY favorite Donato Hanover, and has already won a Breeders Crown with Artistic Fella and has a good shot with Southwind Tempo.
10) 5 of the 18 drivers who have won a Breeders Crown event at the Meadowlands are Hall Of Famers: Campbell-Lachance-Pierce-Hennessey and Dave Magee

"REPEAT" After Me
Each sophomore division in the 2007 Breeders Crown has TWO repeaters from a year ago in the Freshman Crown.
2 Year Old filly trotters Pampered Princess 2nd and Falls For You 4th
2 Year Old filly pacers Little Miss Dragon 2nd and Hana Hanover 5th
2 Year Old colt trotter Donato Hanover winner and Laddie 8th
2 Year Old colt pace Running Book 5th and Southwind Lynx 8th

Twenty-Twenty.......20/20
20-that is a number in play Saturday night.
20-That is the number of FEMALE Breeders Crowns John Campbell will have won if Snow White or any of the other fillies he handles win
20-Only Mike Lachance (1999) and John Campbell (1998) have had 20 Breeders Crown assignments (Counting elims) in a year.
20-Camlucks age. He is about to break his OWN single season siring Record-$15.486 million-set just last year. He started this week $250g from it, and has Chancey Lady and Golden Seven in.
20-20 Breeders Crown champions have Sired a Breeders Crown champion 20-If Donato Hanover wins the 3 Year Old Colt Trot final, it'll be his 20th win of his career.
20-If Southwind Tempo wins the 3 Year Old Filly Pace Final-it'll be her 20th career win.
20-If any driver wins three Breeders Crowns in 2007, it'll be the 20th time a driver has won 3 or more in a single season-Tetrick-MacDonald-Ritchie and Dube so far have one each.
20-Years Old-Ryan Anderson-THAT is the youngest ever Breeders Crown winning driver.

Six Most Common
FIRST Names For Breeders Crown Starters:
Armbro-82 Western 22 Keystone 19
Yankee 18 Super 15 Victory 13

Balanced Image-Arch Madness
26 years after HE was a 3 Year old and vying to make the very first Hambo held in NJ-his son now goes at it in the Breeders Crown final, one week after handing Donato Hanover his first ever sophomore loss. Balanced Image and Arch Madness. Balanced Image-who passed away 3 years ago-is THE leading sire in the sport the last two decades for trotters. He will send out his 70th starter 69 7-7-10 $4,002,341-the third richest total ever behind only Speedy Crown and Super Bowl.

Artsplace
ONLY sire in last decade to 3 times double up in Crown wins-1997, 1998, 2002
ONLY sire to ever have as many as 19 starters in a single Crown year (Eliminations, too) ONLY pacing sire past $5 million in Crown credits $5,714,717 ONLY father and son combo in Breeders Crown history EACH with 100 or more starters. Abercrombie 100-Artsplace 124

Cam Fella
Of course Cam Fella always enters any discussion about pacing sires. He is the ONLY sire to have a repeat winner from his FIRST and LAST crop. Camtastic, Eternal Camnation Cam Fella is also the ONLY sire at 25% or better (Minimum 5 victories) in Breeders Crown history. 12-48

QUIZ: Who is the ONLY trainer to lead all trainers in Breeders Crown earnings for the year with Just One STARTER? Gary Machiz-1999-Tyberwood $420,860

QUIZ: Who is the ONLY American born trainer out of the top EIGHT Breeders Crown trainers of all time in earnings? #2 Chuck Sylvester

QUIZ: He's the ONLY driver to lead at years end in Breeders Crown in earnings-WITHOUT winning a Crown race that year? John Campbell 11 0-3-2 $761,161 1999

Red Bow Tie (1998, 1999) and Burning Point (2003, 2006)
The male and female horses-the ONLY two-to TWICE win a Breeders Crown race at the Meadowlands?