Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Cardinal Elims Contested

September 28, 2007

A pair of $7,500 eliminations determined the field for the $60,500 Cardinal Final, slated for Oct. 5 at Maywood Park. The first four finishers in each heat earned starting berths in the final on Friday for freshman pacing colts and geldings. Interestingly enough, six of the starters are sons of Cole Muffler, while two are by Sportsmaster.

In the first elim trainer Tom Simmons’ Froggy Turner turned it on for Hall of Fame driver Dave Magee, pacing to a 1:54 front-end clocking. The time was far off of Froggy Turner’s career mark of 1:52.1 which he took en route to winning the $270,000 Orange & Blue Stake on Super Night, but it did equal the national season’s mark for a 2-year-old pacing colt on a half-mile track.

“He did the job very easily tonight,” Magee said. “I figured right from the get-go that this youngster was going to be a nice one--he's so big-gaited and just drives very comfortably. When I ask him to shut down a little, he’ll come right back to me with just two fingers. He's a very big striding, easy-going animal, and just a pleasure to drive.”

Froggy Turner is owned by Sandra Dyer, Carol Rieken, James Stieren and Luke Gaule of Illinois—and was raised by Benita Simmons, wife of trainer Tom, who explained who the bay son of Cole Muffler got his name.

“Froggy Turner was named for owner Luke Gale's favorite gaming horse,” Benita recalled. “The unique thing about Froggy is that he reminds me so much of Constant Change. He's a bit onry--he's still a stud.”

Benita said that she bought Froggy Turner’s dam—Snitch—for only $1,200 from trainer Tex Moats.

“Tom (Simmons had always wanted an Incredible Finale mare because they have a little bit of fire to them,” Benita said. “That’s probably why Froggy is so onry.”

“Froggy was a little tough to break but he's good in the barn now and on the track,” Benita continued. “Tom (Simmons) told me when we broke him that he was going to be a good horse and he was right.”

The Simmons—who train at Springfield--also conditions Jolly Lester, who finished third in the other Cardinal elim, and who was a fast-closing second in the $270,000 Orange & Blue Stake on Super night.

“Jolly Lester was an easier colt to break,” Benita said. “He does whatever you ask him to do. The good thing about he and Froggy is that they both like to eat. They’re both good keepers. Dale never pulled the earplugs on Jolly Lester in the elim either. He told me he was more worried about making it through all of the traffic than anything else.

Froggy Turner is the richer of the two stablemates, with $145,585 to his credit, while Jolly Lester’s bankroll tops out at $100,186.

Finishing second to Froggy Turner with an inside move was the high-stepping Littlebitoflife, conditioned by Shawn Ness for the Littlebitoflife Stable.

“This horse came up the passing lane very strongly and made the final in fine shape,” driver Ryan Anderson noted. “He gets around a half better than he does the mile track. Shawn always has his horse ready to go.”

Sam Widger brought the Bret Ballinger-trainer Harness My Fury up for third with a two-hole trip behind the leader

“This colt is still very green and a little flighty,” Widger said of the Cole Muffler colt. “He's a little touchy on the bit and wears two tight head poles, but I think that time will help him evolve into a very nice youngster.”

Nailing down fourth in the first division was the Cole Muffler gelding Too Much Pepper. “We're ecstatic to make the final,” trainer Rick Schrock noted. “This homebred does very well on the half and tonight was a good tightener for him.”

In the second elimination, Jason Dillander copied Magee’s tactics from the first elim, sending Willie The Kid out fast from post two and leading at every pole to win in 1:54.2 for owner Michael Polansky of Loudonville, N.Y.

“He's a little skittish,” Dillander said of the Cole Muffler youngster. “He's a very quick horse and that's his problem--he tends to want to get into gear a little bit too quickly at times. He gets around this track great and does run out a bit which is okay here.”

Mike Oosting gave Mucho Sleazy an overland route, but it was good enough for second-place.

“I just wanted him to stay flat and make the final,” said Oosting. “I kind of had to baby him out of there and I didn't want to get after him and then knock him off his feet. He was good tonight and trains on a half so I just didn't want to make a mistake with him. He raced really well in his last start, but I didn't want something to happen like it did in his Super Night elim.”

The gelded son of Sportsmaster had gone offstride at the start of his Orange & Blue elimination on Sept. 8 at Balmoral, as the public’s favorite 3-5 choice. Finishing a close fourth behind third-place finisher Jolly Lester was the Jerry Dudzik-trained 12-1 longshot Ricks Big G, a Cole Muffler gelding.

“We're really happy to have made the final with him,” said driver Dean Magee. “I think this start may have helped him to break loose a little bit because I don’t think he’s every gone this kind of mile before. He’s still pretty green, but it was a nice effort for him.”