Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

$161,500 Cleveland Classic Saturday

August 17, 2005

Jo Pa's Shark & Gryffindor vie at Northfield Park
Two three-year-old pacers coming off record performances will be among those competing Saturday night in the $200,000 Cleveland Classic at Northfield Park in Ohio.

Jo Pa’s Shark, trained by Jim Campbell and driven by George Brennan, paced the fastest mile in New Jersey Sire Stakes action on August 12 at Freehold Raceway, winning in 1:52.1. Gryffindor, trained by Jim Arledge Jr. and driven by Ray Fisher Jr., prepped for the Classic by setting a track record at Northfield Park, winning in 1:52. The time was the fastest ever for a three-year-old gelding on the half-mile oval.

"He raced well up there," Arledge said. "I wanted to see how he would get around a half mile track and he passed that test. If everything goes well during the week, we’ll be there Saturday night."

Gryffindor, named for Harry Potter’s "house" at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has won five of 13 races and $89,380 this year. He was second in the Matt’s Scooter and Suslow finals at the Meadowlands during the winter and posted two wins, both by a neck, over Jo Pa’s Shark during the Matt’s Scooter series.

"He had a good winter at the Meadowlands," Arledge said. "We wanted to get an idea of what kind of horse he was. It worked out pretty good. We gave him two months off and he’s fresh now. I think his strong point is a half-mile track because he’s a smaller horse. I think he can fit into the top 10 in this division, but there are a lot of nice three-year-olds out there and they’re coming from everywhere. You can’t battle those boys week in and week out. It really takes a toll on them because they have to be on their toes every start and they’ve only got so many fast miles in them."

Jo Pa’s Shark has won five of 19 races this year and earned $238,417.