Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

The March Of Dimes Trot-16 Years Later
November 17, 2004
By Bob "Hollywood" Heyden

It was held on November 17, 1988 at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. $600,000 was up for grabs for the worlds best trotters, but many looked at it as a grudge match between Ourassi (6/5) and Mack Lobell (3/5). Mack was 17 of 18 to that point and en route to his second straight Horse Of The Year Award here, but that failed to intimidate the best trotters from around the world.

16 Years have gone by since that fateful day. Two harness historic moments occurred in that great trotting test. EVERY one of the ten combatants went on to a million $$ career-the ONLY time that has ever happened in harness racing in North Ameria with a 10 horse field. And the composite career earnings-a never before reached or since topped $20 million !! That's right, $20,311,103 was the combined earnings of this elite grouping by the time they called it a career.

By the way, up in time by a neck was Sugarcane Hanover (G. Eggen) in 1:55.1, over Ourassi and Mack Lobell. Mack had cut the fractions 27.3, 57.1, 1:26.3. Sugarcane Hanover tracked the leaders and went by in the last steps. Napoletano got the 4th check, and the only female in the race, Scenic Regal (age 6) was 5th.

Rounding out the field was: 6th to the only 3 YO in the race No Sex Please, 7th Esotico Prad, 8th to Go Get Lost, 9th was Callit and last was Friendly Face. Mack Lobell wound up the year 19 17-0-2 $769,378. The purse distribution was $270,000 to the winners, $120,000 for 2nd, $72,000 for 3rd, $48,000 for 4th, $30,000 for 5th and $12,000 each for the final participants.

Here are the final $$ figures per horse-in order of finish-for their illustrious careers:
1st-Sugarcane Hanover $1,706,465 (NOTE-His time of 1:55.1 was 3/5ths off his Breeders Crown score from the year before)

2nd-Ourassi-The French powerhouse was a quadruple-millionaire at careers end and the oldest horse in the field at age 8-$4,010,105

3rd-Mack Lobell-the ONLY horse to win three STRAIGHT Trotting Breeders Crowns, Mack was the 70 cents on the dollar favorite. Career: $3,917,594

4th-Napoletano-$2,174,171-Remember that this powerful son of Super Bowl upset Mack Lobells' Triple Crown bid just the year before in the Ky. Futurity.

5th-Scenic Regal-$1,088,956-Tough assignment for a lady in with this group of boys, but this IS the division where the females would compete and more than hold their own in the coming decade-Continentalvictory, Moni Maker, C R Kay Suzie, Act Of Grace and several others showed the boys a thing or two.

6th-No Sex Please-$1,884,392-This HAD to be bittersweet for Ron Waples. He was one of the owners of this, the only sophomore tackling older rivals, who was sent off at 278.30-1. ( 6th) Ron was the regular driver for Sugarcane Hanover-winning the year before at the Meadowlands in the Breeders Crown.

7th-Esotico Prad-$1,517,234

8th-Go Get Lost (ridgling)-$1,197,467 (He would become-two months later-the first horse to EVER win the Su Mac Lad at the Meadowlands Back to back)

9th-Callit-$1,413,524

10th-Friendly Face-sold earlier that year for $900,000 by Kevin and Big John Lare-he was last in this field at 28-1