Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Crazed--a trotting millionaire--will probably best be remembered as being the first 3-year-old trotter to beat Deweycheatumnhowe, in the elimination of the Canadian Trotting Classic on September 6, 2008 at Woodbine.

Raced only five times at 2, Crazed did race in the Breeders Crown freshman trot, finishing fourth in his elim and a disappointing seventh in the final to Deweycheatumnhowe at The Meadowlands in November 2007.   Crazed's lone freshman victory was a maiden event at Vernon Downs, in 1:58.1.

At 3, however, Crazed blossomed into the kind of trotter that most owners and trainers can only dream about.

He took a mark of 1:52.2 in his Hambletonian elimination, by rushing to the lead shortly after the half, fending off a mild bid from Napoleon and cruising to a 2 1-4 length victory. He then finished second in the $1.5 million Hambletonian to "Dewey."

Crazed reached $1 million in earnings with a 1:54 victory in the $259,275 Matron Final on Nov. 9, 2008 at Dover. He had returned from nearly a one-month layoff to win his elim after finishing sixth and second in his Kentucky Futurity heat at the Red Mile on October 4.

His victories include the $500,000 Colonial at Harrah’s Chester in August, plus an elimination of the Canadian Trotting Classic in which he handed Deweycheatumnhowe his first career loss.

Trainer Frank Antonacci was happy to give Crazed a break at the family’s Connecticut farm after racing in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ontario, and Kentucky during an eight-week span in the fall of 2008.

"These horses have to ship around the country for a long time. It’s nice to get him back to the farm for a while and let him get back into his old routine," Antonacci said. "He really loves the farm up there. He goes through the woods and the trails and enjoys it. He got some R&R and now we’re tuning him back up. The ultimate goal has been the Breeders Crown (in late November)."

"Last year, at 2, he got started late," Antonacci explained. "I qualified him once at Lexington and then raced him once at Vernon. Then I threw him right into the Matron and Breeders Crown. He got bad posts in both of them and never had a chance in either of those two races."

"This year we tried to do it a little bit differently, let him mature on his own," Antonacci continued. "He really wasn’t seasoned like everybody else was. When you have a really dominant horse like Deweycheatumnhowe, if you try to chase him around from the beginning of the year, you’re in big trouble."

Opting for a bye in the Breeders Crown $25,000 elimination, Crazed finished fifth to the winning In Focus in the $500,000 Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Trot on November 29, 2008 at The Big M, after leaving from post ten.

Trainer Frank M. Antonacci, 24, of Somersville, Connecticut, started his first horse in 2004 but began to train full-time after graduating from Boston College in 2005 with a degree in finance and marketing. He trains 27 horses for his family’s Lindy Racing Stable and follows in the footsteps of his father, Frank J., uncle, Gerry, and grandfather, Sonny.

The Antonaccis (Lindy Racing) were involved with numerous Hambletonian winners, including Lindy's Pride (1969), Speedy Crown(1971), Probe (1989), Harmonious (1990), Victory Dream (1994), and Continentalvictory (1996). They also shared ownership in two-time Horse of the Year Moni Maker.

Crazed Career Statistics Through December 2, 2008
Year  Starts/Wins/2nds/3rds   Earnings     Record      Venue & Date of Record
2008     14       8       2      2       $1,057,793     3, 1:52.2M   M 07/26/2008
2007      5        1       0        0      $5,266           2, Q1:57.0M Lex 10/02/2007
Total   19       9       2        2      $1,063,059     3, 1:52.2M