Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Artistic Fella capped off a near-perfect season for owner Joseph Alborano of New Jersey by capturing the $500,000 Breeders Crown Open Pace in 1:49.2 on Saturday night, Sept. 1, 2007 at Mohawk Raceway in Canada. The 4-year-old son of Pacific Fella took the lead going to the quarter and never relinquished it, holding off the game Mr. Big by half a length and giving him his 20th career victory.

“It was a very tight finish, but I’m sure glad we got there first,” his driver, Tim Tetrick said in the winner's circle. “It was good for this horse to go back and race in some Opens and get his confidence level back up. It’s obviously paid off for him, because he was razor sharp tonight. This horse was very strong throughout the mile and I kept waiting and waiting for a bunch of horses to come at him, but that never really happened until right at the end, when we had to battle Mister Big (David Miller). It was agreat race.”

Artistic Fella left hard from post eight, cleared Took Hanover and Boulder Creek to a :26 first quarter. He led the field through a :54.3 half and a 1:22.2 third quarter, pacing strongly throughout. Miller pulled Mister Big at the three-quarters and began to challenge Artistic Fella in a dramatic photo finish.

The win pushed Artistic Fella’s career earnings to over $1.6 million for owner Joseph Alborano and trainer Steve Elliott.  Alborano said that Artistic Fella had been suffering from “some mechanical problems” that trainer Steve Elliott had managed to alleviate.

“He had bled a little and we had to put him on Lasix,” Albarano said. “The problem is that this horse needs to have lots of fluids and electrolytes like Lis Mara. The Lasix was negating what we were putting into his system. But Steve & I don’t sleep when we have a problem like that
and the vet came up with a solution that has worked well.”

Alborano said he was extremely pleased with Artistic Fella’s two big victories prior to his Breeders Crown win.

“He seems to be back to his old self and he has never been sounder. This horse has a ton of heart and that is one thing you never know about when it comes up for sale. They don’t show you heart on the catalog. But I think he is extremely sharp right now. I honestly would rther have my horse in this situation that any other horse in the race. That is how confident I am in Artistic Fella and Steve coming into this race.”

Alborano got into horse ownership in 2001. He works as a business consultant, primarily mortgages. His wife, Jennifer, picked out Artistic Fella as a yearling. Alborano has about 40 horses and eight dogs on his farm in New Egypt. He often takes care of injured animals.

This has been an unbelievable experience, I still believe that I am dreaming,” Albarano said. “People thought I was a nut job when I was buying him now think I’m some kind of guru. Some called me an idiot and now people think that I’m a genius, all because of Artistic Fella."

Tetrick, 25, picked up the drive on Artistic Fella when his regular pilot Cat Manzi stayed south to compete in [and win] the Yonkers Trot.

Artistic Fella's Career Statistics as of September 3, 2007
Year     Starts/Wins/2nds/3rds     Earnings     Record     Date/Track of Record
2007      16        7       2      3         $674,640       4, 1:48.4S      MOH 06/09/2007
2006       18     11       1     0         $941,385      3, 1:48.4M      M 07/08/2006
2005         4       3       0      0        $51,250         2, 1:53.3M      M 07/21/2005
Total      38        21      3      3         $1,667,275     4, 1:48.4S