by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner, media relations manager for Harness Racing Communications, spent six weeks in 2007 following foaling activity at Perretti Farms in central New Jersey. On May 12, 2007 he was present for the birth of a pacing colt out of Worldly Beauty, by Rocknroll Hanover (see related articles at bottom of page). On July 16, 2009 the colt made his pari-mutuel debut at the Meadowlands Racetrack as part of the Erv Miller Stable.

Freehold, NJ — So, World Of Rocknroll finished sixth in a division of the Niatross at the Meadowlands on August 7, and now he is going to try his luck in Saturday’s Woodrow Wilson elims? What in the world of rock ‘n’ roll is the reasoning?

Conceivably, that might be what some are thinking. Yet, as Tony Alagna explained, it is not a leap.

First, the connections were not disappointed with World Of Rocknroll’s performance in the Niatross. He was sixth, but beaten only 3-1/2 lengths. He paced his final quarter in :26.2 and was timed in 1:52.1, which was a nice drop from his 1:54.1 win on July 23. He also was in the toughest Niatross division; the winning times for the other two were 1:52.3 and 1:53.2.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

World Of Rocknroll will start in Saturday’s Woodrow Wilson eliminations at the Meadowlands.

“We were happy with the way he raced, with it being his third lifetime start,” said Alagna, who is the second trainer for the Erv Miller Stable and is among the colt’s owners. “He came out of the Niatross as fresh as any race so far. I’m confident we can race the horse a little bit and we’re not overdoing it.”

Next, after reviewing the eligibles for the $350,000 Woodrow Wilson, the connections felt comfortable putting World Of Rocknroll in the race. Of the 20 fastest 2-year-old male pacers so far this year, only three — Lord Terror, Shoobee’s Place and Relaxed Fit — were nominated. Lord Terror won World Of Rocknroll’s Niatross division, but World Of Rocknroll won the previous meeting between the two colts.

“The horse has got three starts in him now, so it’s not like he’s not ready to go to the next level,” Alagna said. “The difference between him being a winner in the Niatross and being sixth was the division he came into. We’re going to take a shot.”

Another consideration was World Of Rocknroll’s schedule. The eliminations for the million-dollar Metro Pace are August 29, so the colt — after taking a week off — needs to race as the connections prepare to head to Canada at the end of the month.

“We want to take him to the Metro. We need to race the horse, regardless of what it’s called,” Alagna said. “Just because it’s the Woodrow Wilson is a coincidence.

“You can make all the decisions and plans on paper that you want, but the horse has to tell you what he’s ready for. If we didn’t think he was ready to race in it, we wouldn’t race him. We have to give him a shot to get to the next level. The only way to do it is to race the horse.”

Finally, World Of Rocknroll is feeling good. When I visited him earlier this week, he came to the stall door and would playfully try to bite. He had never acted this way before in my presence.

“That’s the competitive nature. He’s not standing with his head in the corner; he’s looking for more,” Alagna said. “Horses realize what it’s all about and they start to gain that competitive edge. They can’t gain that edge training as much as they can in a race. There’s nothing like an actual horse race to build a horse’s confidence and get them to feel good about themselves.”

Time to find out how good.