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.

East Rutherford, NJ — World Of Rocknroll has had many new experiences over the past several weeks. On Thursday night (July 23) came the best one yet — a trip to the winner’s circle!

Rainy weather could not extinguish the World Of Rocknroll crew’s joy, myself included, after the colt paced to a neck victory over Lord Terror in 1:54.1. World Of Rocknroll enjoyed a perfect trip from driver Andy Miller, following leader Joey The Czar for three-quarters of a mile, and then split horses in the stretch to get to the wire first.

“He was good,” Miller said. “He sat in and when I asked him to go, he responded real good. He was loaded with pace. I was just waiting for a little room and being a little patient. He just took right off and was well within himself.”

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

World Of Rocknroll relaxes in the paddock before his win on Thursday.

World Of Rocknroll’s victory came against non-winners of one lifetime race, but his time was only one-fifth of a second slower than the final of the New Jersey Sire Stakes for 2-year-old male pacers. Last week, starting from post nine, World Of Rocknroll finished third.

“The first time up here he had the outside post and tonight it’s raining and there is a lot of glare on the track. It’s another new experience,” said Tony Alagna, the second trainer for the Erv Miller Stable and one of the colt’s owners. “He handled it well. I like the fact he left out of there again and sat in the pocket real nice. When horses came, he didn’t get too aggressive; he was real quiet sitting behind (Joey The Czar). When he was able to come out in the stretch and go between horses he handled that like a seasoned horse.”

Last week, World Of Rocknroll struggled a bit in the turns. A shoe change on his right front foot seemed to help last night.

“(The shoe) picks up the foot off the ground a little bit, and also when the horse is in the air he doesn’t get as high in the air,” Alagna said. “It keeps him out of the air and he hits the ground a little easier.

“These (kinds of horses) are not made overnight,” he added, crediting the work of the entire stable, including caretaker Henry Cano. “We put a lot of time into it.”

Speaking of the crew, owners John Fodera and Deo Volente Farm’s Mike Gulotta and Otis Ray were among the happy celebrants in the winner’s circle. Also in the ownership group is Erv Miller, Fidencio Cervantez, Heidi Miller and Mystical Marker Farms.

“It was a tremendous win for us,” Fodera said. “I think the horse was schooled very well all along. The progression has been very good. To start in non-winners of one and educate a horse, I think, is a great thing for an owner to appreciate when the trainers and driver treat him that way.”

In three weeks, eliminations for the $350,000 Woodrow Wilson Pace will be held at the Meadowlands. World Of Rocknroll is eligible, but at this point Alagna is uncertain about the colt’s future.

“He’s gone a couple weeks in a row, so we may skip a week with him,” Alagna said. “We’ll look at the schedule and see what we’ve got. We’re still undecided about whether we’ll go to the Wilson. He’s still a little green. He’s got plenty of time and he’s got plenty of dances on his card. And we want to have a good 3-year-old as well, so we’re going to try to space out his starts and do the right thing by the horse. We’ll play it as he tells us.”

For now, we can bask in the glow of having a winner. It’s a great feeling that a little more than 26 months after I had my picture taken with the then-newborn colt, we got our picture taken again.

“He handled that well, too,” Alagna said with a laugh about the scene in the winner’s circle. “I hope he gets used to it.”

I could, and know a group of people that feel the same way.