by Dean A. Hoffman

Dean Hoffman

Columbus, OH — He’s got the harness world agog with his ability. He can make very, very good horses look ordinary. And he does it seemingly without turning a hair, without taking a deep breath.

Is this harness racing’s next wonder horse? Many folks say yes. Time will tell.

His name is Somebeachsomewhere and his feats are so great that he gets first-place ranking in the Top 10 Poll over Deweycheatumnhowe, who has a longer unbeaten streak.

Somebeachsomewhere comes into the Meadowlands Pace looking like the Paul Bunyan of pacing, ready to chop down every obstacle in his path.

He’s got one asset that great horses normally have: When he gets to the front, he’s so intimidating that few drivers want to transform themselves into kamikaze pilots and take a run at him. So he can often back down the middle fractions a bit and then simply sprint away from his pursuers with absolute disdain.

That pretty much describes his Meadowlands Pace elim. He got to the front and only Ron Pierce came to call on the outside. Somebeachsomewhere shrugged off Art Official, a darn good colt and recent winner of the Hoosier Cup, easily and paced his final quarter in :26.2.

Lisa photo

Somebeachsomewhere won his Meadowlands Pace elimination in 1:48.3, with a final quarter of :26.2.

The timer read 1:48.3 and Somebeachsomewhere crossed the wire with the effortless aplomb of a horse finishing a 2:12 training mile.

I must admit that one of the most appealing aspects of Somebeachsomewhere is that he’s owned in Nova Scotia, one of my favorite places in the world. Believe me, I’m not on the take from any Maritime travel bureaus, but I’ll tell you that I love the entire Maritime area of Canada. If you enjoy harness racing, chances are that you would love it, too. They take their harness racing real seriously there. It’s part of the culture.

In fact, trainer Brent MacGrath will always have a special place in my heart because he bailed me out on a trip to the Maritimes 15 years ago. In 1993, I was fortunate enough to be named the honored guest at Gold Cup & Saucer during Old Home Week in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

It was just after American Winner beat Pine Chip and Toss Out in the Hambo and I flew to Nova Scotia, but hadn’t made arrangements for a rental car. I was foolishly hoping to take care of that little detail once I arrived. Ah, but there were no cars to be had when I got to Truro, Nova Scotia.

Someone said, “Let’s call Brent MacGrath to see if he can help you.”

That was one of the luckiest days of my life. I didn’t know Brent, but he was a horseman who was in the automobile business. He gave me a car to use at no charge and said, “Just bring it back when you’re done.”

I took that car on the ferry over to Prince Edward Island and enjoyed the Old Home Week activities.

I saw Brent at the HTA “Night of Champions” banquet in St. Petersburg, Florida last February. He was there along with his partners to pick up the Nova bronze for Somebeachsomewhere.

How good is SBSW? Well, it’s a bit premature to say he’s one of the all time greats. The hyperbole and pressure that go with such statements are coming too soon. Ten starts isn’t enough for me to buy into that claim yet, but he sure could be headed in that direction. Time will tell.

Some people say that he’s got to demonstrate half-mile track ability or go heats to join the roster of past champions, but I’m not so sure the old standards of greatness apply. Racing has changed. Donato Hanover never raced on anything smaller than a seven-eighths-mile track and it didn’t stop him from being Horse of the Year in 2007.

SBSW might, in fact, skip the Jug and the other Triple Crown events, but if he bags the Meadowlands Pace and Breeders Crown, that might not affect his standing in the sport. Sure, Niatross raced at all sorts of half-mile tracks in his career, but the sport was different then.

While paying tribute to this champion pacer, let me again encourage readers to visit the Atlantic provinces of Canada. I’m most familiar with Nova Scotia and PEI and always enjoyed visiting them for races or meetings in the past. Those people know how to enjoy harness.

They also know how to party and I realized long ago I’m just a claimer compared to the Maritime party animal free-for-allers. I once, however, spent a memorable evening downing my share of Schooner beer and eating mussels in the Maritimes, and I have to say that I love most Maritimers.

Who knows where the SBSW Express will go in the remainder of 2008? It’s been a great ride for MacGrath and his partners and it’s certainly not over yet. I’m going to enjoy watching this one play out and hope that good things continue to happen to good people.