by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Shaun Vallee hopes Midnight Lightning is ready to strike in Saturday’s (March 7) second leg of the Buddy Gilmour Series for 3-year-old male pacers at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

Midnight Lightning, trained and co-owned by Vallee, finished third in his opening-round division last weekend, beaten 3-3/4 lengths by undefeated Wiggle It Jiggleit in 1:51.2. This week, Midnight Lightning and driver Corey Callahan start from post one in the second of two $20,000 divisions.

George Teague Jr.’s Wiggle It Jiggleit and Chris Ryder’s National Seelster, who are both 3-for-3 this season, are in the first division.

The estimated $75,000 Gimour final is on March 14.

A son of Camluck out of the mare Twin B Intimate, Midnight Lightning has won one of six races this year and earned $10,920. He picked up his victory in a conditioned race at the Big M in his start prior to the Gilmour, coming home with a :26.1 final quarter in a 1:52 mile.

Midnight Lightning has won $10,920 in just six starts this year.

“Other than the weather, he’s been good,” said Vallee, who owns Midnight Lightning with DPV Racing Stable. “If I could have him a little fitter I’d be happier about it. He’s about 85 percent. He’s got a good brush and he can sustain it a long way, but I think he’ll be able to sustain it even further once he gets a little fitter.”

Midnight Lightning often has shown a burst of speed at some point in his races, but Vallee was unhappy with several of his starts earlier this season. After scoping the colt, he put Midnight Lightning on Lasix following his fourth race of the year.

“After he raced his first start, he was very good, but the next couple starts he was flat and I was a little disappointed,” Vallee said. “I put him on Lasix and he’s been a completely different horse.”

Vallee purchased Midnight Lightning for $20,000 under the name Twin B Incentive at the 2013 Standardbred Horse Sale. He is a half-brother to Twin B Tenacious, who won on the New York Sire Stakes circuit last year.

“He stood good, had a good demeanor, had a good head and neck to him,” Vallee said. “And I didn’t mind Camluck as a sire; they’re very tough.”

USTA/Ken Weingartner photos

Owners Dan Vlahakis and Shaun Vallee with their 3-year-old pacing colt Midnight Lightning.

Midnight Lightning raced only once at age 2, which was by design.

“That’s what I do with all my young horses,” Vallee said. “I bring them to the races, let them see what they’re supposed to do, and then turn them out. I give them time to mature. I never really race them as a 2-year-old.”

Dan Vlahakis, who races as DPV Racing Stable, has been an owner with Vallee and his wife Anita for nearly 25 years.

“They’re such great people,” Vlahakis said. “You couldn’t ask for a better team.”

Following the Gilmour Series, Vallee will look for other series opportunities for Midnight Lightning.

“All the way training down I believed he had it,” Vallee said. “He showed signs of being a nice horse. How nice, I wasn’t sure at the time. But I think he’ll be competitive in most of the series that he races in. He’s a very nice horse.”