by David Mattia, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Plainfield, NJ — On Saturday night (July 12) Hawthorne Racecourse will host the $90,000 Dygert Memorial Trot, and Hoosier Cadillac, one of the horses slated to race in that event, is lightly raced but not to be taken lightly.

In 22 starts, this 6-year-old son of Ripken’s Victory-Hoosier Delcrown has won 14 times and earned $108,034. His career best of 1:54.4s puts him pretty high on the Midwestern shelf where he has done all of his racing.

photo courtesy of Sally Gilbert

Sally and Mel Gilbert will send Hoosier Cadillac into the Dygert Memorial Trot on Saturday.

Owned by Mel Gilbert and trained by his wife Sally Gilbert, Hoosier Cadillac is a horse who races at the leisure of the Gilberts, and so far their slow-paced plan for success has worked out well for the big horse who was a “no bid” reject at an Indiana yearling sale.

“I bought him privately as a yearling,” said Mel Gilbert. “I bought him because he was out of a full sister to a mare that I had. The breeder had run him through a sale and they didn’t get a bid on him. He looked like he was made out of spare parts so they took him home and I bought him off the farm.

“His mother (Hoosier Delcrown) is a full sister to Hoosier Jewel (1:55.1s, $177,029). That’s a mare that I bought off an Amishman. I started her about 50 times and she made about 180,000 — that’s why I bought him.

“He was pretty immature for a while. We raced him once at 3 and he won, then he raced five times at 4 and he won three of them, but he never had physical problem other than immaturity; we were just waiting for him to grow up.

“Last year we raced him ten times and he grew another inch over the winter, so this year we think he’s finally full-sized and we probably won’t race him a lot. We don’t race them until their guts fall out.”

Before He Cheats, one of North America’s toughest trotters with $153,186 already made this year looks to be the one to beat in the Dygert Memorial, but Hoosier Cadillac is the kind of gritty horse that just might give him a stiff challenge. He’s definitely got size going for him and he’s about as sharp as he can be heading into the race.

“He’s about 16.3 hands and he’s big gaited,” boasted Gilbert. “We train him — and people won’t believe this — we train him all winter and he never has an overcheck and he never has a bit in his mouth. He races in a pair of polo wraps and we do put a bit in his mouth when he races and we use a noseband so that mimics the kind of bridle we train him with. He never does anything wrong. He’s just a big pussycat.”

Linscott Photography

Hoosier Cadillac was a 1:55.3 winner this past Saturday in the $23,000 Invitational Trot at Hoosier Park.

Hoosier Cadillac began his career with a win as a 3-year-old at an Indiana Fair. With Sally Gilbert in the bike he covered the mile over the good track in 2:17.4. That victory rewarded him with 50 percent of the $380 purse and the rest of the year off.

He returned as a 4-year-old in 2006 and promptly won his first qualifier, but it would be several months before he showed that he was anything more than that horse made of spare parts who failed to get a bid at a yearling sale.

“We always knew he had talent but we didn’t realize how fast he could go,” said Gilbert. “He showed talent at 3 but when he was 4 we took him over to Indiana Downs and he won four starts (including a qualifier) by about 50 overall lengths. That’s when we knew we had something.”

Mel and Sally Gilbert work together to keep Hoosier Cadillac sharp for the few times a year he graces the track with his presence, and regardless of what happens Saturday night, the plan remains pretty much the same.

“We work together but Sally is the listed trainer,” said Mel Gilbert. “I do the shoeing and she does the driving and we both do the brainwork and the way we figure it is that Indiana came in with the slots this year and we won’t race him much this year either. I’m figuring out that the sire stakes in Indiana will go for $200,000-$300,000 with the new money so I don’t want to hurt him this year and not have something next year. I want him as good next year as I have him now.”

Mel Gilbert is pretty confident about his colt’s chances in the Dygert, but he realizes that Before He Cheats is one tough hombre.

“He (Before He Cheats) looks like he’s the best, but you never know. Lots of things can happen. If my horse is sharp he can trot in 1:53 so I think that makes him pretty competitive.”

It will be interesting to watch this race from Hawthorne Racecourse, and for any horse owners looking to get into the yearling game, one might want to check out the ones made out of spare parts.