Editor’s Note: To watch an interview with Per Engblom from the USTA’s Hambletonian Contenders series, presented by the Hambletonian Society and Winbak Farm, click here.
Hightstown, NJ – For Denise Dennis and her husband, trainer Jeff Edwards, the journey to Saturday’s (Aug. 8) $1 million Grade 1 Winning Key Farm Hambletonian began 25 years ago with a cantankerous filly whose “naughty” behavior spoiled her chances for success on the racetrack but not her future impact as a broodmare.
Captain Naughty, bred and owned by Dennis, will compete in America’s Trotting Classic for 3-year-olds Saturday at the Meadowlands. The colt hails from the family of Miss Naughty Pine, a daughter of Pine Chip originally named Southwind Union but renamed because of her demeanor, who was purchased by Dennis for $5,000 in 2001.
“She was so bad at the sale that they couldn’t even get her in the auction ring,” Dennis said. “And they had a big sign on her stall door that said, ‘Do Not Enter,’ she was so ornery. They asked $5,000 for her, and I said yes.
“I name all the horses out of that family with the word ‘Naughty’ because of her.”
Miss Naughty Pine raced only once before becoming a mom but quickly proved a success in her new role for Dennis and Edwards. Bred to the Indianapolis couple’s stallion Scramble Ranger, her second foal was Msnaughtybynature – a multiple Indiana Sire Stakes champion who won 22 of 26 career races and earned $642,004.
Captain Naughty’s granddam, Msnaughtybutnice, was next in line and produced the colt’s dam, Msnaughtyashill. She was a winner on the Grand Circuit for the couple and earned $156,220 in her career. Captain Naughty was her second foal, and one of just five foals in 2023 out of the couple’s small broodmare band.
“I can’t tell you how excited we are just to be in the Hambletonian with our little colt, our little homebred,” Dennis said. “Even if we don’t get a check, it’s so special. Just getting there is like a win. We wanted to be in the Hambletonian if there was any possible way, but of course you’re thinking that’s just a dream.”
Captain Naughty, a son of Captain Corey, has four wins and three second-place finishes in 15 career races, with $78,354 in earnings. Last year, he captured the Kentucky Goldenrod Series championship in 1:53.3 (which tied for the 15th fastest mile among 2-year-old male trotters) and finished fourth in a division of the Grade 3 International Stallion Stakes. The race was won by another Hambletonian finalist, American Power.
This year, Captain Naughty had two seconds from his first five starts, at which point Edwards decided the horse needed a change of scenery.
“He just wasn’t up to par here this year,” Dennis said. “Jeff said we needed to get another set of eyes on him because he was special and he was a good 2-year-old. Jeff thought he was special from the beginning. Last year, he just wanted to go too much the first three-quarters of the race and then wouldn’t have anything coming home, but he’s always had the speed. Jeff thought someone on the East Coast might be able to figure him out.”
In mid-July, Edwards turned to New Jersey-based trainer Per Engblom.
“He called Per and said, ‘I know you don’t know me, but would you train this homebred of ours for the next couple weeks and try to get him in the Hambletonian?’ Per must have thought we were nuts,” Dennis said with a laugh.
Engblom qualified Captain Naughty on July 24 at the Meadowlands, where the colt won in a career-best 1:52. All parties agreed, it was on to the Hambletonian.
In his elimination this past weekend, Captain Naughty looked to be trapped in sixth coming out of the final turn, but he eventually shook loose with driver Jason Bartlett and came home in :26.4 to finish fourth, just two-lengths behind winner Apex. The race was timed in 1:50.4.
Captain Naughty will start the Hambletonian final from post 5, and with Bartlett having been committed to finalist Spencer Hanover, Brett Beckwith got the call to drive.
“These 3-year-olds (in the final) are all special horses,” Dennis said. “They’re just all so good. We just feel so lucky and blessed that Per helped us out and we’re there.”
Dennis, Edwards and family and friends will be at the Meadowlands to watch Captain Naughty in the final. Edwards will travel by car from Indianapolis because of a heart condition that requires him to wear a battery operated left ventricle assist device (LVAD) that helps pump blood through the body.
“But he still gets out there and jogs and trains horses, because that’s his whole life,” said Dennis, who for 43 years has operated a business that makes costumes and uniforms for high school marching bands and school choirs that are distributed nationally. “He doesn’t care about anything but horses. He grew up doing it and he absolutely loves it.
“We’re just some small stable from Indiana, and it’s usually all the big trainers that get into these races. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Hopefully, we have some luck, but no matter what, we made it.”