Hightstown, NJ – When it comes to earning paychecks, Minoan has become a horse trainer Noel Daley can bank on.
Over the course of his career, the 3-year-old male trotter has picked up money in 19 of 21 races, including 16 top-three finishes, and earned $354,942. This season, the son of Bar Hopping-Regal Woman has totaled $203,435 in purses, which ranks seventh among all sophomore male trotters.
On Saturday (Aug. 22), Minoan will look to add to his account when he faces seven rivals in the $300,000 Grade 2 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial at Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania. The gelding, who finished third in the Hambletonian Stakes (G1) on Aug. 8 at the Meadowlands, enters the Beal off a career-best-equaling 1:52.2 victory in a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes on Aug. 15 at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows.
Minoan will leave from post 3 on Saturday, with Andrew McCarthy in the sulky, and is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
“He’s a no-pressure horse,” said Daley, who owns Minoan with Patricia Stables, L.A. Express Stable, and Sjoeblom Racing. “It’s not like having a high-profile fella. There are better horses than him, but he just goes about his business and makes his money. He just gets it done.”
Minoan’s third-place finish behind Apex and Big Ranger in the $1 million Hambletonian final is an example. Daley was on the fence about entering him in America’s Trotting Classic, but after Minoan won a $33,725 division of the Tompkins-Geers Stakes a week prior to the Hambletonian eliminations, essentially covering the entrance fee, he decided to go.
Leaving from post 1 in the final, Minoan landed in third place on the first turn as Apex and Big Ranger marched forward in a :26.4 opening quarter.
“I went in there hoping he could be fourth, and he got third, so I’m more than happy with it,” Daley said. “I know he can out-leave everybody, so it certainly helped when he drew the rail. (Third at the start) is where I figured he would end up and everything just worked out. But he’s the right type of horse for it; he can put himself in a race to get a piece of it. He’s done a great job.”
Daley purchased Minoan for $35,000 at the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. Last year, he won a division of the Bluegrass Stakes (G3) in 1:52.4 at Lexington’s Red Mile and captured two preliminary divisions of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. He finished third in the PASS championship, and he also was third in a division of the International Stallion Stakes (G3).
This year, Minoan has four wins in 11 starts, with three second-place finishes and a third. All four of his victories have come in his past seven races, including two in conditioned events at half-mile MGM Yonkers Raceway.
“We put him on the half because we wanted to see how he would be, and he got around there like he was on rails,” Daley said. “So, hopefully we’ve got ourselves a good Yonkers horse for the rest of his life since he’s a gelding. He can leave (the gate) and he’s good around a half, so that’s going to make him a moneymaker in itself.”
In the Beal, Minoan will face a group that includes three other Hambletonian finalists – Magic Punk, who made a break and finished 10th; AI, who finished seventh; and Spencer Hanover, who finished sixth.
Magic Punk, who earlier this year won the Dexter Cup (G3) and finished second in the Goodtimes (G2), is the Beal’s 3-1 morning-line favorite. He will leave from post 7 with Yannick Gingras driving for trainer Åke Svanstedt. AI is 9-2 and will start from post 4 with Ronnie Wrenn Jr. driving for Ron Burke while Spencer Hanover is 5-1 and will leave from post 8 with Jason Bartlett driving for Marcus Melander.
“Some of the better ones aren’t there, but there are still some nice horses in there, for sure,” Daley said about the Beal, which is one of six graded events on Pocono’s Sun Stakes Saturday card. “We’re just opportunists with (Minoan). He’s right in that race. He’s on a little bit of a roll and puts himself in play, which is everything for him. He’s a good-feeling horse, and he’s easy to do anything with. Nothing seems to bother him.”
Racing begins at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) for Sun Stakes Saturday at Pocono Downs. The Beal Memorial is race 13 on the 14-race card that also features the $300,000 Max C. Hempt Memorial (G2) for 3-year-old male pacers, $250,000 Delmonica Hanover (G1) for 3-year-old female trotters, and $250,000 James M. Lynch Memorial (G1) for 3-year-old female pacers.
Free program pages are available at the Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association website.
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