by Kim French, USTA Internet News Editor

Kim French

Columbus, OH — He is a bit dismayed a family engagement will prohibit his presence at Mohawk Racetrack this Saturday (June 4), but Howard Taylor, as on most occasions has a plan to ensure he will not miss a moment of all four of his horses that will be competing on that evening’s card.

“I have Crescent Fashion and Honor And Serve in the Graduate,” he said. “Control The Moment’s first start of the year will be in a division of the Somebeachsomewhere and Shamballa in the Preferred Pace. I made my wife aware of the fact I wanted to be there, but she forgot and it is a special thing her daughter would like to do for her to celebrate Mother’s Day belatedly since we were out of town for the holiday. Believe me, I’ll be there for any other night like this the rest of the year and I’ll be glued to my television or phone wherever we are. I guarantee I’ll be watching.”

Crescent Fashion and Honor And Serve are second up on the program in the C$75,000 division for trotters. Both regally-bred 4-year-olds hail from the Ake Svanstedt stable and begin their trips from the rail (Crescent Fashion) and post position four (Honor And Serve). Each horse enters this contest, which is the fifth race, off powerful performances in the first round of the series.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Crescent Fashion has earned $341,475 from 19 career starts.

A son of Muscle Hill and 2010 Kentucky Filly Futurity victress Fashion Feline, Crescent Fashion out-finished Pinkman in the shadow of the wire at the Meadowlands in a Graduate contest on May 21, following a trip where he received no cover, to gain the place spot ahead of the world champion but behind the upset winner Maestro Blue Chip.

Co-owned by Taylor, Order By Stable and Johan VonDerLancken, the colt was limited to only three trips to the post as a 2-year-old, but began to reward the faith of his conditioner by finishing third in the $100,000 Colonial Trot Consolation, third in a $109,500 division of the Bluegrass Stake, second in the $527,000 Kentucky Futurity, fifth in the $500,000 Breeders Crown and second in the $243,550 Matron Stake to end his season.

Crescent Fashion possesses a resume of 19-5-4-2, has earned $341,475 and from two miles this season is 2-1-1. His first win of 2016 was on May 10 at Yonkers Raceway when he set the added-distance track record for a 1-1/4 mile race (2:25.4).

Although he has primarily been in rein to Svanstedt, the colt receives the services of Scott Zeron for his appearance in Canada and despite his record, as well as obvious progression, is dismissed at odds of 10-1 on the morning line.

“I thought Ake was crazy when he put this colt in the Futurity last year,” Taylor said. “We paid hardly anything for him ($12,500) and he had not done anything to prove himself. I thought it was a waste of an entry fee, but like I said last year, this horse shocked me more than any horse I have ever owned. I thought he would back up in the stretch and he just kept coming.

“Every race since then he has just continued to improve. Ake always thought highly of him and he has made a believer out of me. I think he is going to develop into one of the top older trotters by the end of the year.”

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Honor And Serve enters the Graduate with $295,304 banked in 24 lifetime starts.

Honor And Serve is a more recent addition to the Svanstedt barn, as he was purchased at the 2015 Standardbred Horse Sale by Taylor, Order By Stable and Taylor’s mother Judith. The son of former stars Donato Hanover and Honorable Daughter was sold as a yearling for $75,000 to Fashion Farms, who also bred Crescent Fashion.

Trained by Jim Campbell as a 2- and 3-year-old, Honor And Serve acquitted himself admirably as he collected $289,304 from 23 starts with a career slate of 5-4-3. As a freshman he was second in the $260,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final and in a $79,400 division of the Bluegrass Stake behind O’Brien Award winner Habitat.

In 2015, Honor And Serve was fourth in the $350,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final, third in a $110,500 division of the Bluegrass Stake and ended his season with a seventh in the Kentucky Futurity.

Already owning Crescent Fashion and this horse’s pedigree were certainly catalysts for Taylor acquiring this colt.

“Ake approached me at Harrisburg and said they were buying Honor And Serve and did I want in,” he said. “They were really high on the horse and after what they did with the other one I couldn’t say no. My mom had always wanted to own a nice horse, so I told her this one would probably be it, so she is in partnership as well.”

In what was his first time leaving the gate this year, Honor And Serve was third behind Crazshana and Canepa Hanover two weeks ago (May 21) in the Graduate. Driven by Svanstedt, the colt worked out a first over trip like his stablemate and raced quite well in a start he should only improve upon.

“I was tickled with both their races,” Taylor said. “For Crescent Fashion to come home ahead of Pinkman and for Honor And Serve to perform that nicely in his first start this year was terrific. Ake has been talking about Honor And Serve all winter. He feels he is going to be an elite trotter as he matures and he calls him his Elitlopp horse. He does not think Crescent Fashion is a slouch, but he really is high on this horse and since he proved me wrong before, in addition to him being the Ron Burke of Sweden, I have to take his word for it.

“His record from Sweden does not come from buying yearlings, but with young horses that are racing. He improves them. They have a sand track they run the horses around all day as part of their training regimen. It’s to build up the muscles behind and from what I’ve seen I think it definitely works. It has for these two horses.”

The two pacing members of Taylor’s Saturday evening (June 4) contingency, O’Brien Award winner Control The Moment (C$75,000 second division of the Somebeachsomewhere, 5-2) and the classy Shamballa (C$34,000 Preferred Pace, fourth race, 5-2) also have high hopes assigned to what they accomplish not only this weekend, but for the rest of 2016.

“I just talked to (trainer) Brad (Maxwell) the other day and he is very anxious for the season to start for Control The Moment,” Taylor said. “He said he couldn’t catch him in the paddock the other day and he has wintered really well. I wish I could see him in person, but I will be in Canada for his other starts there before he comes here for the Meadowlands Pace and to Pocono.”

“As for Shamballa, I started watching him from a video on Horse Plop of all places. I’m probably one of the few people to admit that I read it, but they posted a race where he was just incredible and I started to follow him. When Rick Zeron called over the winter and asked me if I wanted to buy 25 percent of him of course I said yes. I have owned horses with Rick before and I think this is a very nice horse. In fact, he just won his last race (May 21) in 1:48.1 by six lengths after cutting the mile.”

Obviously Control The Moment, who is early favorite for the North America Cup (June 18), has a seasonal campaign that has been carefully mapped out for him and Shamballa will remain in his current conditions.

Despite the lack of public acknowledgment about Crescent Fashion’s ability and Honor And Serve’s talent still not fully revealed, their year has been just as meticulously planned as Taylor’s other two horses.

“I really like to think of Crescent Fashion as the Rodney Dangerfield of 4-year-old trotters right now,” Taylor said. “You would think from his last race, having the rail and Scott Zeron driving him he would not be 10-1 on the morning line. But that’s all right, we still believe he and Honor And Serve will have great years. They are both staked to everything like the Cutler, Cashman, Hambletonian Maturity, the Maple Leaf Trot, Lexington, the Breeders Crown and the TVG at the end of the year. We will race them with an eye on preparing both of them for the Elitlopp over the winter.

“If Ake says they are good enough to go and he thinks Honor And Serve will develop into a horse that can win it, who I am to say no? I’m not going to argue with that.”