by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — For Jason Bartlett and Venus Delight, the second tier may be first rate when it comes to Saturday’s $281,250 Breeders Crown Mare Pace at the Meadowlands.

Venus Delight will start the Breeders Crown from post No. 11, behind Camille in post one, which her driver feels pretty good about.

“It’s a great spot for her,” Bartlett said. “If we can get into a good spot early, don’t get too far back, we could be all right. She loves coming off a helmet, she loves chasing horses down. This is actually a good spot for her.

“You’re obviously trailing at the start. It would be great if we could put our nose on the gate, but you’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt. This is a good spot, you get to follow the (number) one and Camille has decent speed.”

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Jason Bartlett has driven 5,494 winners in his career to earnings of $61.55 million.

When the gate opens, Bartlett will again play the cards he is dealt.

“I’m going to have to drive the race how it unfolds early, because there’s not much I can do early,” he said. “I’ve kind of got to watch what everybody else does and then go from there.”

Bartlett’s patient strategy, which he has honed over the years after being an overly-aggressive young driver, has paid off this year as he is once again the leading driver at Yonkers.

A former college basketball player, Bartlett was the leading driver at Yonkers from 2008-10. In the ensuing years, Brian Sears and George Brennan arrived from the Meadowlands, which made things a lot more competitive.

“When George and Brian came over, you’re talking about two of the best drivers in the country,” Bartlett said. “They took a lot of work, but driving against those guys you learn how to drive with them and it helps you out. You can’t make too many mistakes or they’ll totally take advantage of it. Driving with them has got to make you better.”

Last year Bartlett notched his 5,000th career win and finished third behind the duo at Yonkers. This season he has his most wins (491) since 2010 and purses of $7.6 million. He is ninth in wins nationally and seventh in purses.

“This year has been great, but for a lot of it I have to thank the trainers and the owners,” Bartlett said. “I had some good stables, everybody seems to give me the opportunity. The trainers have been the biggest part of the success and the owners have given me the biggest opportunities.”

Sean Hamrock photo

Venus Delight (No. 7) has posted seven wins in 2014 and earnings of $154,990.

Included in that group is trainer P.J. Fraley and Bamond Racing, who gave Bartlett the chance with Venus Delight, a 4-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight-Venus Killean. She is 20-1 on the morning line for the Breeders Crown.

“I just want to thank P.J. and Jeff Bamond for giving me the chance,” Bartlett said. “I drove her as a 3-year-old last year around the New York Sires Stakes. When they bought her earlier in the year, they asked me about her. I’ve always liked the mare. She’s always finishing the mile, so I thought they had a good horse there when they bought her. I endorsed her.

“She seems to have no bottom to her. She acts kind of green a lot. She didn’t race much as a 2-year-old, she still acts that way as a 4-year-old. She’s still learning, too, to tell you the truth.”

The two will learn together what it’s like to drive in a Breeders Crown, as this is the first trip for both. They have an experienced Breeders Crown field to contend with, including Anndrovette, a three-time defending Dan Patch Award winner for best older mare and a two-time Breeders Crown winner; and Shelliscape, who won last year’s Breeders Crown. Bamond Racing owns Shelliscape and co-owns Anndrovette. The connections paid $31,250 to supplement Venus Delight into the Breeders Crown.

“This is such a great opportunity, obviously, to be a part of this big night and hopefully all goes well,” said Bartlett, who had a three-win night at the Meadowlands over the summer. “Obviously you like to be on the biggest stage with the best horses and best drivers on a given night. As a driver or as any athlete, you try to better yourself and try to be the best.

“This is a big night and hopefully I can be a big part of it. The mare is really good. Hopefully you get a little luck, get some cover, and can be in the right flow.”

One thing is certain. If Venus Delight does win, the ending will be tense.

“She doesn’t win by a lot, but that’s just her,” Bartlett said. “She makes it interesting that’s for sure. She’s not going to run off by five (lengths), that’s not her style.”

As long as she has a winning style, Jason won’t complain.

* * *

Mike Simons is going with a Suit And Tie for his first drive in a Breeders Crown final.

Simons, who got his first driving win in 1983 and has won 3,272 times in his career, made his first appearance in the Breeders Crown last weekend and guided Suit And Tie to a third-place finish in his elimination for Saturday’s $500,000 Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male trotters.

World Wide Racing Photos

Mike Simons will pilot Suit And Tie in the $500,000 Breeders Crown freshman male trot final on Saturday.

Suit And Tie will start from post four and is 30-1 on the morning line, but it matters not to the 53-year-old Simons.

“It’s quite a thrill,” said Simons, who joins drivers Jason Bartlett, Ake Svanstedt, Tyler Smith and Trace Tetrick in appearing in the Breeders Crown for the first time. “I mean, really, I wasn’t going to say it’s been my goal at the beginning of the year. But the opportunity came up and I was able to take advantage.”

Simons is an interesting case, as he is a driver who hails from Lexington, Ky., but does not come from a horse racing family.

He actually began working in the kitchen of a local track at age 15, and the man who ran the kitchen allowed him to work in the barn cleaning equipment and cooling out horses on the weekend. His first races were in a junior drivers’ tournament for teenagers at The Red Mile.

Simons caught the bug from there, got a four-year education working under Billy Haughton and arrived at Brandywine Raceway in Pennsylvania in 1988. When Brandywine closed, Simons headed to Pocono Downs, where he has been a staple for more than two decades.

He is partners with Gail Wrubel. The two own and train approximately 18 horses, with four of them being in the Poconos and 14 in Montague, N.J.

Simons is enjoying one of the best campaigns of his career this year, with 212 wins and $2.58 million in purses.

“I’ve had a good year,” he said. “The only one better was about five or six years ago. This may not rank up there with the big guys, with their purse structure. I’m not in all those big races they’re in, but I’m doing all right.”

This is the biggest purse Simons has ever raced for, but he has had some success at the Meadowlands in the past. He will always remember the special feeling he got in his first summer race at the Big M.

“I used to always race at the Meadowlands in the winter,” he said. “A guy asked me to drive a trotter in the open in the middle of the summer. I was used to racing out of the back paddock — this was probably 15 years ago — and I remember coming up the steps to the summer paddock and walking there with all the lights and so many people and how exciting that was.

“I’ll never forget that feeling. It must have been the same feeling a rookie gets on his first trip to Yankee Stadium.”

He will be competing against a lot of those guys Saturday and Simons feels trainer John Butenschoen has Suit And Tie ready to go. The colt, owned by William Wiswell and M And L of Delaware Inc., has one win in 16 races this season, but a total of nine on-the-board finishes.

“He’s overcome his immaturity and in the last couple starts he’s really just been perfect mannered and everything,” Simons said. “He turned right into a real easy horse to drive.

“He’s very versatile. Generally he likes to step off the gate a little bit and get up there, but he can come from behind.”

Jimmy Takter’s Pinkman is the 2-1 morning line favorite and is one of five Takter-trained horses in the final. What will it take for Suit And Tie to beat the odds?

“Pretty much get good position and hope things open for me in the stretch,” Simons said. “The fact that Jimmy Takters’s got five in there, I don’t know what’s going to go on in there. He does an amazing job.”

Simons was quick to laud his own guy, though.

“A couple months ago John started bringing the term ‘Breeders Crown’ up for a couple of our horses,” Simons said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity and I really appreciate John and all he’s done for me. I’m excited to be able to compete in it.”