by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Erv Miller breathed a sigh of relief after watching Manofmanymissions win his division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial by 6-1/4 lengths in 1:52.1 on July 16 at Meadowlands Racetrack.

Next mission: The Hambletonian.

Manofmanymissions entered the Dancer off an eighth-place finish in the 3-year-old Open at the Meadowlands on July 1. The colt, which earlier this year was hampered by an abscess in his left front foot, went off stride on the final turn as driver Andy Miller moved first over from fourth place.

“I think I’ve got him back,” Erv Miller said. “It was a sigh of relief. He had an abscess when he came up from Florida, after the first qualifier (May 19) it came out, and everything got out of kilter. Prior to that, you could tell something was wrong with him, but we just couldn’t find it. We’ve been doing some work with him, trying some different shoeing combinations, and I think he’s himself again.”

Lisa photo

Manofmanymissions was a 1:52.1 winner in his Stanley Dancer Memorial division on July 16.

Last year, Manofmanymissions won four of six races and earned $432,900. His wins included the Breeders Crown, in a world-record 1:53.2 mile, and a division of the International Stallion Stakes. This year, the colt has won two of four races and earned $99,500 for owners Manofmanymissions Stable, Mystical Marker Farms and Maurizio Biasuzzi Stable.

“He trained like his old self heading into (the Dancer), so I thought he was OK,” Erv Miller said. “You have a pretty good idea, but until they go to the highest speed, you wonder sometimes.

“I feel pretty good about the way everything is now. Knock on wood.”

Manofmanymissions’ Dancer division was a tough test. His split included Beal winner Dejarmbro, last year’s divisional champion Pastor Stephen, as well as stakes-winners Broad Bahn, Charlie De Vie, Live Jazz, and Luckycharm Hanover.

“The way it looked, it could have been close to a Hambletonian final,” Andy Miller said. “He was good. It was a very good mile. He’s got a lot of speed and covers a lot of ground. When he’s on his game, he does it very easily.”

In the Dancer, Manofmanymissions raced on the outside for the entire mile. He was eighth after the first quarter-mile and fourth at the halfway point. He got within a half-length of leader Dejarmbro at the three-quarters and came home in :27.4.

“He was out the whole way, but that’s him,” Andy Miller said. “He can go a long ways and he pretty much did all of it on his own.”

Andy Miller, like his brother, was happy with the performance as Manofmanymissions gets ready for the Hambletonian eliminations on July 30 at the Meadowlands. The $1.5 million final is August 6.

“I feel very good after Saturday’s performance,” Andy Miller said. “It gives us something to look forward to the next couple weeks.”