Journeyman trotter is light on experience
July 31, 2010,by Jay Bergman, for the Hambletonian Society
Cranbury, NJ — RC Gallent Image enters Saturday’s Hambletonian eliminations light on racing experience, light on lifetime earnings (a critical factor in qualifying for the $1.5 million final) but high on expectations.
The $55,000 Harrisburg yearling in 2008 trained so well this past winter in Italy that his connections, Riccardo Targioni’s Scuderia S Giuliano, not only kept him eligible to the major 3-year-old stakes, but actually have now entered the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
This road less traveled to the Hambletonian began with the son of Credit Winner, a full brother to the $665,000 winner RC Royalty, spending weeks in quarantine in Maryland during May. Trainer Bjorn Noren took hold of the training chores this side of the Atlantic and thought this big, good looking horse would fit well.
RC Gallent Image’s first qualifier in June didn’t give off the impression that he’d be racing in the sport’s biggest race the first week in August. A 17 length loss and a mile timed in 2:00 didn’t sound like the beginning of any Hambletonian journey.
But on June 11 the colt found himself pitted against a few promising 3-year-olds in another qualifier. This time he tracked the pace quite well and finished a solid second to Hambo favorite Holiday Road. With Pat Berry in the bike, he trotted a mile in 1:56.3, with a respectable :28.2 final quarter.