by Dean A. Hoffman

In the Hambletonian/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll released yesterday, both Passionate Glide and Glidemaster received 15 first place votes.

Overall, however, Passionate Glide received more points, and that allowed her to maintain her ranking as the number one horse in harness racing for 2006 as the season nears its conclusion.

Members of the U.S. Harness Writers’ Association will soon be receiving ballots asking them to select the top horses in each age, gait, and sex division. They will also be asked to name the top trotter of the year and the top pacer of the year, and from those two they must vote for Horse of the Year.

It’s likely that the voting will come down to a duel between the daughter and the son of Yankee Glide. The only other horses to receive first place votes in the poll are the aged pacing star Lis Mara and the standout sophomore trotter Majestic Son. Majestic Son beat Glidemaster in three major tests in 2006 — Breeders Crown, Canadian Trotting Classic, and Goodtimes — but did not travel outside of Ontario.

Passionate Glide has held the top ranking in the poll for many weeks after the summertime star Artistic Fella faltered in the fall. Glidemaster’s win in the rich Yonkers Trot — and his sweep of the Triple Crown — have vaulted him into a challenging position.

Passionate Glide

Both trotters by Yankee Glide were bred by George Segal’s Brittany Farms of Versailles, Ky. Passionate Glide was retained by Segal for his racing operation, while Glidemaster was sold as a yearling for $10,000 in Lexington. Brittany Farms purchased an interest in Glidemaster in September, 2005.

The contenders are trained by seasoned veterans who have previous credits with a Horse of the Year. Passionate Glide’s trainer Jimmy Takter trained Moni Maker, champion harness horse in 1998 and 1999, and Takter has already compared Passionate Glide to Moni Maker, who became an international star. Takter also trained the 1997 Horse of the Year,Malabar Man.

Blair Burgess selected and developed Glidemaster, just as he selected and developed Real Desire, the 2002 Horse of the Year.

Passionate Glide has a higher winning percentage this year,but Glidemaster has earned more money and has a faster record.

Passionate Glide has won 13 of her 15 starts. She was unbeaten going into the filly division of the Kentucky Futurity and won her elimination heat easily. In the second heat, however, she was trapped behind dull cover and simply couldn’t catch Queen Serene in the 1:52 mile, the fastest ever by a sophomore trotting lass. Passionate Glide easily beat Queen Serene in the race-off.

Glidemaster

Passionate Glide’s only other loss came in the Breeders Crown, when she dropped a narrow decision to Susie’s Magic. She finished third, beaten only a neck.

Otherwise, Passionate Glide won her races so easily that she hardly seemed to be trying. She completely dominated her contemporaries.

Glidemaster finished first or second in all of his 15 starts. Three of those defeats were inflicted by his talented Ontario-sired rival, Majestic Son. Glidemaster’s big wins came in the fastest Hambletonian ever, a gutsy win in the Kentucky Futurity, and his finale, in the Yonkers Trot.

On the year, both horses started 15 times. Passionate Glide has a 13-1-1 slate and has won $1,087,900, while Glidemaster had an 8-7-0 slate and won $1,918,701.

Looking ahead to 2007, Passionate Glide is expected to return to the racing wars, while Glidemaster is hustling off to stud in Pennsylvania.