by Karen Briggs, WEG media

Campbellville, ON — Rene Laarman counts himself lucky to have a 3-year-old as talented as Artriverderci in his barn, but he’s beginning to get a bit discouraged about the colt’s bad racing karma.

“The elimination (for the upcoming $1 million Meadowlands Pace, this coming Saturday night at the Meadowlands) went well, but the final is not going to go well,” he sighed. “We drew the 10 hole. Again. It’s unbelievable the racing luck we’ve had.”

The strapping son of Western Ideal was unable to overcome leaving from post 10 in the $1,410,000 North America Cup, and previous to that, got boxed in, in the $500,000 New Jersey Classic and was left with nowhere to go. Both times his owner, Rob Schlegel of Glenview Livestock Inc., in Wallenstein, Ontario, had to settle for fourth.

All in all, hard-luck Artriverderci has chalked up only two wins in 16 starts, though eight seconds have boosted his bankroll to a healthy $523,755.

But a recent and authoritative win in the $500,000 Hoosier Cup seemed to indicate the racing gods were smiling again on Laarman and his protege, who was a $130,000 yearling purchase.

Last Saturday night’s Meadowlands Pace elimination saw Artriverderci, under the direction of John Campbell, finish a solid second to surprise winner Running Book (Brian Sears), and easily earning himself a spot in the final.

Campbell will be at the lines for Artriverderci again on Saturday night. But that unfortunate post position means the colt “is going to need an awful lot of racing luck,” said Laarman.

“Every horse in the race is a good one — they’re all a threat, but the post positions are going to be a huge part of how it plays out,” he said. “The 10 hole is just a joke…but it’s part of the game, so what are you going to do? It’s just the draw we got.”

Still, Laarman is trying to put a positive spin on things.

“I’m told that there have actually been more winners of the Meadowlands Pace out of the 10 hole than (post position one) — and two of those were pulled off by John Campbell. So I guess if anyone can overcome our post position it’s John.”

New Jersey conditioner Bruce Saunders, with whom Laarman has a long-standing partnership, will be the trainer of record for Artriverderci for the Meadowlands Pace.

Artriverderci is not the only entry in the $1 million Meadowlands Pace with Canadian connections. Also heading postward will be Watta Hotshot, owned and trained by Wayne Whebby of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, and Running Book, a son of Real Desire owned by Antonio Chiaravalle of Hamilton, Ontario and bred by Big Als Stable of Thornhill, Ontario. Pepsi North America Cup winner Tell All, trained by Blair Burgess and owned by the My Desire Stable which includes Karin Olsson and Bob Burgess of Ontario and Alberta’s Mac Nichol, will also be appearing, with Jody Jamieson in the bike.

Post time for the Meadowlands Pace, race eight on the card for Saturday, July 14, will be approximately 10:19 p.m.