by Karen Briggs, WEG Media

Campbellville, ON — Ten of harness racing’s most formidable mature pacers will line up behind the starting gate on Saturday night (Sept. 5) at Mohawk in the C$685,000 Canadian Pacing Derby. Only eight of them, however, earned their way to the final via their placing in last week’s single elimination.

Two horses — Larry Remmen trainee Shark Gesture and Joe Poliseno pupil Bettor Sweet — skipped that event by virtue of having been awarded a bye based on their 2009 earnings.

New Image Media photo

Bettor Sweet heads into the Canadian Pacing Derby with 2009 earnings of $539,459.

In the case of 4-year-old Bettor’s Delight son Bettor Sweet, those earnings total $539,459, for a career total of $853,886. Despite having scored only three wins in 17 starts this season, the quirky gelding has brought home impressive checkes in events like the William Haughton, Ben Franklin, and US Pacing Championship, as well as the August 22 Breeders Crown Open Pace, where he finished fourth to Won The West in a punishing 1:47 mile.

One of Bettor Sweet’s three victories this spring was in a $50,000 elimination for the Graduate Stakes, at the Meadowlands, where he shattered a 10-year-old world record for 4-year-old geldings on a mile track by blasting home in 1:47.2. (The previous mark of 1:48 was set by Color Me Best in 1999.) Unfortunately, the gelding had to be scratched from the final a week later thanks to a guttural pouch infection, but he rebounded three weeks later, to place third in his elimination for the Pacing Classic at Mohawk to Winbak Speed. The timer showed he delivered a dizzying :25.3 closing panel in that effort and a week later, he triumphed in the Pacing Classic final (June 13) over that same rival, stopping the clock in 1:48.2.

“He definitely likes Mohawk,” says Poliseno. “We’ve had the Canadian Pacing Derby on our radar all year. He has gotten sick on me a couple of times and his blood has been a little low, so I really appreciated the extra week off (thanks to the bye). It gave him a little more time to bounce back. We’ll ship up Wednesday and with luck he’ll be feeling good by Saturday.”

Poliseno purchased the gelding last year for owner John Cancelliere for $175,000 — a relatively hefty pricetag considering the horse’s issues.

“I actually watched him for about two months before I bought him,” Poliseno says. “He’d been making breaks and I thought I could sort him out with some equipment changes.

“But Bettor Sweet initially proved something of a challenge. He used to goose himself with his tail between his legs, and that would put him off-stride, so we made some changes with his crupper to help that. Then we made some changes with his hind shoes, took his hobbles in by an inch, and we put a Pelling Pacifier on him (a hood with screens over the eyes). He really hasn’t broken since, but he still wears the screen.”

High-strung and spooky, Bettor Sweet had never enjoyed turn-out with his previous managers thanks to fears he would hurt himself if left on his own recognizance. For the first few months he was in Poliseno’s care, he followed suit, only grazing the gelding on the end of a leadshank.

“I eventually got him to where I can turn him out,” he says, “but he still doesn’t enjoy it. I guess he never got used to being outside, so he paces the fenceline until I bring him in.”

The trainer adds that he tried giving Bettor Sweet a miniature horse as a companion, but that experiment was quickly ended when the gelding tried to kill the pint-sized equine.

“I guess he saw him as lunch,” Poliseno says wryly.

“He’s good in his own environment now, but when I have him at Mohawk I won’t even be able to walk him because he’s too goofy.

“Maturity has gradually ironed out some of Bettor Sweet’s more neurotic behaviors. He’s still pretty frightful, but he’s getting more seasoned now. To be honest I really only expected him to be an overnight horse, so he has definitely outperformed what I thought he’d do this year. He has a lot of speed, and he’s been going hard against these older horses this season. He tries hard, no matter what.

“Even at the Meadowlands (for the Breeders Crown), he really raced well. That was a tough trip, and he just kept coming.”

John Campbell will be at the lines for Bettor Sweet, who has drawn post position six in the Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk. It’s race ten on a stellar September 5 card which also features the C$1 million Metro Pace and the C$810,300 She’s A Great Lady Stakes, both for 2-year-old pacers. Post time is 10:48 p.m.