by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Ken Weingartner

Freehold, NJ — Prior to this season with Dial Or Nodial, the last time trainer Jim Campbell raced a 5-year-old for owner Fashion Farms was 11 years ago.

It worked out pretty well.

The horse was the pacing mare Galleria. She won the 2000 Classic Distaff and finished second in the Breeders Crown (missing by a nose to Rons Girl) and Roses Are Red on her way to $482,949 in season’s earnings.

Campbell, no doubt, would like to see history repeat itself.

Dial Or Nodial is among the 10 older male pacers in Saturday’s $246,000 Graduate at Meadowlands Racetrack. He will start from post seven with driver Tim Tetrick. The field also includes Won The West, who won the Dan Patch Award for best older male pacer in 2009 and 2010.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Dial Or Nodial was a 1:49.2 winner in the 2010 Allerage at The Red Mile.

Last season, Dial Or Nodial was seventh in the Graduate before racing mainly in open handicaps. He won four of 21 starts and earned $176,415, but among the victories was a triumph in the Allerage Stakes at the Red Mile in October. The win helped pave the way for the gelding’s return this season.

“That was kind of a key thing,” Campbell said. “The way he finished up kind of encouraged us to want to race him again as a 5-year-old.

“It’s a tough jump for them from a 3-year-old to race against those (older) horses, especially last year because there were some really top horses in there. We took him out of there because he wasn’t competitive with some of them. Then he showed at the end of the year he was kind of coming back on again. He showed he could go with them. It was a really good feeling.”

Dial Or Nodial was a three-time New Jersey Sire Stakes champion and won 11 of 17 starts before a fifth-place finish in the North America Cup as a 3-year-old. He was then found to have a foot injury, which derailed the remainder of his sophomore season.

Arlene and Jules Siegel’s Fashion Farms bred Dial Or Nodial, a son of Western Ideal-Smart Dialing. Arlene Siegel passed away in December at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer.

Dial Or Nodial has won 15 of 46 career races and earned $971,540.

“He’s a little bit of a special horse to everybody involved,” Campbell said. “Mr. Siegel raised the horse. He was a good 2-year-old and one of the top 3-year-olds until he got hurt. Then he came back last year and showed that he’s a class horse. He’s one of those horses that is just a real nice horse to be around. You can’t help but love him.”

Dial Or Nodial has raced three times this year, finishing second twice at Harrah’s Chester and fourth in last week’s Graduate elimination at the Meadowlands. Starting from post eight, Dial Or Nodial and driver Simon Allard finished 1-1/4 lengths behind winner Bettor Sweet.

“I was very happy with the way he raced Saturday night,” Campbell said. “He was in with a tough group of horses. I’m hoping he can stay competitive within that group, and we’ll just take it from there. As long as he stays competitive with them, he’s staked to all the major races.

“The way he acts right now, he should be good, but like we’ve said, it’s a very tough group. They’ve got a lot of tough races ahead of them and you’ve got to be strong to survive it all. He’s really filled out a lot. He’s bigger in his chest and hind end. There’s a huge difference from (age) 4 to 5. We know he’s got the speed; hopefully he can carry it further this year.”

Following is the Graduate field in post position order, with listed drivers and trainers: 1. Foiled Again, Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke; 2. Bettor Sweet, John Campbell, Thomas Cancelliere; 3. Won The West, David Miller, Ron Burke; 4. Western Shore, Daniel Dube, Thomas Cancelliere; 5. We Will See, Brett Miller, Sam DePinto; 6. Giddy Up Lucky, Daniel Dube, Josh Green; 7. Dial Or Nodial, Tim Tetrick, Jim Campbell; 8. Hypnotic Blue Chip, Brian Sears, Kevin McDermott; 9. Atochia, Ron Pierce, Ron Burke; 10. Lisagain, Andy Miller, Erv Miller.