by Charlene Polk, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Charlene Polk

Dover, DE — When trainer Brian Callahan decided to put a $10,000 claim on a 6-year-old trotter last fall, he was just hoping to make his money back. Five months later and $41,400 richer, there is no doubt Callahan made a good investment.

Since he claimed 6-year-old Mac Atack Mac in November at Dover Downs, the Ripken’s Victory-Katie Cane gelding has hit the board in eight of 11 starts for his new owner/trainer.

“I wasn’t that ambitious,” Callahan said. “For me when I claim one my first goal is to not make them any worse, and if you improve them it’s a bonus.”

Callahan decided to claim Mac Atack Mac after watching the large brown gelding race at Colonial Downs earlier in the year.

“He was a big good looking horse,” he said.

Fotowon photo

Mac Atack Mac has won five of his eight starts in 2010 and has climbed the ladder to the Open Trot at Dover.

Upon getting the trotter to his barn, the first thing Callahan did was remove the five-ounce toe weight he wore. He also started trying to get the aggressive horse calmed down. By not letting him get away with any runaway behavior, Callahan has gotten Mac Atack Mac settled into a routine.

“I think he’s a lot more relaxed now,” he said. “He jogs and trains with two fingers. He’s gotten with the routine and I think a kid could jog him now.”

The trotter finished second in a $12,500 claimer the first time Callahan raced him, and although he picked up checks his next two starts, Callahan said he was not pleased with his unimpressive final quarter times — :32.4 and :32.2 seconds. Finding nothing wrong with the horse, he increased his workload.

“His blood was OK and he had no obvious problems,” Callahan said. “He was just weak on the end, so I put some stiff training miles in him.”

Apparently the rigorous exercise did the trick, as the trotter won three of his next four starts, the fastest in what was then a new lifetime mark of 1:56.3 with a quick :28.4 last quarter for driver Daryl Bier. After that, Callahan moved Mac Atack Mac from the $10,000 claiming ranks to a conditioned class, where he won two of his next three starts, dropping his lifetime mark to 1:56.1 on March 9 and then to 1:55.3 when he won by more than four lengths on March 16.

In his most recent outing, Mac Atack Mac delivered another impressive performance, finishing second in Dover’s Open Trot to millionaire JM Vangogh, trotting in 1:54.

“He’s got the ability, the desire, the size,” said Callahan, who currently has 18 horses in training. “He’s the total package.”

He added that the gelding requires very little vet work, and races well as long as he is trained twice a week and turned out daily.

While Callahan is thrilled with the success of Mac Atack Mac, that success has left him uncertain of just what his plans for the trotter are.

“My initial plan was to race him at Harrington,” Callahan said, “but (Harrah’s) Chester may come into the picture if he’s going to be a top trotter.”