by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — It’s safe to say Rich Gillock will be paying pretty close attention to the Currier & Ives Stakes on Friday night at The Meadows.

The trainer has one horse in each of the three divisions, and all three are eligible to the Hambletonian. The trio of Show Ticket, Major Athens and Text Winner has no wins in a combined seven races and a total of $10,723 in earnings this year. But Gillock is hoping to see some nice things from each one on Friday.

Major Athens, owned and bred by Thomas Brice and Charles Receski, is coming off a year in which he won seven of 12 races and $309,786. He won a division of the Bluegrass Stakes at Lexington’s Red Mile and was second to Dontyouforgetit in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship.

As the favorite in the Peter Haughton Memorial at the Meadowlands, Major Athens was leading until the stretch but finished sixth. He was seventh in the Breeders Crown, as those two races were his only finishes worse than third last year.

Chris Gooden photo

Major Athens heads into the Currier & Ives with seven wins in 14 lifetime starts and earnings of $313,800.

“If we ever had a race to win it was the Peter Haughton,” Gillock said. “We had Brian (Sears) driving and a good post and we were ready to go. Unfortunately, he ended up scoping sick after the race, with mucous.

“He was on top heading for home and looked like he was going to win easy and all at once he got swooped there. We just had to regroup and he came back good after that. The Breeders Crown, anything that could have gone bad for us on that trip did go bad. It just didn’t work out that night.”

This year, Major Athens is winless in two starts with $4,014 in earnings, finishing fifth in a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes in his most recent race on May 24.

“He made an uncharacteristic break last time, but he’s come back pretty good this year,” Gillock said. “We put an open bridle on the horse and he kind of let loose and let the bit go.

“It didn’t seem like it was a lameness issue and he trained back good. We changed his bridle a little bit for this start and we’re going to see if it makes a difference or if it’s something else that we haven’t found.”

The trainer is hoping Friday will serve as a springboard for some big things to come.

“This will tell the tale a little bit on him in terms of which path we’re going to take,” Gillock said. “After this race we’ve got some races coming up at Pocono, and then of course the Hambletonian down the road. We’re kind of leaning toward that kind of schedule. Hopefully he’ll do well this week and we’ll go from there.”

As usual, it will be a case of taking on the old standbys as well as the talented newcomers.

“We have a lot of high expectations for him and he trained back well to the point where he acted like he was going to be a pretty good colt for us,” Gillock said. “Every time you look there is somebody new coming out of the woodwork that’s going extremely well. Everywhere you look they go so fast. You think you’ve got a nice horse and there’s one that goes three seconds faster.

“He was good in Pennsylvania last year. This year there’s a lot of good ones out there so it’s tough to say what will transpire, but if all goes well we’re there in August (for the Hambletonian) and get a chance to redeem ourselves for the Peter Haughton.”

The one horse in the threesome that Gillock feels still needs work is Text Winner, who is owned and bred by Bob Key and was trained by Charlie Norris last year when he won two of 13 races and $106,478.

Fotowon photo

Text Winner closed out his freshman campaign by winning the Matron at Dover Downs.

“Text is the one that’s been a little bit of a disappointment so far,” Gillock said. “I didn’t get him in until later this year. We had to prep him a little quicker than I would have liked to, and I don’t know if that’s what hurt him a little bit.

“He did race a little better last start. Hopefully we can do some good with him this week too.”

Text Winner finished strong last year by winning the Matron Stakes at Dover Downs. This year he was ninth in his first start and finished sixth in his division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes.

“His gait has been an issue,” Gillock said. “I don’t have him as good gaited as I’d like and we’re trying to get him squared away. We’ve made a lot of shoeing changes because at a higher speed his gait changes tremendously.

“He’s a horse that slips on the track. We’re trying to give him a little more grab on the racetrack. The Meadows can be a little tough track to get horses to adjust, especially at high speeds.”

Show Ticket, also owned and bred by Key and trained by Charlie Norris in 2012, won one of 12 races and $66,192 last year. This year he is winless in three starts, finishing fifth in a division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes with Brett Miller driving on May 24 at The Meadows and third in a division of the Simpson Stakes with Ron Pierce driving on May 10 at the Meadowlands.

Dick Stillings will be the driver Friday.

“I’ve got to get a steady driver,” Gillock said. “With these kinds of horses it makes a big difference. But you’ve got to do well to get that accomplished.

“You just need to know him because he’s got a few little quirks, and get to know how to race him. He likes to be pretty aggressive. We raced him from behind a couple times and he seems better if you can be aggressive with him. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen, especially when you’re changing drivers. We’ll have to regroup a little bit and see how this week works out.”

The trainer felt Show Ticket qualified impressively — he won by 26-3/4 lengths in 1:55.3 on April 26 — but has had some “bad racing luck” since then.

“Not getting his kinds of trips and stuff like that,” Gillock said. “Hopefully he is going to get a little better. Hopefully this week is when he starts to get a little better.

“He came back a little better than what he was last year. He looks the part a little more; we’ve just got to get him on his racing game now.”

Gillock hopes Friday night it’s game on.

For the complete Friday night entries at The Meadows, click here.