by David Mattia, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Plainfield, NJ — Green Day is a talented trotting colt who unfortunately happened along as a sophomore in the season that was owned by Donato Hanover. Unlike some of his overmatched peers, however, Green Day managed to not only win the $644,770 Yonkers Trot Final, he also hauled in $709,116, and trotted to a 1:51 third place finish (to Donato Hanover) in the $356,160 Kentucky Futurity Final.

Green Day will be looking to creep back into the upper echelon of the trotting world on Saturday night when he goes to post at Mohawk Racetrack in a $45,000 Breeders Crown elimination. Donato Hanover of course will not be there, but a lot of horses that might have even given Donato a run for his money indeed will be, and consequently the saga of Green Day will continue.

So far this year, the 4-year-old son of Enjoy Lavec–Sonoma Hanover is still just as gifted as ever — he easily won a $40,000 Open Trot at Harrah’s Chester in 1:53 on August 7 — but he’s no longer hauling in the really big bucks. While he has earned an admirable $76,800 in 13 starts for his trainer Jim Raymer and his owner Trillium Racing Stable, it’s still a far cry from the glory days of 2007.

Granted that the stakes opportunities for a 4-year-old are limited, but his trainer has a different take on things.

“He’s been racing against older horses,” said Jim Raymer. “You take a 3-year-old or a 4-year-old and race him against aged horses and you’re at the bottom of the pile. Last year Green Day raced against his own kind and he was very good on a small track. If they had more races on the half-mile track it would be a moot point because I don’t think anyone would beat him on the half. His record on the half is phenomenal and that’s where he made most of his money. This year it’s been different.”

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Green Day has banked $830,286 in his career for trainer Jim Raymer.

Green Day is the kind of trotter who can get around a turn like nobody’s business, and the half-mile oval has always been his game, but lately he’s had to make the most of bigger racetracks. While the larger tracks don’t hurt him, they don’t actually help all that much either.

“He’s just as fast on the half-mile as he is on any size track,” says Raymer. “He can trot in 1:52 or 1:53 on a mile and he probably can do that on a half. He was the world record holder (for a 3-year-old gelding on a half-mile oval — 1:55.1) up until last Sunday when they (Define The World) went in 1:54.2 at Flamboro.

“I would say that his best race was the Yonkers Trot and last fall when he raced in the Kentucky Futurity. He raced the week before (the Futurity) against aged horses because I didn’t want to put up $50,000 to race against Donato Hanover and not know how he was going to be on a mile track but he trotted two miles in (1:) 51 and (1:) 52. If it was a half-mile track it would have been a different story.”

Jim Raymer is a native of Markham, Ontario, and in spite of the fact that he is just about to topple $5 million in career trainer earnings (he has $4,989,392), Raymer is not above looking for a bargain at a yearling sale. Green Day was one of those bargains.

“I bought him at Lexington (Selected Sale) — got him for $6,000,” remembered Raymer. “He’s bred the same as Magic Swan (4, 1:55.1f, $446,722) a horse I looked at two years earlier who went on to make $350,000 or $400,000. The pedigree is the same. I looked at him and I liked what he looked like. I went to $6,500 on Magic Swan but Mike Simons bought him for $7,000 or something like that ($7,500 at the 2003 Standardbred Horse Sale).

“Green Day had the exact same breeding as Magic Swan — Enjoy Lavec out of a Lindy Lane mare. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with Green Day — but I didn’t buy him thinking that I was going to get Green Day, let’s put it that way.”

Green Day is not a horse without problems, but according to his trainer, he has guts to spare, and what he lacks in size he more than makes up for with stamina and a drive to win.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Green Day will start from post two in Saturday’s Breeders Crown elimination.

“It’s the one thing about Green Day we just can’t seem to pick out because it comes from within him,” said Raymer. “He has the heart and desire to be the best. Just like every athlete they all train hard and do their work but there is always one who wants to be better than the rest and that’s his attribute. He has problems like all the good ones do because they try so hard, but when he gets out there he throws it away and does his race and takes care of himself after the race. He doesn’t beat himself up between starts.

“He’s an average size with a lot of white feet and legs. His problem is his feet but like I said he overcomes his problems. He’s a good, physically fit horse and he has great heart and lung capacity and he’s just an average looking horse like most of my horses. I buy them by the pound because they’re not that big. Besides, I’d rather have a horse with a big heart than a big physical appearance.”

Raymer is looking cautiously at Saturday night’s Breeders Crown elimination, and he seems to have a strategy of sorts.

“I would think that I should just try to make sure I get to the final and then go from there,” said Raymer. “That’s the objective — to go for the big money next week.

“I wish this race was easier but Green Day makes it easier. He makes you want to get up in the morning and jog.”

Green Day’s Breeders Crown elimination will be contested as the fifth race on Saturday night’s card at Mohawk Racetrack. The field lines up thusly: 1. Corleone Kosmos – (John Campbell); 2. Green Day – (Andy Miller); 3. Digital Image – (Ron Pierce); 4. Armbro Chronicle – (Mike Saftic); 5. Man About Town – (Luc Ouellette); 6. Enough Talk – (Ron Pierce); 7. Up Front Ben – (Tim Tetrick); 8. Vivid Photo – (Roger Hammer); 9. Armbro Continental – (Trevor Ritchie); and 10. Lanson – (David Miller).