from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — There is no way to know what kind of luck trainer R. Dustin Jones will have in Friday night’s (Jan. 12) Clyde Hirt Series at the Meadowlands but he knows one thing — one of his two entrants will have a new home by the time the second leg of the three-week series rolls around the following Friday.

Jones will send out both Luck Goes Around (fourth race) and Armbro Durable (12th race) in two of the four $18,000 divisions of the Hirt. But on Monday (Jan. 15), Luck Goes Around will be hip number 365 in the Tattersalls January Select Mixed Sale at the Meadowlands.

“Luck Goes Around has actually been a bad luck horse for us,” said Jones, 45, who is based in Quebec. “We had just gotten him back racing, and he got off behind last summer. He had a couple of chips taken out of his back ankles, and he’s been good since we did that. Since then his fourth in his first start at the Meadowlands was the only time he missed the board.

“I’m training this one for Joe and Joann Thomson (Hutt Racing Stable of Paoli, Pennsylvania), and I have a sense when a horse is capable of making the move here to the Meadowlands,” Jones noted. “It takes a certain kind of horse to race down there and in Toronto. He showed me how tough he is in Montreal when he was parked the mile and hung on to finish third. He keeps trying right to the wire.

“Last week, I was there when he got up in the last step (to win in 1:52.3) after being parked through a wicked half of :53.4,” he added. “It was a good way to showcase him for Monday’s Sale there. He should race well again on Friday. It looks like a tough series, but he’s been coming on.”

The Hirt, which occupies races four, seven, nine and 12, shares the Friday night spotlight with three divisions of the Complex Series, races two, three and 11. The $90,000 estimated finals for both series will be on January 26.

“We bought Armbro Durable as a yearling, and he won four of five starts as a 2-year-old before injuring a tendon,” Jones explained. “We gave him time off and brought him back. He raced well last summer, a notch below the top colts. He’s going to make a very useful racehorse.

“He won a division of the Oil Burner Series (in 1:51.4 on November 25 at the Meadowlands),” he noted. “In the final, he was part of a big first quarter (:26 seconds) and that cooked him. He was grabbing on and touched the starting gate in his first qualifier (back since the Oil Burner and broke stride on December 30). In his second qualifier we plugged his ears and put on an open bridle. I didn’t like the way he went. We did some blood work on him, and he was a bit dehydrated. He’s in tough, yet he should be better this week.”

Jones, who had 58 wins from 296 starters for earnings of $674,572 last year, is stabled in Melbourne, Quebec, about 90 miles southeast of Montreal. He has 29 yearlings in training, including Stonebridge Lord, a full brother to the great trotting mare Peaceful Way.

“I also have 10 for (owner) Al Libfeld, some Ontario, New York and Quebec-breds,” he noted. “I also have the full sister to Shanghai Phil, the Real Desire sister to Holborn Hanover, and a Real Artist colt out of the sister to Rocknroll Hanover. So, we have very nice prospects for some great owners who have been with me for a long time.”

Shanghai Phil was a recent success story for Jones, banking $476,907 as a 2-year-old in 2004.

“Shanghai Phil was third in the Metro and Breeders Crown Final, and he bred 84 mares here in Quebec, the highest number in this province,” Jones added.

Load The Dice has personality as well as power

It is not the usual praise heaped on a top level horse but Load The Dice has personality.

It does not hurt that he also has a nose for the winner’s circle and makes his 2007 debut in Saturday night’s $50,000 opening round of the Presidential Series at the Meadowlands.

The 5-year-old gelded son of Cam’s Card Shark is rated 5-1 in the morning line in the featured seventh race despite a four-race winning streak and total domination of the free-for-all ranks at Chicago’s Balmoral Park. He will have to get by another streaking pacer, Nuclear Breeze, the 3-2 favorite, who has a seven-race skein on the line.

“Load The Dice is on a major roll, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer animal,” said John McDermott, who will train him in New Jersey. “When this horse was sent to me last year (in July and August), he was the one I fell in love with. He and Real Mean Art have awesome personalities. Load The Dice is a horse that just keeps going. He’s in vicious form. Before he wasn’t as good as these, and now he’s as sharp as could be. I remember Four Starzzz Shark (another son of Cam’s Card Shark) got pretty good when he got older, so hopefully he’s like that.”

Last year, at four, Load The Dice posted a record of 12 wins, six seconds and three thirds from 34 starts, earning $188,148 toward a total of $367,960 for Illinois-based Engel Stables LLC and D R Van Witzenburg and the Sheffield Stable of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Lifetime, the pacer has finished in the money in 33 of 59 starts.

McDermott, who is stabled at the Meadowlands, also has two other prospects on Saturday night’s card — Armbro Acquire in race 11 for $75,000 to $100,000 claimers and I Believe Its True in race 13, a $25,000 to $35,000 claiming handicap.

“Armbro Acquire can definitely polish it off and go by, but you have to tell Brian Sears and Mark Silva to get their horse (Florida Boy) away from mine,” he mused. “I just can’t seem to go by that one. There’s no shame in getting beat by Florida Boy. He’s a monster, and they’re doing the right thing with him. It just happens that we’ve caught a real sharp horse. Danny (driver Daniel Dube) has done such a great job racing our horse from off the pace. If they ever get over to the half in :54 like they’re supposed to, then he’s going to win some. I love this horse, and he went from being the best in the barn to the fourth best when one truck pulled up.

“I Believe Its True ships in real sharp and looks like he fits that class,” McDermott explained. “That’s a super class to have a horse in. He can be in there all season.”

McDermott, 42, from Lyndhurst, New Jersey, also has a busy Friday night with a trio of entrants in $20,000 opening round divisions of the three-week Complex Series. Real Mean Art is in race two, Western Glory in race three and Royal Man in race 11.

“I raced Real Mean Art here last year in the Meadowlands Pace,” he noted. “He was in real good form out there in Chicago. He sat too far back from post nine in his comeback race. He needed that one. I know that horse likes this track, and he seems to be ready. He’s facing a lot easier competition than when I last had him here.

“I have no history with Western Glory,” he said. “I looked at his lines and sometimes he has thrown in some nice races. He’s second start off the bench and second time Lasix, so it will be very interesting to see where he’s at.

“We raced Royal Man in the Meadowlands Pace consolation last year,” recalled McDermott who had 53 wins and $638,356 in purses in 2006. “He was definitely short then because he had just gotten over a horrible bout of sickness. So, he didn’t get a real chance to show what he can do here. He’s ready, and I expect him to race very well.”

All but one (Armbro Acquire) of McDermott’s weekend warriors will be driven by Yannick Gingras.

“My successful relationship with Yannick Gingras continues, and I’m learning just as much from him as he is from me,” the former policeman explained. “He’s got tons of talent, and it’s great to have him on my side. When he came to the Meadowlands, he was overmatched and refused to accept it. He’s become as good or better than any of them. He was like a bull at first, always pushing. Now he’s more patient.”