by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Williamsport, PA — Although he was inducted into the Iowa Harness Racing Hall of Fame last January, 7-year-old trotting gelding Beach Nut Brand definitely does not exude star power.

“He’s just an average horse and you don’t even know he’s around,” explained 47-year-old Mark Harder, who is the gelding’s conditioner. “He is simply a face in the crowd; there’s nothing at all extraordinary about him.”

The Iowa-bred son of Branded-She’s A Lil Vixen, bred and formerly owned by Caroll Huffman of Sigourney, Iowa, was an Iowa Fair Champion at two and triumphed in 19 of 25 contests during his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

Beach Nut Brand was purchased privately for an undisclosed five-figure sum by his current owners, Scott Kurzrok of Bryn Mawr, Pa., and Stable 45 of Hauppauge, N.Y., during the summer of 2006 in a deal brokered by trainer Jake Huff. He has earned $627,835 from 103 race miles, while competing primarily at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Harrah’s Chester, the Meadowlands and Yonkers Raceway. So far in 2009, he has hit the board in 12 of 15 starts, while cashing $125,980 in checks.

“He’s a very, very consistent horse that likes his job,” Harder, who is a native of New Zealand, said.

Mike Lizzi photo

Beach Nut Brand has hit the board in nine of his last 11 starts, all in Open Handicap events at Yonkers.

Huffman, along with her son Rick, operates a livestock auction business. Rick’s passion for harness racing commenced when he was just a child tagging along with his grandfathers who owned and raced horses on the Iowa fair circuit. Mother and son decided to build a small track at their farm in 1979 and began acquiring horses for their fledging breeding and racing operation from Kentucky throughout the 1980s.

The Huffmans, who breed, own and race horses of both gaits, decided to participate in the Iowa Sire Stakes program and purchased Branded upon the recommendation of Illinois trainer Mike Cox to service their broodmare band. The responsibility of training, driving and shoeing all the horses falls solely upon Rick.

Shortly after Beach Nut Brand, who was named for Rick’s grandfather’s favorite brand of chewing tobacco, began jogging Rick realized the colt might very well be the best horse he had piloted and his theory held true once the horse started racing.

When Jake Huff traveled to Iowa in 2006 he inspected Beach Nut Brand by taking him for a spin. The weather, however, was not accommodating enough for Huff to really gauge his ability, so he moved the sale forward mostly on the Huffmans’ descriptions of his talent.

Beach Nut Brand settled in nicely for his new owners and has shuttled between Harder’s and Huff’s barns for the last two years. Harder admits the gelding is a very easy horse to be around and never really causes much of a ruckus. Once his nose touches the gate, however, his demeanor immediately changes.

“He’s pretty aggressive and really enjoys his work,” Harder said. “But when he goes out (to race) he goes and does whatever you need him to. If he throws in a bad race, there is always a reason.”

The gelding is currently competing in Open Handicaps at Yonkers, which is most likely where he will remain for the near term.

“We will probably stick around Yonkers for $40,000 a week,” Harder said. “It’s a great spot for him because he’s very handy around a half-mile track and $40,000 is a nice purse, especially since he always races so well.”