by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Even though it was early in the year, trainer Ervin Miller admitted to thinking about a perfect season for older pacer Lis Mara. Of course, the competition had other ideas, and Artistic Fella ended the dream last week with a one length victory in 1:48.4 in the final preliminary round of the Pacing Classic at Mohawk Racetrack.

Lis Mara, the winner of last year’s Dan Patch and O’Brien awards as harness racing’s top older pacer in the U.S. and Canada, finished fourth. It was his first loss in five starts.

On Saturday, June 16, the two will meet again — along with three other top pacers — in the $250,000 Pacing Classic final, contested at 1-3/8th miles, at Mohawk.

Ken Weingartner photo

Lis Mara will be seeking his fifth win this season in Saturday’s Pacing Classic final at Mohawk.

“We got a little wake-up call last week; we’ll see what happens,” Miller said. “I think (Lis Mara) will be good. He’s had a good week and trained well. I considered the thought of him going undefeated, but racing at this class, it would be awfully tough. But when you’ve got a horse racing as well as he was, you think about it.”

Lis Mara has won 22 times lifetime and earned $1.3 million. Since joining the Miller Stable last June, he has won 12 of 16 starts and his loss last week marked the first time he was worse than second during that span.

Artistic Fella, the winner of last year’s Meadowlands Pace, has 17 career victories and $1.2 million. He has won three of eight starts this season, including the Dan Patch Invitational.

“He came out of the race perfect,” trainer Steve Elliott said. “We’ll be what we can be.”

Last week, Artistic Fella led to the first quarter in :25.4 before Shark Gesture, also trained by Miller, led the field to the half in :53.3. Lis Mara charged first-over to lead at the three-quarter mark, in 1:21, but Artistic Fella rallied second over to pass the leaders in the stretch.

Ken Weingartner photo

Artistic Fella (pictured with his caretaker, Rachael Vincent) will be looking for the top prize in the Classic final.

“Everyone is telling me how bad Lis Mara was, but my horse left in :25.4 and nobody is giving him any credit,” Elliott said. “That’s the way this game is; they have to make somebody an idol. If you’re in the race, you’re in it to win. I haven’t seen one yet at that level that can’t be beat one day or another.”

Not to be overlooked in the five-horse field is Boulder Creek, who won the Pacing Classic final in 2005 and 2006, and was second last week. Boulder Creek, a two-time Breeders Crown champion and Dan Patch Award winner in 2005 as top older pacer, has earned $2.7 million in his career.

Stonebridge Regal, who was fifth last week, joins Shark Gesture in completing the field.