by Charlene Sharpe, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Charlene Sharpe

Seaford, DE — A move to the First State has turned into a fresh start for 6-year-old pacing gelding Mack Hill.

In spite of having spent his entire career until late 2010 racing at Balmoral Park in his home state of Illinois, Mack Hill has proven he knows how to find the winner’s circle wherever he is. The son of Armbro Mackintosh-Millie’s Revenge racked up his ninth win in a row on May 23 with a victory at Harrington Raceway in 1:54.1. The win marked his 12th from 14 starts this year. The dozen wins puts him first this year among all pacers in North America.

“He’s a good horse,” said Blake Baker, who owns the pacer with his uncle Wayne Givens’ Legacy Racing of DE. “Probably the best horse I’ve had.”

Charlene Sharpe photo

Mack Hill leads all pacers in North America with 12 wins in 2011.

Baker said they claimed the gelding in February after watching him race a few times. At that point he had three wins from four starts in claimers at Dover Downs. Mack Hill also showed a consistent history, hitting the board more than 50 percent of the time between 2007 and 2010.

“It didn’t matter where he came from,” Baker said, “he came a good last half.”

Baker said he was a little worried about their decision, however, when they got the horse — who finished fifth the night they claimed him — back to their Seaford farm and discovered he was lame. A quarter crack proved to be the cause, and once that was patched up Mack Hill was fine, Baker said.

Trying not to mess with success, Baker said he and Givens opted not to change the equipment the horse’s previous trainer had on him, with the exception of adding a shadow roll. The horse is one of few that wears nose clips to help keep his nostrils open during the race.

“He flaps his nostrils a lot,” Baker said.

Mack Hill won his first start for his new connections in 1:55.1 on a sloppy track. Ten days later, he followed that up with a 6-1/4 length victory in 1:54 after a first-over trip. The wins have not stopped coming since, with Mack Hill taking a seasonal mark of 1:53 at Dover on April 6.

After five wins against $10,000 claiming competition, Givens moved the horse up to a $15,000 claimer at Harrington Raceway. Baker says they made the move up in class not so much because they were worried he would get claimed but rather because the race they wanted to put him in did not fill that week. In spite of the class jump Mack Hill put any doubts to rest with a 4-3/4 length win in 1:54.1 for regular driver Jim Morand.

Since then, the claimer has fluctuated between the $10,000 and $15,000 competition.

“He was in the 10,” Baker said, “then we put him in the 15 because the $12,500 wasn’t filling. He beat them but he likes the $12,500.”

He said the gelding has proven he can win regardless of the type of trip he gets, but that he has a knack for grinding along the outside.

“He’s won eight out of the nine first up,” Baker said of Mack Hill, who now boasts lifetime earnings of $111,218.

Plans are to continue racing the gelding at Harrington, where he’s proven he can be successful. Baker, who currently owns six horses, is just pleased that he made a worthwhile claim.

“He’s just a good horse,” he said. “They don’t come around every day.”