from Saratoga Raceway

Saratoga, NY — It is often asked what that “N” means at the end of many horses’ names. That N stands for New Zealand bred and that N is popping up more and more in every race program.

There has been an influx of New Zealand bred horses racing in the U.S. and at Saratoga Raceway. No trainer has acquired more New Zealanders in the past couple of months than Ron Cushing. Cushing, who was awarded the track’s Johnny Page award in 2006 to recognize a breakthrough year for a local driver, trains several New Zealand newcomers.

If things continue as they have been, you’ll be seeing a lot more horses come from overseas. On opening weekend at Saratoga, both features were won by horses with that ”N” as Kiwi Demand N and Our First Falcon N took the open trot and pace, respectively, for Cushing.

Our First Falcon N has been a regular in the open pace dating back to October of last year and he has been nothing short of dominant. Now with Kiwi Demand N winning the first trotting feature, he will likely be a regular in the open trot this year.

The fillies and mares aren’t without New Zealanders either. Opening week’s ladies feature saw Bali Mystic N head to post as the favorite and finished as the runner up for trainer/driver Scott Mongeon. Mongeon is no stranger to New Zealand breds either as he conditioned last year’s aged pacer of the year at Saratoga in Future Falcon N and has several other “foreign bred” horses in his stable currently.

Bali Mystic N will soon be joined in the open by another Cushing newcomer from abroad. Express Ball N has now gone three-for-three since coming to the states after an eye-popping win on Friday night. Behind a final half of :57.2, Express Ball N rolled to victory for, whom else, Ron Cushing, taking the $12,000 second division of the fillies and mares open. She has passed every test so far is her three starts and has seemingly done it with ease. Watch out for her really soon in the ladies open as it likely won’t be long before there will be another feature winner that has come from overseas.

Saturday night saw Our First Falcon N finish second in the open pace, but once again Cushing popped up in the winner’s circle after piloting a horse with the ”N” at the end.

Another new addition to the Cushing stable is Danger Sign N. After just one local qualifier, Danger Sign N was set to make his American debut and had the rail to do so. On paper, it looked to be a tough task for the newcomer as he faced some stiff competition but he did have the pole position. Though he had things his own way on the front end, the final quarter was nothing shy of impressive. A final panel of :27.3 highlighted yet another win from a New Zealand native and it appeared that Cushing once again had a star from overseas.

Often, you will see an ”A” pop up at the end of a horse name, this time indicating Australian bred.

The bottom line, look for the ”N” at the end in your handicapping and you probably will be doing pretty well.

The wins by New Zealanders didn’t account for all of Ron Cushing’s victories this weekend. Now near the top of the driver standings with Dan Cappello, Jr., Cushing is atop the trainer charts in the early stages of this 2007 season. Behind four wins on Friday night and another pair on Saturday, Cushing has emerged as a force and has taken over near the top of both leaderboards.

It won’t be long until Dan Cappello, Jr. is back on top. Cappello has been the leading driver seven times and he has once again started out this year very well.

After an opening weekend with three wins and 11 times on the board, Cappello came out on fire Friday night, scoring four wins, including the Friday filly and mare feature, piloting Up Front Dragonfly to a win. Saturday saw Danny score three more wins.

This week’s horse to watch comes from Saturday night’s opener. Bono Lightning was making his local debut in just his third lifetime start. The 3-year-old got interfered with by a breaking rival just past the quarter pole and subsequently made a break himself. Cappello, who also trains the son of Pro Bono Best, rushed him back up to catch the pack by the half. Heading towards the three-quarter pole, Bono Lightning put in a serious brush, getting within a head of the leader before finishing third.

I think it is safe to say that without the interference, Bono Lightning would have made his Saratoga debut a winning one and it won’t be long until Cappello will be pointing Bono Lightning to the winner’s circle. Watch for this one and take whatever price you get.

Live harness racing resumes at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway on Friday and Saturday nights with 7:00 p.m. post time. There will be a Monday matinee card for President’s Day with kickoff at 12:45 p.m.