by John Pawlak, the U.S. Trotting Association

Columbus, OH — One of many old adages in racing is: “Never name a horse ‘speedy.’”

Whomever picked the name Blatantly Good was thus flirting with disaster by doing so — but has also been proved to be perfectly prescient.

Lisa photo

Driver Richard Silverman celebrates Blatantly Good’s win in the Presidential Series final.

The 6-year-old son of Albert Albert-Lifeline (Matt’s Scooter) was blatantly dominant in January, and for his efforts was named the Horse of the Month by the U.S. Trotting Association.

Owned by Jeffrey Bamond of Brick, N.J. and trained by Mark Kesmodel, Blatantly Good began the month by defeating the top Invitational pacers at the Meadowlands on Jan. 2, in 1:51.4, which served as a tune-up for the Presidential Pacing Series.

Blatantly Good won the first leg and was narrowly defeated as the betting choice in the second, which meant the public looked elsewhere for a favorite in the $117,000 Presidential Series Final.

The public was blatantly wrong.

Driver Richie Silverman kept his foot on the brakes early in the mile, while others contested the issue, before he sent Blatantly Good four-wide in the final stages on the way to a 1:50.1 victory.

“I claimed him (for $40,000) at Yonkers in 2008 and he’s just taken off since (winning $350,000 since then),” Bamond said in a post-Presidential press interview. “Mark and everyone at the barn have done a great job with him. I can’t be happier. He’s a little versatile. He’s done it on the front but off the pace, he’s just been super.

“I’m just so excited. This is a dream come true for me. We’ll sit down after this (to plan his schedule) and he’ll be in all the (major stakes) races this year.”

That’s a bit of blatantly bad news for Blatantly Good’s competition.