from the Meadowlands Publicity Department
East Rutherford, NJ — A two-year-old filly has brought together a veteran trainer and his former protégé, who went on to make his fame and fortune in Hollywood. Sugar Glider, one of the six two-year-old pacing fillies in Saturday night’s $20,000 prep for the $200,000 Three Diamonds at the Meadowlands, is conditioned by George Berkner and owned by Alan Kirschenbaum of Burbank, California. For a few years after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a marketing degree in 1983, Kirschenbaum worked as an assistant trainer for Berkner. Sugar Glider leaves from post two, paired with driver David Miller, in the first of two non-wagering races on Saturday night. The post time for the Three Diamonds prep is 6:50 p.m. followed by the $20,000 prep for the $237,400 Governor’s Cup. The Three Diamonds and Governor’s Cup are part of the Fall Final Four on December 4 along with a pair of stakes for two-year-old trotters, the $211,800 Goldsmith Maid for fillies and the $228,600 Valley Victory for colts and geldings. Kirschenbaum started owning horses while he was at Penn and would work for Berkner for three years. “Alan reminds me of (the late Hall of Famer) Billy Haughton,” said Berkner. “They remember everything. They can walk into a full barn and walk out and tell you what everyone wears, their stakes schedule, who’s traveling when and where, and how they are shod.” As much as he always loved working with the horses, Kirschenbaum had another calling — comedy. The son of comedian Freddy Roman has spent the last 15 years applying his quick wit to television sitcoms. As a writer, creator, producer and/or director, he has been associated with the shows Coach (1989), Anything But Love (1989), Baby Talk (1991), The Man In The Family (1991), Down The Shore (1992), Everybody Loves Raymond (1996), The Gregory Hines Show (1997), Getting Personal (1998), Stark Raving Mad (1999), Yes, Dear (2000) and Center Of The Universe (2004). But his love of harness racing has continued as an owner. He acquired Sugar Glider by purchasing her mother, Glider, while she was in foal with the filly. “I got her as a baby,” Berkner recalled. “Alan bought her. He actually got the dam, Glider, while she was in foal with Sugar Glider for $7,500. I trained the brother to her three or four years ago, Fashionably Jate, and he had top, top speed. He trained down to 2:02, but then disintegrated due to ulcers and stomach troubles. Alan remembered the high speed I talked about and made a great move buying the mare.” Sugar Glider has earned $131,145 this year with six wins and a second in eight starts. Her victories include an Arden Downs division at the Meadows, a Molly Pitcher division at Freehold, and the Lexington Breeders and Kentucky Sires Stakes Finals, both at the Red Mile. Unraced since September, she has tuned up for the Three Diamonds with two qualifiers this month. “This filly just kept getting better every week,” said Berkner. “She has so much natural ability it is scary. She loves the competition. If she’s on the lead, it’s going to take some to catch her. If she’s going after you from behind, she’ll chase you down. She’s been managed right all year. She was kept from anything that could have hurt her. She’s not a big filly. Put her next to Andy Miller’s filly (Restive Hanover), and you couldn’t tell the two of them apart. I wouldn’t know which one was which. They look the same, and they wear the exact same equipment.” Restive Hanover, the Breeders Crown winner, is also in the Three Diamonds. She has eight wins in 12 starts and earnings of $485,607. The field for the Three Diamonds prep, from the rail out (with drivers): Just Wait Kate, Ron Pierce; Sugar Glider, David Miller; Odds On Laina, Brian Sears; Odds On Shania, John Campbell; Crystal Slipper, Cat Manzi; and Restive Hanover, Andy Miller. The field for the Governor’s Cup prep, from the rail out (with drivers): Voracious Hanover, Jim Morrill; Philosopher King, George Brennan; Speed Demon, Brian Sears; Hurrikane Hogan, Daniel Dube; Syncro’s Z Tam, Patrick Lachance; and Dawn Ofa New Day, Ron Pierce. Syncro’s Z Tam is owned in partnership by Bill Matz’s MJGB Racing Stables and his trainer-driver Patrick Lachance. “Syncro’s Z Tam was named after my video company,” explained Matz, 42, from Suffern, New York. “The last part (of the horse’s name) is my name, Matz, spelled backwards. Patrick loved the breeding so we got him. We were very patient with him early on. We first started with him in late July, and we knew he might be something when he raced down in Lexington.” The son of Blissfull Hall–Kindly Hanover now has two wins, a second and a third in eight starts and earnings of $97,508, a tidy profit on his $65,000 yearling price. “I love having Patrick as a partner on all my yearlings,” said Matz, who currently owns 80 horses. “I figure it keeps him especially interested. I saw his raw talent (as a driver) early. He always seems to put the horse in a position to win. If he ever gets in trouble, he always protects the horse. That’s what I like about the trainer-driver combo. “We bought seven yearlings this year,” noted Matz, who also won the Canadian Pacing Derby a couple of months ago with Casimir Camotion. “We even took a shot at a Muscles Yankee colt. I’m hoping for a huge 2005, between Casimir Camotion and Syncro’s Z Tam. I have another who Patrick thinks is even better. My dream is to win the (Little Brown) Jug with Patrick as driver-trainer. “As far as Casimir Camotion, he’s out in the field right now,” Matz added. “He’ll be there until the beginning of December. We’re going to let him tell us when he’s ready. We made him eligible to the Presidential (in January at the Meadowlands). If he’s ready, he’s in. If not, we’ll just race him in opens in February until the big races.”