from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

East Rutherford, NJ — When trainer Gary Napierala purchased Ripped for $5,000, he was a 2-year-old who could barely stay on stride; however, that small investment would pay off handsomely as the 6-year-old gelding blossomed into one of the sport’s top older trotters.

Ripped faces his first major test of the 2007 season in the $185,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial on Saturday night (May 19) at the Meadowlands. He is rated at 5-1 from post five, with George Brennan listed to drive, in the evening’s featured fifth race. The Cutler Memorial is named for the late New York restaurateur whose ventures included Carmine’s, Virgil’s and Ollie’s Noodle Shop.

Upon the recommendation of his stepfather, trainer Chuck Sylvester, Napierala bought Ripped, a son of Muscles Yankee, from Hall of Fame reinsman John Campbell on September 5, 2003.

“It was when he was a 2-year-old, in 2003, just before (the meet) at Lexington,” Napierala said. “John Campbell owned him and the horse was making breaks. Chuck said he had some ability, but he needed to be gelded, so I went right over to his office and bought the horse. Chuck thought he was worth taking a chance on for $5,000. John initially wanted $10,000, but he’s a very generous man.

“He’s always had some minor lameness,” he continued. “It was just colt soreness to start out with and he really needed to be castrated more than anything. That straightened up his attitude and we gave him the time to heal properly.”

Prior to the sale, Ripped made two starts for Campbell and Sylvester in the New Jersey Sire Stakes Green Acres program and failed to pick up a check in either race. In his first start for Napierala, on September 16, 2003, he rallied off a second-over trip and finished second before a late miscue caused him to be placed sixth.

“Lightening up his shoeing behind helped right away,” Napierala said. “He had only had a few starts and they weren’t good. He was running a lot and interfering with his left hind. It was also something he just grew out of, of course, but the Muscles Yankees are real gutsy horses. If you have one like Ripped that really tries and has speed, you can really help him. The first start we had him as a 2-year-old he was looping the field at Freehold and made a late break. Right there, we thought this horse had some ability.”

After that start, Napierala turned the gelding out for the season. Over the winter, he sold a share of the colt to his friend, John Tronco of Lumberton, New Jersey. When Ripped debuted as a 3-year-old in March 2004, he reeled off three straight victories at the Meadowlands before his old problems resurfaced.

“As a 3-year-old, he trained down real well for us and we staked him lightly,” Napierala said. “He won his first three starts but started making breaks again. We tinkered and tinkered with him, shoeing, trotting hobbles and bridles. Mostly it was just soreness and, eventually, we got him back to where he was trotting, but he wasn’t real good. Yet, he showed he could trot a quarter in :26 seconds, so we just turned him out again.”

After two months off, Ripped returned in late August and was a consistent check-earner as he trotted his way through the New Jersey Sire Stakes at Freehold and the Charles Singer Memorial Series at the Meadowlands, in which he won a preliminary leg and finished third in the final. The Singer Final on December 4, 2004 marked the final start of his sophomore season and he closed out the year with a record of four wins in 16 starts and $53,459 in earnings.

Pleased with the gelding’s progress, Napierala gave Ripped a lengthy six-month breather and brought the gelding back in June of his 4-year-old season at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania. Ripped went on to finish first or second in 10 of 12 starts while racing through the summer and fall at Pocono and Lexington’s Red Mile.

“He was a little more reliable in his 4-year-old season when we changed his shoes again to flip flops,” Napierala said. “We kept him at Pocono Downs just to get some experience and we believed he could be a better older horse. He just got beat at the wire in a world record of 1:54.3 there (to Columbus Hanover on October 21, 2005), so we thought we had a real horse there. John (co-owner John Tronco) and I hoped to race him in late-closers at the Meadowlands as a 5-year-old.”

Ripped continued to improve at age five. At the Meadowlands, he won four of seven starts and finished second in the $300,000 Nat Ray on Hambletonian Day. He concluded the 2006 season with a record of six wins, three seconds and a third in 13 starts and earnings of $173,640.

“Last year was his breakout season when he went on Lasix,” Napierala said. “We took the flip flop shoes off and went to a nine-sixteenths with a crease in the toe and borium. It’s a constant challenge to get that just right. His highlight came beating Vivid Photo by a head in 1:52.3 (in an Open Trot on July 14, 2006 at the Meadowands). He beat Lawman by a nose in 1:54.2 from post 10 the start before that. He reeled off four in a row in that streak. After that, he was second, parked first-over, and then second by a head in the Nat Ray (to Sand Vic). That was the biggest race we’ve ever been in. That was thrilling.”

Ripped comes into the Cutler Memorial Final off a second place finish to Mr Muscleman in last week’s prep race.

“I actually trained him (Wednesday) a little bit, and I kind of just go with the flow with him. It all depends on how he feels. When you’re with a horse that long you get a read on him. He went a couple of light trips and let him walk around a little bit. He likes to get turned out and he’s great to be around. George Brennan gets along with the horse very well, and Ripped is a very handy horse. I worried about Corleone Kosmos. He’s a very fast horse.

“He winters very well,” he added. “He’s a real character. He comes back looking like a big, hairy bear and he’s heavy. Eventually, the hair and the weight starts falling off and we get to this point. He’s basically going to get 12 real quality starts and get turned back out. We’re doing right by this horse, and we have the opportunity to do this here on this farm and because we own this horse. After the Meadowlands, we have him in at Monticello, Vernon Downs and other tracks in the U.S. only.”

Napierala, 42, was born in Toledo, Ohio. His mother, Sharon, married trainer Chuck Sylvester in 1973 and Napierala grew up spending as much time in the barn as he could.

“I’ve never had any other interest,” Napierala said. “I’ve also raced Flirtin Man (an Angus Hall 3-year-old who is three-for-three this season and owned by John Campbell). He’s in Ontario Sires Stakes and hopefully he’ll make the Hambletonian.”

Napierala lives on Sylvester’s farm, Magical Acres, in Chesterfield, New Jersey, with his wife, Amy, and two sons. He has been friends with Ripped’s co-owner, John Tronco, for 20 years.

“John Tronco worked for Warren Cameron and came down to Spring Garden Ranch in Florida where we met,” he said. “John doesn’t miss a race. He follows everything. He works for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. He’s a character and a genuine enthusiast. He’s got a whole basement full of memorabilia. He absolutely loves it.”

$185,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial – Race 5 – Saturday, May 19
PP, Horse, Driver, Trainer, Odds
1, Sand Vic, Brain Sears, Trond Smedshammer, 3-1
2, Corleone Kosmos, John Campbell, Ross Croghan, 4-1
3, Striking Mystery, Daniel Dube, Brian Roland, 20-1
4, Bacardi Lindy, David Miller, Steve Elliott, 20-1
5, Ripped, George Brennan, Gary Napierala, 5-1
6, Med Vac, Andy Miller, Noel Daley, 8-1
7, Brunton Tilly, Ron Pierce, Richard Norman, 9-5
8, Elegant Man, Yannick Gingras, Robert Bencal, 12-1

Manzi set to return Friday

After being sidelined for a week by back pain, Cat Manzi is set to resume driving on Friday at the Meadowlands.

Manzi had been involved in a spill on Monday, May 7, at Yonkers Raceway, the residual effects of which caused him to remove himself from the rest of his drives after last Friday’s seventh race at the Meadowlands. He was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center with extreme back pain and was released early Saturday morning.

“I think things just happened after the accident I was in last Monday at Yonkers,” Manzi said. “I had some very severe back spasms. I could hardly move and I spent the night in the hospital, but I’ve gotten better since then. Tuesday and Wednesday I even started back jogging. I’ll plan on coming back Friday. I want to give it a few days and avoid the tendency to rush back. That might have been what caused the problem in the first place, coming back too soon.”