by David Mattia, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

New Brunswick, NJ — Prominent harness owner David Scharf is not unused to racing top-notch trotters as part of his ownership roster — perhaps most people will remember horses named Self Possessed or Donato Hanover. Lately, however, talk has been about a trotter called American Lane that Scharf owns in partnership with Jerry Silva.

American Lane is an Illinois bred, bay gelding by Primrose Lane from the Master Willie mare Colors Of The Wind. To date he has earned $541,276 with 28 trips to the winner’s circle. In 87 lifetime starts, this incredibly talented 6-year-old has hit the board 62 times and taken a mark of 1:53.4f.

Despite the fact that American Lane has racked up big numbers and is currently a major force to be reckoned with in the North American trotting ranks, he’s not the kind of horse one is used to seeing in David Scharf’s guest registry. High caliber stakes horses have always been Scharf’s preference, and to sustain that preference Scharf spent quite a few years playing the claiming game. These days the claims are few and far between because a find like American Lane can trim a lot of fat from a stable.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

David Scharf is enjoying a successful 2008 campaign with American Lane.

“I was called by an agent friend of mine named Gary Brown,” said Scharf. “Gary was high on American Lane. He had seen the horse race in Illinois so I watched him race once or twice and I just bought him.

“I guess I was looking for a horse to race. Last winter when the babies were training down and needed to pay some stake bills I was hoping he could race in a couple of series events and generate some money. I never thought he would turn out to be as good as he turned out.”

American Lane has indeed turned out to be better than Scharf thought he’d be. This year alone he has earned $187,500 — and let’s not forget about last year.

“He’s having a great year,” said Scharf. “So far in 2008 he’s been really good, but he had a great second half of the year last year.”

Another facet of the American Lane phenomenon that sets this horse apart from the David Scharf horses of old is that it shines a new light on New Jersey trainer Carl Cito. Cito had been slugging it out very successfully but somewhat silently on the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania circuit for quite a few years — something that did not go unnoticed by Scharf.

“I’ve known Carl for a while from just being in the business,” recalls Scharf. “He never really had a big public stable. For the longest time he just trained and owned his own horses and he always kept to himself. When he bought a new farm he had some extra stalls and we made a deal that I would fill up the stalls.

“When I went down to see Carl’s farm and I saw American Lane I was surprised. He’s big and he’s still amazingly strong. I’m shocked that he looks as good as he does after 40 or so starts and racing hard. Carl’s’ wife Natalie does an incredible job taking care of this horse. I think Carl’s barn runs so well because of the great job Natalie does with our horses and all the horses.”

Lisa photo

American Lane has hit the board in 11 of 12 starts in 2008 with earnings of $187,500.

These days, “our horses” usually means that you’ll find the name Jerry Silva somewhere near Dave Scharf’s on the program.

“Jerry and I are partners on a lot of horses,” said Scharf. “He’s a dependable, great partner. I look after his money as though it were my own money. He trusts me and it’s just a good relationship overall.”

Friday night American Lane is headed into the Su Mac Lad final, and David Scharf puts that race and American Lane’s future prospects into a realistic perspective.

“He raced okay in the first leg of the Su Mac Lad,” said Scharf. “We thought we would give him an easy follow-up race so we sent him to Chester where by chance he ended up racing against Vivid Photo and Buck I St Pat, who had set a world record in a prior race. We raced well and finished second. He’s in the final of the Su Mac Lad Friday night (May 2). That’s a very competitive field with a lot of good horses.

“I don’t think that American Lane is a top, top trotter. I think he’s been raced in the right spots at the right time, and as the top horses are coming back now this will probably be the last stake race of the year. There will be another stake at Chester I think, but for the most part the rest of the season I’ll be picking my spots at Chester and Yonkers and try to dodge the top trotters.

“I think this year’s Su Mac Lad is an unbelievably open event. Enough Talk and San Remo Kosmos are both really good. Before He Cheats had his first start last week and I thought he raced really well also. It’s only seven horses but I think there’s about five of them who can win it — they’re all really sharp horses.”

The $132,500 Su Mac Lad Final is slated for the fifth race on the Friday night card at The Meadowlands.