from Meadowlands Media Relations

Trotting specialist Trond Smedshammer could be in position to pick up right where he left off last season if he can sweep the $180,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial with HP Paque and the $49,255 Hiram Woodruff with Tuna Whip next weekend at the Meadowlands.

HP Paque finished third in his Cutler elimination Friday night and will head into the $180,000 final on Saturday, May 21, while Tuna Whip will race in the second preliminary round of the Hiram Woodruff Series on Sunday afternoon in hopes of advancing to the $49,255 final on Sunday, May 22.

The Norwegian-born Smedshammer dominated the trotting world in 2004. He was named Trainer of the Year for sending out three champions in a season: Trotter of the Year and Triple Crown winner Windsong’s Legacy, Three-Year-Old Filly Trotter of the Year Housethatruthbuilt and Trotting Mare of the Year Stroke Play. And then there was HP Paque who also had a stellar season, but lost out to Mr Muscleman in the balloting for Older Trotter of the Year.

HP Paque entered Smedshammer’s barn in 2001 and has banked more than $1 million since. Owned by Timo Yli Panula and Fredrik Miedel of Pompano Beach, Florida, the son of Tabor Lobell’s record currently stands at 23 victories, four of them foreign, and $1.5 million in earnings.

For three years, HP Paque was a jet set horse, flying back and forth between Europe and the United States. At five, he won seven of nine races at the Meadowlands before heading to Finland, Norway and Sweden for a four-race campaign. He won the Finlandia Cup and was second to Varenne in Sweden’s prestigious Elitlopp. However, the gelding needed surgery on a front ankle, cutting short his 2002 seasont.

HP Paque returned to Europe in November 2003 for another four-race campaign, this time in Italy, and finished his six-year-old season with $489,561 in earnings. While he won two races in Italy, his best performance on this side of the Atlantic was a runner-up finish in Canada’s Maple Leaf Trot.

After sweeping last year’s Su Mac Lad Series, HP Paque embarked on a third European tour, racing in Italy, Norway and Sweden, where he finished fifth in the Elitlopp. In a career performance, HP Paque returned to the Meadowlands and captured the $800,000 Breeders Crown. He wrapped the year with a seasonal best bankroll of $606,725.

“He had a lot of issues with soundness so he never really had a full year,” Smedshammer said. “Going to Europe with him, it was kind of hard for him to come back here in the summer.”

After a well-deserved rest, HP Paque made his 2005 debut in the three-week Su Mac Lad Series but was never a contender in the preliminary legs or the final.

“This year he started off on the wrong foot,” he said. “He started bleeding in the Su Mac Lad.”

HP Paque made his first start on Lasix in Friday night’s $40,000 Cutler elims and finished third in a field that was scratched down to four starters. Post positions for the $180,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial will be decided on Tuesday. Elimination winners Hurri Kane Billy G and Mr Muscleman will be allowed to choose their starting positions.

Where HP Paque is simply a dream horse, Tuna Whip is more complex.

Raced at three by Buzzy Sholty, Tuna Whip showed signs of talent while finishing in-the-money in more than half of his 17 starts in 2003.

Smedshammer purchased the ridgling that October with the intention of racing him early in 2004. Tuna Whip won his first start for his new trainer on January 9, 2004 but was claimed the following week for $70,000 by David Offenberg’s Allister Stables. Trainer Mark Silva took up the reins until the trotter was moved into Ron Gurfein’s barn last summer. Tuna Whip ended his four-year-old campaign in July with only one victory.

Offenberg contacted Smedshammer and asked if he would take the trotter back for his 2005 campaign. Tuna Whip appeared to be back on the right track, winning his first start of the season, but has been plagued by a series of breaks and lackluster efforts since.

“He’s been a difficult horse,” Smedshammer said. “Last year he got claimed off of me early in the year. He was good and had some soundness issues. The owner asked me to train him back for him and he’s been super sound, has had no problems that way and he just won’t try right now.”

Tuna Whip will start from post two in this Sunday afternoon’s fifth race, one of two $18,000 Hiram Woodruff divisions on the card.

The top 10 money-earners in the series advance to next Sunday’s final.

Smedshammer will begin the weekend with Housethatruthbuilt who is scheduled to make her first 2005 appearance in Friday morning qualifiers at the Meadowlands.

“She’ll qualify for the first time next Friday,” he said. “She was up here to train in 1:59 [on Friday, May 13], and she’s on schedule for the second leg of the Classic Series at Woodbine June 4.”