by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
Freehold, NJ — Talent Soup was limited to a handful of races last year at age 2 because of sickness, but trainer Bruce Saunders saw enough of the colt to believe there was ability beyond the horse’s name. Good looking, well gaited, quick, and professional, Talent Soup checked all the boxes.
“He’s a beautiful horse,” Saunders said about Talent Soup, who will compete in the third of Saturday’s three eliminations of the Max C. Hempt Memorial for 3-year-old male pacers at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. “He’s very athletic looking and he’s got a brilliant head. That’s a good start. That’s part of the reason we have him in the barn.
“He’s very efficient with his gait. He usually does not get tired. Even though he didn’t pass every horse in his last two starts he has a great capacity to take air and continue to go forward. He’s got a will to win. He’s a high-energy colt and very, very athletic. He likes his job a lot and that makes our job easier. He’s happy to be on the racetrack.”
Talent Soup, owned by Charles “Cotton” Nash and Julie Nash, is 12-1 on the morning line in a seven-horse division that features world champion Downbytheseaside, who enters the race off a third-place finish in the North America Cup. The field also includes Heaven’s Gait, Donttellmeagain, Eddard Hanover, Highalator, and Photobombr Hanover.
Heaven’s Gait, the 3-1 second choice behind 5-2 Downbytheseaside, goes to the Hempt elim off a 1:49 victory in New York Sire Stakes action at Vernon Downs. Every Way Out is the 2-1 favorite in the first Hempt elimination and North America Cup champion Fear The Dragon is the 8-5 choice in the second.
The top three finishers from each elimination advance to the $500,000 final July 1 at Pocono. The July 1 card will also include the $500,000 Ben Franklin for older male pacers, the $500,000 Earl Beal Jr. Memorial for 3-year-old trotters, and the $300,000 James M. Lynch Memorial for 3-year-old female pacers. Eliminations for those stakes also are Saturday.
Talent Soup won one of five races last year, when he lost time in late spring because of sickness, and has one victory in seven starts this season. His lone triumph this year came in a leg of the Weiss Series at Pocono, when he stopped the clock in 1:51.1 with a final quarter-mile of :26.3.
The colt heads to the Hempt elim off back-to-back second-place finishes where he was charging late, coming home in :26.4 in a division of the New York Sire Stakes at Vernon on June 18 and :26.2 in a conditioned race June 10 at the Meadowlands. For his career, Talent Soup has hit the board eight times and earned $38,507.
“His last two efforts have been very good,” Saunders said. “The owners decided he earned the right to be in here and I agree with them. I don’t know how fast they’re going to go, but I know this colt is capable of pacing a very fast mile with the right kind of trip.
“We’ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope they mix it up a little bit. There are a lot of horses in that race that like to be in a controlling position. Maybe they’ll mix it up and we can save some ground and finish with vigor. Stranger things have happened than for him to win a race like that.”
Talent Soup, bred by the Nashes and Steve Stewart, is a son of American Ideal out of the mare Tessa Hanover. His family includes stakes winners Took Hanover and Triple V Hanover plus mare Trim Hanover, who is the dam of millionaires American Jewel and Luck Be Withyou (racing Saturday in a Franklin elimination). His fourth dam is multiple Dan Patch Award winner Three Diamonds, who is the dam of millionaire Life Sign. Talent Soup was purchased for $65,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale.
The Nashes and Stewart were the breeders of 2010 Horse of the Year Rock N Roll Heaven, who was trained by Saunders for owner Frank Bellino.
“With (Rock N Roll Heaven) it didn’t matter where we drew or who we were in with; he could muscle his way into position,” Saunders said. “That’s what these races are all about, being in position at the top of the stretch and still having a lot of energy.
“(Post position) really compromises your chances a lot, unless you’re a dominant horse. So far we have not been a dominant horse. We’ll have to be a little lucky and (Talent Soup) will have to be a little better than he’s been, but those things can happen.”
Talent Soup, who was hampered by a bruised foot earlier this season, is eligible to a number of stakes including the Breeders Crown, Little Brown Jug, and Matron.
“I think he got enough experience last year,” Saunders said. “He didn’t go as fast as the good 2-year-olds, but he got enough starts for us to evaluate his talent level. He went some nice miles. That impressed us enough to make some stakes payments for this year.
“Now he’ll have an opportunity to mix it up with what is pretty much the cream of the crop. We’ve got some obstacles to overcome on Saturday but if he puts in a good performance we’ll continue to give him a chance.”
For a look at all the entries for Saturday at Pocono, click here.
- Spectacular Saturday at Pocono with Sun Stakes eliminations (Monday, June 19, 2017)
The very best trotters and pacers in North American harness racing will be converging on The Downs at Mohegan Pocono with elimination races being held this Saturday (June 24) for the right to participate in the Sun Stakes Saturday supercard on Saturday (July 1).
- Update on Sun Stakes Saturday elims (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)
Saturday (June 24), the very best of the best trotters and pacers in North America will descend upon The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Northeast Pennsylvania for the Sun Stakes Saturday eliminations. The star power for this night is dazzling! After scratch time on Tuesday, the final driving assignments and morning line odds have been released.
- Sun Stakes eliminations top Grand Circuit schedule (Wednesday, June 21, 2017)
The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono will host four sets of stakes eliminations on Saturday (June 24).
- EBC triumph sends Devious Man to Beal (Wednesday, June 21, 2017)
Less than a week ago, trainer Julie Miller was uncertain whether she would send Devious Man to the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial. Devious Man’s performance in last Sunday’s Empire Breeders Classic made the decision easier. Devious Man won the EBC championship by four lengths over Bill’s Man in 1:52.2, prompting Team Miller — Julie and husband Andy — to enter the colt in the Beal.
- Improving Concerto aims for Lynch (Friday, June 23, 2017)
Kelvin Harrison knows Lynch Memorial hopeful Concerto is stepping up in class, but he thinks it could be a stepping stone. Unraced at age 2, Concerto has won four of eight races this season as she prepares for Saturday’s eliminations of the James M. Lynch Memorial for 3-year-old female pacers at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
- Mel Mara aspires to Franklin glory (Friday, June 23, 2017)
He is a world champion and one of the few horses to possess the distinction of besting Always B Miki and Sweet Lou, yet Mel Mara has not visited the winner’s circle for a stakes race since he captured the 2012 edition of the Ontario Sire Stakes Gold final at Flamboro Downs over that year’s Little Brown Jug winner Michael’s Power. His connections are hoping this is the year the 8-year-old stallion collects his fair share of hardware beginning with a victory in his $35,000 Ben Franklin elimination on Saturday (June 24) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono.
- Ariana G, Mel Mara, Downbytheseaside wow at Pocono (Saturday, June 24, 2017)
Ariana G, Mel Mara, and Downbytheseaside were impressive in victories in the Sun Super Stakes eliminations Saturday (June 24) at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in a night with a healthy dose of favorites and a sprinkling of longshots as victors. Each of next week’s (July 1) championship events on the $2 million Sun Stakes Saturday card – the $500,000 Ben Franklin Free-For-All Pace, the $500,000 Earl Beal 3-Year-Old Trot, the $500,000 Max C. Hempt 3-Year-Old Colt Pace, and the $300,000 James Lynch 3-Year-Old Filly Pace – had enough entrants to necessitate three elimination divisions on this Saturday’s (June 24) card, with the top three finishers returning in seven days for their respective championship event.