None of Ron Burke’s six winners from last week’s opening round of qualifiers for 2-year-olds at Gaitway Farm were in action again this week but that didn’t prevent the trainer from having six more winners Monday (June 12) at the central New Jersey training center. Burke’s winners were male pacers Dancin Champion and Dream Bird, male trotters Craigieburn and Classic Landing, female pacer Monsoon, and female trotter Cahira Hanover. Dancin Champion, Craigieburn, and Monsoon were making their debuts.
Tag: Ken Weingartner
Racing Reflections with Aaron Merriman
It is somewhat appropriate that Father’s Day is Sunday because whenever Aaron Merriman speaks of the person most influential in his career, he is talking about his father, Lanny. Merriman followed his father into harness racing, and did it step by step. For a while, Aaron was uncertain racing would be his career — he attended college briefly — but the allure of the horses proved too much. He got his first win in 1998, 10 days prior to his 20th birthday, and has added to that total at a record pace ever since.
Owners enjoy genuine fun with Bamboozler
After a lengthy absence from racehorse ownership, Carter Quillen decided two years ago, on his 80th birthday, it was time to get back in the game. The resulting purchase was a yearling named The Best Way — now known as Bamboozler — and it’s safe to say the outcome has exceeded any wish Carter might have made blowing out his candles. Bamboozler competes Saturday in the first of four C$50,000 eliminations of the Pepsi North America Cup for 3-year-old pacers at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Test time for Bax duo in Goodtimes
Matt Bax will send out Hambletonian-eligible trotters Southwind Coors and Snowpiercer in Friday’s eliminations of the Goodtimes Stakes for 3-year-olds at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Their performances in the event could determine whether they are part of the Hambo conversation in the weeks that follow.
Overcome post 8? ‘Charlie’ may
Charlie May finds himself behind the eight ball in Saturday’s $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie for older pacers at MGM Northfield Park, but the 5-year-old gelding is no stranger to overcoming disadvantageous spots at the northern Ohio half-mile oval. In fact, he’s pretty much made a habit of it. Charlie May and driver Brett Miller will begin the Battle from post eight, the outermost position on the starting gate and the worst spot, statistically, in terms of win percentage at Northfield (4.8 percent).
Readly Success impresses in 2-year-old races at Gaitway Farm
Readly Success was ready for success Monday when Gaitway Farm hosted its first qualifiers for 2-year-olds and might have earned a trip to Kentucky in the process. A 2-year-old female trotter, Readly Success captured the day’s opening qualifier in 1:59 for trainer Julie Miller and driver Andy Miller.
Stonebridge Helios draws Svanstedt praise
It is not often Ake Svanstedt can do something he’s never done before, but that might be the case Saturday (June 3) at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Svanstedt could have the race-time betting favorite in a Grand Circuit pacing race for the first time in his training career. Long known for his prowess with trotters, first during a Hall of Fame career in his native Sweden and bolstered since arriving in the U.S. by two Hambletonian wins and five Dan Patch Award trophies, Svanstedt will send out 2-1 morning-line choice Stonebridge Helios in Saturday’s first of two C$66,500 divisions of the Graduate Series for 4-year-old pacers.
Gutnick hopes to enjoy Dire Straits
Dire Straits has found himself in some difficult spots at times, but it has done nothing to diminish owner Richard Gutnick’s opinion of his homebred trotter. After all, Gutnick is well aware that in racing there is no such thing as money for nothing. A multiple state-bred stakes-winner last year, Dire Straits is one of nine Hambletonian-eligible horses in Friday’s $240,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes championship for 3-year-old male trotters at The Meadowlands. The colt, with David Miller driving for trainer Mattias Melander, will start from post nine in the field of 10.
Fourever Boy no ‘kid’ anymore
Tim Twaddle saw steady improvement from Fourever Boy throughout the horse’s first two seasons of racing, and the trainer hopes that trend continues in 2023 as his 4-year-old stallion works toward facing the sport’s top older pacers later in the campaign. Fourever Boy, a multiple Grand Circuit winner and 2022 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion, has earned $842,888 in his career for owners Twaddle and Micki Rae Stables. The horse already has a big win this season, capturing the $193,880 Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup for 4-year-old male pacers May 21 at Flamboro Downs.
Take All Comers to take on Maxie Lee foes
Take All Comers will make his seasonal debut in Sunday’s (May 28) $100,000 Maxie Lee Memorial Invitational for older trotters at Harrah’s Philadelphia, and the 5-year-old gelding has already improved from last year in one regard. He will begin the race from a favorable starting point.