Tailgunner Hanover is a ‘miracle baby’
November 4, 2014,by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
Ken Weingartner
Harrisburg, PA — When trainer Ray Schnittker looked at yearling pacer Tailgunner Hanover, he saw a resemblance to half-brother Riggins. Schnittker trained Riggins, who earned $924,758 during a stakes-winning career.
But the fact he saw anything at all was something of a miracle.
Tailgunner Hanover is an embryo transfer foal out of Towner’s Image, who received the 1993 O’Brien Award for best 3-year-old female pacer. In 2010, Towner’s Image nearly died while giving birth to a Western Ideal foal, which passed away.
Towner’s Image’s cervix was destroyed during the birth. After two unsuccessful attempts at embryo transfer in 2010 and 2011, her cervix was surgically repaired and she produced an embryo very late in 2012. She was 22 years old at the time. The resulting foal was Tailgunner Hanover.
“If she was any less tough than she is, because she’s really a tough old mare, she would have died,” said Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, the farm manager at Hanover Shoe Farms. “(Tailgunner Hanover) is a real miracle baby. He shouldn’t be here.
“It’s something akin to when a couple is just about to give up on having a child and a miracle happens. Getting that embryo was quite a miracle; we didn’t think we would. He might be this great mare’s last hurrah.”
Riggins was Towner’s Image’s most successful previous foal, but the mare produced four other horses that earned six figures during their careers: Townslight Hanover, Tycoon Hanover, Prettiestgalintown, and Taco Hanover. All but one of her previous 10 foals won at least one race.
Tailgunner Hanover sold for $50,000 to Schnittker.
“Riggins was a really nice horse and I saw he was the same type of look,” Schnittker said. “And he was very reasonable. Hopefully it works out half as good as Riggins.
“When most people have a good horse out of a family, they tend to go back to the same family. That’s what I did. Hopefully it works.”
On some level, it’s already worked out better than anyone ever expected.
- Brooklyn Hill at $390,000 tops opening session in Harrisburg (Monday, November 03, 2014)
Buying a yearling is just one step in the process of getting a racehorse, or perhaps more accurately getting a horse to the races, as trainer Jonas Czernyson is well aware. Czernyson, acting on behalf of Swedish interests, bought colt trotter Brooklyn Hill for a sales-topping $390,000 at the opening day of the Standardbred Horse Sale on Monday.
- Smedshammer, Svanstedt are busy during second session at Harrisburg (Tuesday, November 04, 2014)
Trond Smedshammer bought only two horses during Monday’s opening round of the Standardbred Horse Sale, but came away with eight in the second session. Smedshammer was not alone in increasing his productivity Tuesday. Trainer Ake Svanstedt signed for seven horses in the second session, including the day’s sales topper, colt trotter Gotalottacredit, who sold for $225,000.
- Numbers improve on Wednesday at Harrisburg (Wednesday, November 05, 2014)
Through the close of sales on Wednesday, the cumulative yearling average at the Standardbred Horse Sale made up some ground from losses against 2013 as the average of all horses sold is down about 5.1 percent. However, comparing Wednesday against Wednesday from last year to this, the day was up about 5.1 percent, which helped make up ground from the previous two days.
- Filly’s two ‘moms’ produce winners (Thursday, November 06, 2014)
When it comes to her family, yearling filly pacer A List Hanover is related to some of harness racing’s top talent. But A List Hanover’s a-list connections go beyond the pedigree page. A List Hanover was raised at Hanover Shoe Farms by “nanny mare” Lilting Laughter following the death of her dam, Allamerican Nadia, in April 2013.
- Fair Winds Farm keeps it in the family (Thursday, November 06, 2014)
The Conway Hall–Talktalktalk filly named Time To Talk sold from the Fair Winds Farm consignment for $75,000 on Thursday at the Standardbred Horse Sale.
- Keeping it in the family for Thursday sales toppers (Friday, November 07, 2014)
The two highest priced fillies in Thursday’s (Nov. 6) Standardbred Horse Sale, one trotter and one pacer, grew up about a mile from each other in western Monmouth County, New Jersey. They were together again atop the leaderboard.