by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — There were Goodtimes — and good times — for the Jimmy Takter Stable last Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack.

Ken Weingartner photo

Trainer Jimmy Takter with his prize filly, Pampered Princess, a winner in last Saturday’s Elegantimage at Mohawk.

Takter-trainees won prep races for the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks, with Quite Easy taking the $314,524 Goodtimes for 3-year-old male trotters by three-quarters of a length over Monkey Bones in 1:56 and Pampered Princess capturing the $499,892 Elegantimage by 4-1/4 lengths over Godiva Hall in 1:55.

“That was a good time,” said the New Jersey-based Takter, who also saw older female trotter Passionate Glide finish second in the $250,000 Classic Oaks.

“They just came back down here from Canada and got a couple days off. They seem to be all right. I don’t know where they’ll go next; I haven’t decided. Probably the Stanley Dancer and Delvin Miller.”

Quite Easy is two-for-two this year after winning seven of 14 starts last season. He had six wins and two second-place finishes in his first eight races prior to ending up fourth in the William Wellwood in September. His mother, Marita’s Victory, won the 2000 Hambletonian Oaks and is a sister to Passionate Glide.

“He was good until he got sick in the Wellwood, and he never really bounced back,” Takter said about Quite Easy, a son of Andover Hall who sold as a yearling for $125,000 under the name Andy’s Accelerator. “He was a nice horse last year and he is a much stronger and mature horse this year. He looks good. He’s pretty easy on himself and a very smart colt.”

Takter’s colts haven’t been regulars north of the border prior to the Hambletonian. Quite Easy was just his third participant in the Goodtimes (or its predecessor The Colonial) in the last five years.

“I’ve had so many New Jersey Sire Stakes horses that I haven’t had a reason to send horses to Canada,” Takter said. “This year, I had others, and I didn’t want to start on a five-eighths of a mile track, like Pocono, going into the Hambletonian. So, we went to Canada.”

Quite Easy is the No. 2-ranked horse in the Meadowlands Racetrack’s “Road to the Hambletonian” compiled by Ken Warkentin. Donato Hanover, the 2006 Dan Patch Award winner as best 2-year-old male trotter, holds the top spot.

“We raced against Donato in a qualifier (May 24) and he looked very impressive,” Takter said. “He’s going to be a very tough horse to compete against. It’s a couple months to the Hambletonian and a lot of things can happen.”

Pampered Princess won the 2006 Dan Patch and O’Brien awards as the best 2-year-old female trotter in the U.S. and Canada. She won 10 of 12 races last year and has two victories and a second-place finish in three starts this season. She is a sister to 2005 Wellwood winner Was It A Dream and was purchased as a yearling for $240,000.

“She’s just extremely gifted,” Takter said. “You never know what to expect from one year to the next, but she came back the way I hoped. She ended last year on a little bit of a sour note in the Goldsmith Maid (finishing seventh), but she’s just a very special horse.”

Takter won the 2003 Elegantimage with Southwind Allaire, who went on to win the Hambletonian Oaks.

“There are quite a few good fillies out there,” Takter said. “It’s not going to be easy. You need to be pretty good to beat each other. I think it’s a solid group of 3-year-olds, both colts and fillies.

“It’s a tough game,” he added, “but I think we have some power here.”