Gordon Waterstone

Lexington, KY — While equipment changes made by a trainer can be easily recognized, such as the addition or subtraction of trotting hobbles or a bridle change, a shoeing change will likely go relatively unknown. That is especially the case when a trainer decides to pull the shoes, which is done more often on a clay track such as The Red Mile versus the stonedust track at The Meadowlands.

Hall of Fame trainer Chuck Sylvester developed a reputation as a bit of a gambler with his horses as he would sometimes tinker with the shoeing between heats of a multi-heat race.

One example in this year’s Hambletonian on Saturday (Aug. 7) at The Meadowlands of a horse going shoeless is the Nancy Takter-trained Locatelli, who finished fifth in his July 31 elimination. The 3-year-old son of 2009 Hambletonian champion Muscle Hill has mostly been racing barefoot, but Takter said she did a reversal for the July 24 Tompkins-Geers at The Meadowlands, where he finished fourth in his division.

Locatelli will start from post five in the Hambletonian. USTA/Mark Hall photo.

“With Locatelli, we pulled all four shoes on him and it cleans up his gait a little bit, and he’s been racing like that his last few starts,” said Takter, who finished second in last year’s Hambletonian with Ready For Moni and won the Hambletonian Oaks with Sorella. “But in the Tompkins-Geers he had hind shoes on because obviously when you pull shoes on horses you’re wearing their feet. I needed to save foot on his behind for the next two starts coming up (in the Hambletonian elims and final). So they were all off for the elimination and they’ll be off for the final again.”

Takter likes the positive angle of removing a horse’s shoes.

“It cleans up the horse’s gait,” said Takter, the 2020 Trainer of the Year. “It makes them trot a little bit more freely. Sometimes you pull the front shoes, sometimes you pull the hind shoes, sometimes all four.”

She also admits there can be a negative in making the change.

“I think people also have to keep in mind that sometimes pulling the shoes can be a bad thing too,” said Takter. “If you have a horse that doesn’t have enough foot, or a little foot sore, or they get a little pacey, it could actually be a negative reaction. I think there is a general misconception that you pull the shoes on these horses and they are going to go two seconds faster. Which is not true. It depends on the horse and the situation. When is it the right time to do it?”

Locatelli will start from post five in the Hambletonian with driver Andy McCarthy. Takter will also send out Hambletonian finalists Spy Booth (post three, Tim Tetrick) and Really Fast (post seven, Dexter Dunn), who finished second to elimination winner Captain Corey as the beaten favorite in their elimination.

Both Spy Booth, who is considered an outsider, and Really Fast, a top contender, race with trotting hobbles.

“Really Fast is a really fast horse,” said Takter. “I don’t think he really needs the hobbles for his gait, even Dex (driver Dexter Dunn) said after the elimination.”

Really Fast has four wins and two seconds in eight starts in 2021 and $158,375 in earnings. USTA/Mark Hall photo.

Really Fast, at $700,000 the third highest-priced trotting yearling sold at auction in 2019 (behind only million-dollar purchases Maverick and Damien), did not race at all at two in 2020. This year, Really Fast has four wins — including a career-best 1:51.2 effort in a Tompkins-Geers division — and two seconds in eight starts and $158,375 in earnings for owners Brixton Medical Inc., Hatfield Stables, Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld, who also bred the son of Muscle Hill.

“Remember that he didn’t race last year so what he’s done to be one of the favorites in the Hambletonian at this point, is actually an amazing thing,” said Takter. “He never even trained in a race bike last year; he got turned out in June and had knee surgery done. What’s he’s accomplished is unbelievable.

“We did right by the horse. We were lucky that we realized he had some issues with his knees and we surgically took care of that before he ended up fracturing. That ended up helping the horse long term because he doesn’t have any ligament damage or anything like that. And he was a big, growthy colt, and these horses need time.”

The Hambletonian and $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks for 3-year-old female trotters will air live from 5:30-6:30 p.m. (EDT) on CBS Sports Network. First-race post time on Hambletonian Day’s stakes-filled card is noon. The Big M and TrackMaster have teamed to regularly provide free past performances for each race card. Past performances can be found here on The Meadowlands website.