from Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Freehold, NJ — Morton Salt is famous for the advertising slogan, “When it rains it pours.” The phrase might apply aptly to the career of 4-year-old trotter Too Salty, as well.

Lap Time Photo – Skip Smith

Too Salty was a 1:56.4 winner for driver Daryl Bier on Jan. 21 at Pompano.

Unraced as a 2-year-old because of a fractured pastern bone, Too Salty saw his 3-year-old campaign cut short by illness and knee trouble last August after winning six of 11 starts and finishing second to Adrian Chip in an elimination for the Hambletonian. Too Salty returned to the races in January and was 2-for-2 entering an Open on Monday night (Feb. 4) at Pompano Park in Florida.

He is nominated to the $100,000 Mack Lobell Trotting Series at Pompano, which begins February 11 and ends March 3.

“The horse is doing well right now,” trainer Doug Miller said. “I think he’s come back nice. He keeps rebounding and I think his best days are ahead of him.”

Too Salty is owned by Donald Bartling of Maryland, who was one of the owners of Too Salty’s sire, SJ’s Caviar. Bartling, an engineer for Northrop Grumman, which develops and manufactures aircrafts for commercial and military use, bought Too Salty for $25,000 as a yearling. The horse’s mother is Valley Amber and his maternal line includes Exciting Speed, the dam of 1975 Hambletonian winner Bonefish.

“He’s a great horse around the barn; he’s got a lot of spirit,” Miller said. “He’s a happy horse and he likes to work and train. He’s not the greatest gaited horse I’ve ever sat behind, but when he’s sound, he’s pretty efficient. He steps a little high in front, but he overcomes that with determination. You really couldn’t find a negative thing to say about him.”

Too Salty won his first career start at Pompano Park last April. After going off stride in his next race, he traveled to Tioga Downs in New York and posted three wins and a second-place finish in four starts. A month later, he won a Tompkins-Geers division at Tioga in a career-best 1:55.2 and followed it up with his second in the Hambletonian elims. He went off stride in the Hambletonian final and again in the Yonkers Trot elims in mid-August, at which point his season was halted.

“It was very disappointing,” Miller said. “He didn’t race at 2 and accomplished a lot for a green, inexperienced colt. I thought he kept improving. But we had to go back to Plan B and we’re back at it again.”

Miller knows Too Salty will face a difficult task in the Mack Lobell Trotting Series. Returning champion Tweedle Dum is among the big names eligible along with Birminghim, a mare who won the 2007 Queen’s Trophy in Sweden, and Buck I St Pat, who won last year’s Classic Oaks.

“Racing older horses is always difficult for a 4-year-old, and he still hasn’t had a lot of racing; experience is still an issue,” Miller said. “But he’s got a great set of lungs and can really carry his speed a long way. There’s a lot of upside to him. He’s still a young horse and he’s been well taken care of. We’ve always done what was in the best long-term interest of the horse. As he gets older, he could be a free-for-all trotter anywhere.”