Electric Slide - 2FP
It's become a familiar refrain from Florida to New York as the two-year-olds pacers put on their game faces and begin competing in morning matinees and the first stakes events for the freshman class. "Have you seen that filly Nickells trains?" railbirds and owners scouting the competition murmur. "Does she have a motor or what?"
It started in 1985, with a filly named Follow My Star. If Bruce Nick.ells believes in destiny, he followed that star to a decade of riches and fame, brought on by one fleet filly after another. Nickells has won the Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Filly Pace an astonishing four times, displaying dominance over a particular division no other trainer can claim. Herein lies the twist of the 1993 edition of the filly pace. In 1985, Nickells trained Follow My Star for Allen Wilk, the prohibitive favorite for the event. Follow My Star was a late scratch after suffering a foot injury. The race instead was won by Caressable, owned by the Lou Guida-assembled Wall Street Stable II. Subsequently, Guida bought Follow My Star, and left her with Nickells to train. That was the beginning of a very profitable partnership, featuring Miss Easy, Hazleton Kay and Immortality as Crown tltllsts. Nlckells also won the 1988 Filly Pace with Perretti and North Woodland's Central Park West.
It was business as usual when Nlckells debuted another superstar filly in 1993. This one, however, was not owned by Guida, but instead by Canadian Bob Hamather, also the owner of older pacing juggernaut Staying Together, on his way to Horse of the Year honors. After a fifth-place finish in a baby race, Freedom's Friend was never worse than second, racking up six important wins that included the Sweetheart, Debutante, New Jersey Sire Stake Final and a triumph in the Three Diamonds two weeks prior to the Crown. She boasted the fastest mark and the most money, more than $600,000, in the field. John Campbell, all-time leader in Crown competition, was in the bike. Freedom's Friend was a daughter of Matt's Scooter, triumphant on his Breeders Crown event at Freehold in 1989. The only fly in the ointment, as pointed out by students of the past performance, was that Freedom's Friend had yet to race over a half-mile track, choosing instead the spacious surfaces of The Meadowlands and Garden State Park. A successful training session midweek assuaged some, but not all the skeptics.
The connections of ten additional fillies were willing to test Freedom's Friend agility over the half-mile; ten in all lined up in two tiers behind the starting gate after the judges scratched Lisheen.
Destiny caught up with Bruce Nickells on the first turn, as indeed Freedom's Friend was flustered by the half-mile, and galloped almost immediately. That sparked a cavalry charge by the remaining drivers, astounded at their luck to have a prohibitive favorite out of contention so quicl<ly.
lotus Spur, driven by Dick Stillings, emerged the leader at the quarter in :27.4. Go Jme Go, the other half of the Nickells-trained entry raced at her flank, pressing lotus Spur to accelerate past the half-mile pole, the two leaders creating a two-tier flow for the rest of the field. Still pushed at the three-quarter pole, lotus Spur had had enough and as they emerged from the lastturn broke stride in protest. Ladyotra, who had taken over challenging Lotus Spur when Go Jme Go faded at the half, also tired and ran.
Mike Lachance driving a daughter of 1984 Freshman Crown Pace winner Dragon's Lair named Electric Slide, must have felt like Moses when the Red Sea parted. Atthe three-quarter pole he was seventh, and with the breakers was pushed five wide around the last turn. But as he came out of the turn, suddenly Electric Slide had a neck in front and just the short Freehold Stretch between her and a Breeders Crown. Dawn Q also burst off the last turn loaded with pace. )t seemed she would overtake Electric Slide in the last steps, but Lachance's urging persuaded the filly to continue her momentum. and she was able to make her last quarter her best, keeping a half length on Dawn Q and tripping the timer in 1 :57.4.
Electric Slide, racing for the Guida Racing Stable and bred by Wilshire Racing Stable, another Guida-managed syndicate, gave those interests an incredible fifth Breeders Crown title in that division. By the close of the 1993 series, Guida's trophy rack groaned under the weight of no fewer than 18 crystal trophies won over the ten-year span of the series. Electric Slide also became the third horse to win a Breeders Crown tromthe second tier, joining Follow My Star and Baltic Striker in that distinction. Coincidentally, both those winners were owned by Guida-managed syndicates. Bob McIntosh picked up his second Crown credit of the day, albeit this one was a bit of a surprise at 25-1. Immortality had won the Crown event prior, so he was able to hustle right back to the winner circle. With the collapse of the favorites, Dawn Q paid an attractive place price of $7.40, with show honors taken by Miss Nadia, returning a healthy $16.80 for a $2.00 wager.
Freedom's Friend did not race again in 1993, but her stellar accomplishments through-out the season carried her to year-end honors by a landslide.
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Expensive Scooter - 2CP
When the first hot summer days of June roll around, the harness community begins to surreptitiously scan the results of "baby" races held at racetracks across the country. Like anxious parents sending their children off to kindergarten, trainers, owners, drivers, breeders, agents, sales company owners and yes, even astute handicappers and casual racing fans peruse the charts, each hoping to find something different. The superstars of tomorrow emerge from every corner of North America, matching up for lucrative purses while still literally learning their paces.
As each big race comes and goes, many colts enjoy a brief turn in the spotlight. So it was in 1993, as early fall turned the trees surrounding Freehold Raceway, host to the four freshman and sophomore pacing events. The Woodrow WIison winner, Magical Mike, skipped the event, as the rangy colt had trouble with the half-mile turns at Freehold. A gangly, long-gaited son of Nihilator, Historic was blazingly fast, but astounding clumsy, and his owner skipped many of the major stakes in favor of more willing pupils when writing sustaining payment checks early in the spring. Falcon's Future, a shockingly speedy son of Falcon Seelster, was also lightly-staked and would be forced to sit out the definitive contest for juveniles.
There were no fewer than nine contenders who wished to stake their claim on divisional honors, a diverse group all boasting an assemblage of accomplishments. The all-encompassing Bill Robinson stable held the line with just two starters in their attempt to win a Breeders Crown, one of the few stakes the stable had not acquired during their record-setting $1 O million year. Expensive Scooter emerged as the fastest two-year-old in Canadian history when he took the Kindergarten Stakes Final at Greenwood Raceway, and had amassed the most earnings in the tieldwith$385,745. Yet he had been beaten here at Freehold, by Cam's Card Shark, in a stunning wire-to-wire grab of the Lou Babic Memorial. With John Campbell aboard Cam's Card Shark, he was an immediate threat to Expensive Scooter, and his stablemate, Sable Matters.
From western Pennsylvania came Roger Hammer with one of Max Hempt's super-charged homebreds, Keystone Luther. Keystone Luther had not been worse than second to date, and was the fastest of the youngsters entered, by virtue of 1 :52.2 mile recorded in Lexington. Another invader, Rayson Hanover, owned by Stormhaven LPII, a large and enthusiastic group from Columbus, Ohio, entered the race with high hopes after a 1 :53 score. also at The Red Mile.
Jack Moiseyev literally grew up at Freehold Raceway, and could drive around the oval with eyes closed, if necessary. More importantly, he seems to know how other drivers and horses will behave when racing at Freehold-a kind of strategic insight that has helped him lead the driver standings at the half-mile arena year after year. When a vicious battle front end battle developed a few steps out of the gate, he smartly rethought his decision to venture after the lead with Expensive Scooter, and slipped into a spot out of the first turn. When Rayson Hanover broke at the start, this left Scootin Yankee forcing a surprised Witty Dragon and Bill Fahy to lead at the quarter, in an illogical :26.3. Roger Hammer, not discouraged by that lightning first fraction, pulled Keystone Luther and dashed for the front. He took them by the half in :55.3. Moiseyev, sitting fourth with Expensive Scooter, saw his chance and seized it. He knew the pace had wrung the resistance out of the top three colts and easily grabbed the lead, and the race, away from the field. Once clear by the three-quarters in 1 :24.3, Moiseyev opened up ground, knowing the short stretch at Freehold would give him the cushion he needed. Expensive Scooter was able to ease up with a 29.4 last quarter, assuring a five-length. 1 :54.3 victory.
His stablemate, Peter Heffering's Sable Matters, prevailed by a neck over Cam's Card Shark for the place spot. Cam's Card Shark, Jeff Snyder's Babic winner, was bothered at the start, but recovered nicely to take show honors.
The win was a first in Crown competition for Moiseyev, and fitting that it came at his home track at Freehold, where the announcer often calls out "Jackie Mo, that's all you gotta know ... ". Three generations of Moiseyevs converged on the winners circle. The 1-2 finish by his stable also snapped Bill Robinson's Schneid in Breeders Crown events. In an ironic twist revealed by time, Cam's Card Shark would be moved to the Robinson Stable over the winter, and by September of '94 would break the all-time single season earnings mark.
It was a sweet triumph for Marvin Katz and Sam Goldband, not only brothers-in-law but longtime business partners as well. Katz had seen a video of Expensive Scooter as a yearling, and was intrigued by his presence. Though he and Gold band have owned many fine trotters, they splurged on Expensive Scooter, plunking down $105,000 for the son of Direct Scooter. By year's end their return was sixfold, as the freshman banked more than $670,000. He did not win divisional honors, however, as Magical Mike's triumph in the Governor's Cup gave him the advantage in the voting.
Expensive Scooter is only the second offspring of Direct Scooter to win a Crown title. The first was Matt's Scooter, over the very same racing strip some five years earlier. Rose Guida, who is always in the high end of the Crown owner stats, made her move into the leading breeder column. as she bred Expensive Scooter and Gleam, winner of the freshman filly Crown trot later in the month.
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Westgate Crown - 2CT
Comparisons are a favorite commodity of the sports world. Whether it's baseball hitters of different eras, old standards of quarterback ratings versus the norms of today, or the speed or distance one athlete achieves in a particular venue, such hypothetical discussions are irresistible. And while speed records have been the traditional measuring stick in the sport of harness racing, the atomic explosion of standardbred speed in the '80s and on into the '90s has forced the sport to look for different rulers to gauge equine greatness.
In modern harness racing, the most recent standards of excellence have been the legendary Niatross on the pacing side of the ledger and the charismatic Mack Lobell on the trotting end of the sport.
As the top two-year-old trotting colts convened in South Florida in the fall of 1993 to annoint a divisional champion in the Cadillac Breeders Crown, the mantle of heir to the throne as the next "Mack" was being held over the head of a Royal Prestige colt named Westgate Crown.
Nothing stirs the interest and imagination of sports fans like the perfection of the undefeated season as harness racing focusing much attention on Westgate Crown's perfect five-for-five streak as he ventured to South Florida.
Paul and John Simmonds came the roundabout way to owning a champion. The Ontario natives wished to be horse owners and claimed a trotting mare. She had to be retired from racing almost immediately. Unwilling to write her off as a complete loss, the Simmonds bred her to Royal Prestige. They named her first foal Westgate Crown and were unaware they were about to reap untold rewards after a four-year wait.
Trainer"Raz" MacKenzie knew early on the colt was something special, and tried to train him accordingly. mapping out a select handful of stake races with careful interim conditioning, a racing season similar to those in thoroughbred racing. Westgate Crown made his pari-mutuel debut in late July in an elimination of the Peter Haughton. Though he won handily, after the race he was spooked by a tractor and ran loose through the parking lot before being apprehended. Though he did not appear hurt, MacKenzie and the Simmonds were on tenterhooks at having to enter the richest race of the year after such a freak mishap. Westgate Crown dispelled any doubts by besting Mr Lavee in the Haughton Memorial and his win slate slowly acquired divisions of the Champlain, Campbellville and Walnut Hall Cup. This five-race win streak, though modest, earned him close to half a million and attracted the attention of not only the sport's diehards, but also sparked interest from the man who knew all about the greatness of Mack Lobell, co-owner and syndicator Lou Guida.
Never one to be shy in his quest to own and control the sport's top performers, beginning with his acquisition of Niatross in 1980, and having purchased as yearlings such greats as Nihilator, Peace Corps and Mack Lobell, Guida's $250,000 (plus incentives) offering to the Westgate Crown camp gave fans more reason to believe that Westgate Crown might be the modern-day Mack Lobell. Westgate Crown with a gap in his schedule until the late October Cadillac Breeders Crown, was time-trialed at Lexington, and responded with a 1 :55.1 world record clocking, elevating both his value and reputation.
In no other division has the phrase "It all comes down to the Breeders Crown" rung truer. Since the series· inception in 1984, all but two of those colts who captured the freshman colt trot have done so in a crowning effort of a divisional championship.
Westgate Crown would be tested by nine opponents, valid contenders to his status as the division's best. When the final chart was printed and the dust had settled, Wes gate Crown retired the year unbeaten and the divisional title, but the victory was harder earned than the numbers might indicate. Given the next amount of support by the public was Castleton Farm's Bosphorus, offspring of 1984 Breeders Crown champion Baltic Speed and Head Hunter, a fourth-place finisher in her event that same year. A son of Baltic Speed, Valley Victory, took this same event in 1988-Valley Victory in turn was the sire of Smasher, a promising freshman eclipsed by the exploits of Westgate Crown.
With the masterful John Campbell in the sulky, Westgate Crown stormed away from the gate in a brisk :28 as outsider Norman Hanover pressed the champ in the early going. Despite getting a breather to the half-mile mark, it was still no easy mile for Westgate Crown. Arlene Traub's Smasher, with last-minute replacement driver Wally Hennessey in the bike, came after Westgate Crown in the third quarter with a tough first-over attack and pressured the leader throughout the panel. Smasher wouldn't back off and Campbell had to keep Westgate Crown going about his business through a 28.2 final quarter that proved the mettle of both winner and runner-up. Campbell urged Westgate Crown to keep a length separating him from Smasher and maintained that margin, reaching the wire in 1 :57 .1 . Smasher easily held the place spot with Bosphorus seven lengths back in third.
Campbell, the leading driver in Breeders Crown events, not only praised his own colt but Smasher as well. "It was not as easy as you think,' he said of the win. "Smasher kept us trotting all we could. The difference in the race was my colt's ability to leave the gate."
And while the true test of a harness champion, according to Campbell, is their ability to sustain greatness over a number of years, at least through the first six starts of Westgate Crown's career, he achieved the consistency needed to make winners into champions.
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