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Recent Notes and Quotes From Harness Racing and Breeding

© Kimberly Rinker

Recent Notes & Quotes from the racing & breeding scenes:

When Cameron Hall captured the Matron in wire-to-wire fashion on November 13 at Dover Downs she became the second richest ever one-season trotting filly. Her seasonal earnings for 2002 now stand at $1,075,006, placing her behind Continentalvictory's 1996 season of $1,178,360. Trainer Bob Stewart--as of mid-November--was still unsure as to whether his outstanding daughter of Garland Lobell would race as a four-year-old.

The only two other trotting sophomores who hit the seven-figure plateau as three-year-olds are Syrinx Hanover (2001-$1,018,629) and Peace Corps (1989-$1,002,721).

Trainer Bob Stewart's other 2002 trotting standout--Andover Hall--will not race next year at four--instead he'll moved to the Hanover Shoe Farms breeding shed for a $10,000 stallion fee.

"He'll be getting higher profile group of mares from his first book that Conway Hall got," Stewart said. "He looks the part, you know what he did on the track, and has the presence to be a top stallion."

Andover and Cameron came into 2002 as the #1 and the #2 rated trotters in North America.

The New Zealand import Lyell Creek N is back in training. Trainer Brett Pelling says, "He'll be back by the end of November and I'll gear him up for the Horsemans Series in Canada. After that, he'll come to the Meadowlands for the Su Mac Lad series."

Lyell Creek N will be ten-years-old in January 2003--if he happens to win the Su Mac Lad at the Big M, he WON'T be the oldest horse to ever win that final. Mickey Rodney, in 1980, turned the trick for Norman Dauplaise at age 11. That is the oldest for ANY winter-spring stakes final winner at the Meadowlands.

Garland Lobell captured both freshman divisions as a sire in 2001 with Cameron Hall and Andover Hall. Conway Hall has a great chance to do the same this year with Broadway Hall and Pizza Dolce. The difference--this is Conway Hall's FIRST crop. The last sire to win BOTH freshman trotting year-end awards with his very first crop was Baltic Speed in 1988, with BOTH Peace Corps and Valley Victory.

Magician, already the only horse ever to win a series at the Meadowlands three STRAIGHT years, will NOT be back in the 2003 Su Mac Lad to defend his crown. Trainer Earl Cruise says, "He's had a problem with a suspensory right hind. It's treatable, and he's a very tough horse, but he needed time. It happened sometime after the Titan Cup last year. He's never been a good shipper, and it could have happened anywhere. He's close to 100% and he'll be back in training and aiming towards April. I'll gear him up for the big stakes one more time. I think he'll be up to it."