2010 Early Closing Program 2010 Racing Season: July 23 - November 9 Conditions available upon request

Transcription

1 2010 Early Closing Program 2010 Racing Season: July 23 - November 9 Conditions available upon request Event No. 1-Pace-3 Yr. Colts and Geldings The Monument Circle Saturday, November 6, 2010 $250,000 est. CONSOLATION: Saturday, November 6 $25,000 Nominating Fee: February 15 $500 Sustaining Fee: March 15 $1,000 Sustaining Fee: April 15 $1,000 Declaration Fee (final): $2,000 *FINAL limited to the ten (10) highest money earners in 2010 Event No. 2-TROT-3 Year Olds The Oliver Trotting Classic Saturday, September 25, 2010 $200,000 est. CONSOLATION: Saturday, September 25 $25,000 Nominating Fee: February 15 $500 Sustaining Fee: March 15 $1,000 Sustaining Fee: April 15 $1,000 Declaration Fee (final): $1,500 *FINAL limited to the ten (10) highest money earners in 2010 Event No. 3-Pace-Free For All The Indiana Pacing Derby Saturday, November 6, 2010 $100,000 Guaranteed Nominating Fee: February 15 $1,500 Declaration Fee: $1,000 *Limited to the ten (10) highest money earners in see conditions Event No. 4-TROT-Free For All The Pride in Progress Saturday, September 25, 2010 $100,000 Guaranteed Nominating Fee: February 15 $1,500 Declaration Fee: $1,000 *Limited to the ten (10) highest money earners in see conditions Event No. 5-For 2 & 3 Year Olds in 2010 The Circle City Series $60,000 est. (each division) 2-Year Olds in 2010 Nominating Fee: March 15 $300 Sustaining Fee: April 15 $300 Declaration Fee: $300 3-Year Olds in 2010 Nominating Fee: February 15 $300 Sustaining Fee: March 15 $300 Declaration Fee: $300 Race Dates (2 Year Olds) Colt Pace September 18, 2010 Filly Pace September 18, 2010 Colt Trot August 24, 2010 Filly Trot August 17, 2010 Race Dates (3 Year Olds) Colt Pace September 25, 2010 Filly Pace November 6, 2010 Colt Trot November 6, 2010 Filly Trot November 6, 2010 Event No. 6-Pace-2 Yr. Colts and Geldings The Elevation Saturday, September 25, 2010 $150,000 est. Nominating Fee: March 15 $750 Declaration Fee: $1,000 *If more than 11 enter, races will be contested in divisions Make check payable in U.S. Funds to: INDIANA DOWNS Mail to: Indiana Downs Attn: Scott Peine, Racing Secretary 4200 N. Michigan Road Shelbyville, IN

2 Reunited In The Winner s Circle A chance encounter between two old friends who hadn t seen each other in years led to the successful partnership behind one of last year s top rookie pacing fillies. By Heather MacKay Roberts Photos by Iron Horse Photo When Gregg McNair went into a Guelph, Ontario restaurant in the fall of 2008 he was looking for sustenance, not a partner. He ended up with both. He encountered Paul Kidd, an acquaintance from the days they both raced horses at Elmira and Hanover Raceways and they spent some time catching up. Kidd had been out of the horse business for several years, and now operates a company called Mr Concrete in Guelph where McNair, one of Canada s leading trainers for many years, also lives. I hadn t seen him in probably 20 years but we knew each other back when we were young kids starting out, McNair remembered recently. When I found out he had a cement company I asked if he d come out to the farm as I had a little job. When he came out I showed him this filly I had and asked if he wanted to get back into the horses with a piece of her.

3 $400,000 Estimated Purse Open To The World 3YO PAYMENTS DUE FEBRUARY 15 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial Trot #36 Friday, July 9, 2010 Tioga Downs 3YO Sustaining Open Filly February 15, $ $200 April 15, $ $250 2YO PAYMENTS DUE MARCH 15 Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial Trot #37 To Be Raced In YO Continuation Open Filly March 15, $ $150 Sponsored by Harness Horse Breeders of New York State, Inc. and Tioga Downs All payments (US Funds) to: Harness Horse Breeders, 400 Troy-Schenectady Road, Latham, NY Tel: Fax: Website: hhbnys.com

4 REUNITED IN THE WINNER S CIRCLE My dad had a few horses which is how I got into it, Kidd explained, I got out in 1990 because there just wasn t any money in it at the time. I let my licenses lapse and really didn t follow it too closely as I was starting my business and pretty busy. I had been thinking about getting involved again when I met Gregg that day and decided to go halves with him on the filly. It was a very timely and lucky decision on my part. The filly was the Grinfromeartoear daughter named Tiz To Dream who would go on to garner the reunited friends more than $313,000 last season. Not a bad return on a $9,000 investment. Bob Brady (of Kentuckiana Farms, the filly s breeder) pointed her out to me at the sale, recalled McNair of the 2008 Forest City Yearling Sale at Western Fair in London, Ontario. I already had her marked in my book as okay. Conformation wise she was perfect. I think the reason she didn t sell for much was because her pedigree was a bit light. She was the second foal of her dam Gregg McNair and his son Doug have become a formidable combination on the Ontario racing scene over the past couple of years with Gregg handling the training duties and Doug taking the lines in the races including with Tiz To Dream. and the second dam hadn t produced much. You had to go to the third dam before there was a much black type. The filly s dam is the Jate Lobell mare Extreme Dream who was unraced. The family does include such notable names as millionaires Naughty But Nice, Leah Almahurst and Arts Virtue further down the pedigree page from the third and fourth dams. Tiz To Dream was a bit of a nightmare for her trainer and co-owner during the early stages of her training. She was always a bit aggressive and she was a tough one to get gaited. She was trotting at the three minute stage and I knew there were a few Grins that were on the trot. She did finally start pacing and she became very clean going. She s a long mare and she had the same size hopple, about 59 inches, all season. The filly s first charted line came on June 22 of last year when she started in a baby race at Mohawk where she finished third, timed in 1:58.4. In the bike was McNair s 19 year-old son Doug, who has become one of the top young drivers in the game winning 384 races and more than $3 million in purses in 2009, his first full year in his chosen profession. Doug would guide Tiz To Dream in all but one of her 16 starts during her freshman campaign, which his Dad thinks helped the filly having someone so familiar at her lines in each turn behind the gate. Driving is a young man s game and Doug did a great job with her, noted Kidd who added that he has no desire to dust off his colours and return to the sulky. One week after the qualifier found Tiz To Dream making her pari-mutuel debut in a two-year-old conditioned event at Western Fair where the filly toured the January 2010 The Harness Edge

5 Thanks to Everyone Who Contributed to a Great Year For p,1: ($1,899,146) Cam s Card Shark-Simple Gesture-Western Hanover 2009 S SEASON S CHAMPION ON A MILE 1: S RICHEST OLDER PACER WITH SEASONAL EARNINGS OF $935,015 New Image Media Photo Michael Lisa/Lisa Photo Winner of the $685,000 (C) Canadian Pacing Derby in 1:48.1, equaling the Mohawk track record. Winner of the $688,000 William Haughton Memorial in 1:48.2. Winner of the $210,000 Graduate Final in 1:49. Special thanks go to trainers Larry, Ray and Gordon Remmen, drivers George Brennan and Tim Tetrick, caretakers Ray Jr. & Eric and Dr. Peter Boyce for choosing Shark Gesture as a yearling. From Norman & Gerald Smiley & TLP Stable (Louis & Tommy Pontone) Michael Lisa/Lisa Photo

6 REUNITED IN THE WINNER S CIRCLE half-mile oval in 2:00 to win by two lengths. That performance earned her a start in her first stakes event, the $95,200 Robert Stewart at Mohawk where she finished third, just a length behind the winner, timed in 1:54.4. The following week she made her first foray into Ontario Sires Stakes competition, a $40,000 Gold elimination event at Mohawk where she finished second after leaving from post nine and being parked more than half the mile. In the $130,000 Gold final the following week, McNair used a different strategy and sent the filly directly to the top and she was never headed, winning in 1:54. Seven days later she was in Elora, Ontario for Grand River Raceway s inaugural Battle of the Belles event, introduced last year as a companion race to their signature event, the Battle of Waterloo. Sent off as the favourite in her elimination, the filly did not disappoint, winning by two lengths in 1:58. The next week, in the $150,000 final, was a different story however. I think it was a combination of the eight hole, a big crowd and she was nervous, said McNair of the filly s miscue at the start, her only break all year. She did manage to recover to grab the final cheque in the rich contest. It was back to Mohawk a few days later for another Gold event where she finished third in both her elimination and the final, both by a length, timed in 1:53.2 The connections of Tiz To Dream pose with their star performer after her victory in the elimination of the inaugural Battle of the Belles stake at Grand River Raceway last summer. and 1:52.3 respectively. She then went up against the best fillies in North America in the Shes A Great Lady at the Campbellville oval where she was fourth in her elimination and fifth in the consolation. The $152,328 Champlain Stake was next on her dance card, again facing Grand Circuit types, and she grabbed the lead from the start and held off You See LA to win by a head in 1:53.3 to give her the richest payday of her rookie campaign. She was better when she raced on the front, McNair acknowledged. She is a little aggressive and when she s in a hole she tends to zig and zag like a snake, I had two head poles on her to try and keep her straight. And although she can leave well, she s also pretty relaxed behind the gate which you like to see. McNair, who noted that Tiz To Dream is a good feeder who grew all the way through her two-year-old season, gave the filly a few weeks off after that race, skipping a couple of lucrative OSS Gold events to give her a bit of a break. It s hard with the two-year-olds, to keep an eye on their starts and have them ready for all of their races, he noted. On one hand you want to keep the number of starts down but I ve also had some bad luck bringing some two-year-olds back at three so you also have to try and get as much money when you can with them. He opted to start her in a Grassroots event at Windsor where she finished a close second over an off track. That race was the only one of Tiz To Dream s that Kidd wasn t able to watch live. The busiest part of the racing season is also the busiest time for my business which is fairly seasonal, Kidd noted. But that s okay, I like being busy and I really enjoyed watching her race. I d take my son, Matthew, who is six now, and he had fun. Kidd s time is at a further premium these days thanks to the recent arrival of his daughter Abigail late last year, which is one reason he s decided to stick with just one horse for now. One s enough for the time being. We ll see how the filly does this year and see what happens, maybe down the road a bit we ll look at another one, said Kidd who lives about 10 minutes from McNair s training base and gets there fairly often to watch his filly train. McNair of course is always on the lookout for more horses and a few days after that Windsor race he made his way to the annual Lexington Selected Sale. His January 2010 The Harness Edge

7 main objective was to try and buy Tiz To Dream s half-brother, Be Afraid, who sold in the opening session at Lexington on October 7. He was the one I was most interested in but I didn t even get a bid in, he laughed. He was by Western Terror, who is obviously a hot sire right now, and sold for $120,000 (to Dustin Jones). He was a nice colt, but I think if it hadn t been for what my filly had done, he would never have sold for that much. Back in Ontario on Hallowe en night, Tiz To Dream made an appearance in an overnight at Woodbine to prepare for the final Gold event of the season at that track. Only 10 rookie fillies had been entered for that Gold contest which meant eliminations weren t necessary and all 10 advanced to the $170,000 final so McNair decided to give her a race since she d been off for three weeks. She won that overnight in what would prove to be her record for the year, 1:53.2, but wasn t as fortunate the following week in the final where she was seventh. That was also the only race that Doug McNair wasn t in the sulky. He was racing another of the stable s two-yearolds, the Camluck colt Stonebridge Tonic, in a Gold Final at London, which gave Mike Saftic the steer on Tiz To Dream. In every one of her races where she performed just average, she tied up, McNair explained. She suffered from muscle soreness all year. I don t think I ever had her blood one hundred per cent. We tried everything the vets recommended for her and gave her a lot of time outside which helped. In the $300,000 OSS Super Final on November 14 Tiz To Dream got away third and sat in that position on the rail until mid stretch when she closed hard but came up just a few feet short and had to settle for third. Tiz To Dream concluded her season on a high note, winning the $103,259 Bud Light Stake at Flamboro Downs in gate to wire fashion in 1:54.2 by more than two lengths on November 21. That wrapped up a campaign that saw her with standings of in 16 starts for $313,417 in earnings. I was really pleased with the way she ended her season, she was tough all year. That mile at Flamboro was pretty impressive considering the time of year, McNair said. I thought it was her best race and hopefully it will be a sign of things to come next year. At the time of our interview McNair was almost certain that the filly and several of her sophomore stablemates would be making their way to Hawkinsville, Georgia to spend most of the winter. I ll send them with a guy who works for me, I m just waiting for him to confirm if he wants to go. They d stay down there until the first of April. I do think it helps the three-year-olds to be trained in the south as they have to be ready earlier than the babies, said McNair who would travel south several times during those months to monitor their progress. We re going to stake her to all she s eligible to in Ontario and see what s happens. The Harness Edge January 2010