She s Coming Back 66 / Hoof Beats March 2018
Ariana G 2017 s richest trotter prepares for 2018 campaign story by Rich Fisher photos by Mark Hall I f she never raced again, Ariana G would still have a guaranteed spot as one of the great trotting fillies of the early 21st century. But rather than be satisfied with her place in history, the horse s connections are hoping to watch her make more of it. After all, she s not even close to her 30,000-mile checkup. She just goes so smooth and effortlessly, said Al Libfeld, who shares breeder and owner credits with Marvin Katz. She s like a Ferrari or Lamborghini without the heavy maintenance bills. Thus, one of the sport s most electrifying performers is revving up the engine for her 4-year-old season after winning 12 of 15 races and $1,123,690 in purses last year, which led all trotters. She lost only once when facing fillies and held her own on several occasions against male rivals. Yannick Gingras, who has driven Ariana G from the start, quipped he had about a half-percent of the decision to bring her back. He s happy his minimal input agreed with the majority. There s only so many horses like her, Gingras said. She s very special and you hate to see a horse like her go to the breeding shed too early. There s no doubt every time I stepped on the racetrack with her, I knew I had the best horse in the race. Maybe it didn t work out the way we wanted every time, but she s very special and she gives 100 percent each time. Hoof Beats March 2018 / 67
She s Coming Back I n 2017, Ariana G won the New Jersey Sire Stakes championship, Hambletonian Oaks, Breeders Crown, Elegantimage, Simcoe, and divisions of the Delvin Miller Memorial and Bluegrass. While racing against the boys, she finished second in a photo finish in the Dr. Harry M. Zweig Memorial, and won an elimination of the Earl Beal Jr. Memorial before finishing third in the final. The daughter of Muscle Hill Cantab It All finished second by eight points to Hannelore Hanover in the final Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll before being voted Dan Patch 3-Year-Old Filly Trotter of the Year. She was named the Secretary of Agriculture s New Jersey Standardbred of the Year and the New Jersey Sire Stakes Horse of the Year. It took that kind of effort for the award-winning Toronto-based team of Libfeld and Katz to abandon its usual practice of breeding after a horse s 3-year-old campaign. Under the advisement of Hall of Fame trainer Jimmy Takter, with Gingras half-percent thrown in, they made the decision to bring Ariana G back. It s rare we would even consider not breeding them, Katz said. We Horses like Ariana G, who have 80-, 85- percent winning percentages, they re tough horses. But you gotta be a little careful so you don t crush them mentally. Jimmy Takter didn t enter the year with that thought process, but about the middle of the year we had a conversation with Jimmy and Jimmy s input was the overriding factor. We have the greatest of respect for Jimmy Takter s opinion. He felt she deserved the right to come back and that she was certainly capable of coming back and racing with any and all, and could develop into a great aged mare as well. Libfeld admitted the temptation was huge since success never gets old. We ve had other outstanding fillies; we ve had more than our share of success. But we want more; we don t necessarily want to share, he said with a chuckle. She s very special, and hopefully she continues that way over the next couple years. Takter s decision was based on several factors, one being that the mare is only now coming into her own as far as physical attributes. At 2 and 3 they are still in development, he said. Unfortunately, if you breed them as a 4-year-old you never really see their full potential. I m excited we brought her back. Horses like Ariana G, who have 80-, 85-percent winning percentages, they re tough horses. 68 / Hoof Beats March 2018
CRUISE CONTROL / Left: Ariana G won the 2017 Hambletonian Oaks by 4¾ lengths in 1:51.2, just a year after her big sister All The Time claimed victory, marking the first time full sisters ever won the event. Below: Celebrating afterward were, from left, Sam Goldband, co-owner and -breeder Al Libfeld, caretaker Anette Zackrisson, and Lynn Katz and her husband, co-owner and -breeder Marvin Katz. Hoof Beats March 2018 / 69
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They have it in them. But you gotta be a little careful so you don t crush them mentally. It will be interesting. It s nice to see how they develop as older horses a little bit. I hope it s the right call. If not, she can always go back to the breeding shed. I t s not a shabby shed to be in, as Katz and Libfeld have transferred their skill as successful real estate developers into an outstanding breeding operation. After 15 years of paying their dues and learning the game, they joined forces with Takter and renowned consultant Perry Soderberg six years ago and have enjoyed skyrocketing success. They won Canada s Armstrong Breeder of the Year Award in 2015 and 2016 and were named Breeder of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association in 2016. Libfeld is considered the quiet one of the two, but Katz says they are alike in many ways. BONDED / Zackrisson has been Ariana G s caretaker for the mare s entire racing career. The discipline and mindset required to be a real estate developer helps in this business, he said. We re optimistic by nature, very disciplined and seek out the best professionals. That s what we bring to the racing operation the skills we ve both developed over our professional careers have helped us put together this great team. It led to the breeding of Cantab It All and Muscle Hill to produce Ariana G and her older, multiple stakeswinning sister, All The Time. It also helped guide Katz into being named a director of the Hambletonian Society two summers ago. And while Katz pays attention to the industry s overall interests as much as his own, he can be forgiven for being a bit self-centered during last year s incredible ride. Katz said he enjoyed Ariana G s success more around the holidays, when he could look back on it with no pressure, than he did when it was actually going on. But his wife watched him smile throughout the season as each step led to an even larger one. My husband often said after one of those wins that he s on top of the mountain; and I guess that mountain keeps on getting taller and steeper, Lynn Katz said. These two guys, no matter what the challenges, keep on rising to the occasion. This excitement is just a byproduct of this wonderful success and the incredible diligence they ve dedicated to their business. E ntering the 2017 season, there was ample optimism surrounding Ariana G after she won nine of 11 races and was named the 2016 Dan Patch 2-year-old Filly Trotter of the Year. She was voted No. 1 in Hoof Beats Predictive Trotting Rankings as well, which turned out to be prophetic. If nothing goes wrong with her, she s going to be one of the horses to watch, said Takter last spring. She s probably one of the three top fillies and 2-year-olds ever. Takter was right. He believed she looked good in every start except the Kentucky Filly Futurity final, in which she finished second by a neck to Ice Attraction on a sloppy track at Lexington s Red Mile. I should have scratched her in the second heat, Takter said. She won the elimination very easy, but I could see she was not rested up; she was tired going out. She doesn t like the mud. But other than that, she actually was really, really good every start. In picking a season highlight, Takter and Gingras chose the Hambletonian Oaks, which Ariana G won by 4¾ lengths in 1:51.2, just a year after big sister All The Time claimed victory. It marked the first time full sisters ever won the Oaks. That s four in a row (for me) with Jimmy, Gingras said. There s definitely some pressure wanting to win that race again. It s the biggest race in her career, at this point anyhow. And the way she did it too, she trotted away from them. She was a dominant horse. In the Hambletonian Oaks, she was scary good, Takter added. Katz appreciated that victory as well. I enjoy history a great deal, he said. To breed back-to-back Oaks winners and know it s unprecedented; the uniqueness of all that really was Hoof Beats March 2018 / 71
She s Coming Back THAT TICKLES / Trainer Jimmy Takter inspects Ariana G from head to hoof prior to the 2017 Kentucky Filly Futurity. She was about three wide for the half; she didn t clear until past the half and drew away and won by 5¼ lengths. Who does that? Marvin Katz profound. And winning it the way she did. She dominated all the way down the lane, every step. I felt a great deal of pride and satisfaction in that victory. His reaction to the Breeders Crown win could best be described as incredulous. To come back and win that was maybe as electrifying a race as she s ever gone in her life, he said. She had a terrible post (8); she was about three wide for the half; she didn t clear until past the half and drew away and won by 5¼ lengths. Who does that? Although she did not win the Zweig, Ariana G proved she could compete with the boys in losing a photo finish to upset winner Yes Mickey. And she showed what she was capable of in the Futurity eliminations. We all thought she had the (Zweig) won and a 34-1 longshot goes in, Katz said. Then again, she beat Long Tom and Devious Man and all of them. I think she clearly demonstrated she was not only competitive, but could beat all of them in those races. I thought Lexington, the first week she was great; she went super, but the second week with the Futurity, it was horrific weather. The Zweig and Earl Beal Jr. Memorial were the races that stood out to Libfeld. I loved her racing against the boys, he said. She came in second once, came in third another time. Normal fillies don t really accomplish that; they aren t capable of doing that. You have to have something really special and she did it really well. She was right there with the top two or three colts in the country. Talk of racing in the Hambletonian was eventually squelched. It was decided that keeping her out would be better in the long run. Takter and Katz both felt she had an excellent chance to compete and possibly win, but realized there was a lot of season still left. Neither have any regrets. You never know how they will react, Takter said. That s why we talked about racing her as a 4-year-old and why we were a little bit careful about going against the boys. We want to have a future for her. 72 / Hoof Beats March 2018
ELECTRIFYING / Ariana G (8) did not let a tough trip in the 2017 Breeders Crown 3-Year- Old Filly Trot prevent her from winning the race. T akter took Ariana G to a Kentucky farm over the winter and gave her some rest after an intense, long year. In discussing her at his East Windsor, N.J., farm during an unseasonably mild January morning, he said, I was really happy with how she came back. I thought she filled out tremendous. Much better than between the 2- and 3-year-old years, and a lot more this time. She s got a real, real nice butt; it came in really nice. I m actually more happy how she s come back this time versus from 2 to 3. That s a positive. Considering the huge jump in racing from age 3 to 4, Ariana G s connections will start out racing her conservatively and then decide on which course to take. Aside from a difficult transition in age group, she is coming off of two grueling years in which every race was seemingly a big one for big money. We ve been asking a lot of her, but she s handled it well, Katz said. I ve gotta try to manage her as careful as possible, especially at the beginning, Takter said. I have to keep her in those 4-year-old races as much as possible and try to keep her with the girls as much as possible and we ll see at the end of the year how she s gonna graduate into racing against the older horses. That s a big step forward. I think it s a good year (for 4-year-olds), but it s not a crazy-tough age group, I don t think. One thing is certain: whoever she is racing against, Ariana G has a special desire that separates her from most. You don t get a horse to that level when they don t have a will to win, Gingras said. A horse that doesn t care or doesn t have that desire, you can only coax them into so many wins and they ll get beat at some point in places they shouldn t. But horses like her, they know what they re out there to do. They work with you; they let you race them any which way you want them to race. It makes my job so much easier than if a horse is one-dimensional and can only be raced one way. For her career, Ariana G has won 21 of 26 starts and earned $1,867,657. Katz said he feels it s impossible to tarnish her lofty status at this point, even if her numbers slip. He realizes she can return to the breeding shed at any time. It s not like a stallion where your stud fee would go up again, he said. He also understands that her accomplishments will far outweigh any possible negatives, were they to occur, as an older horse. Her reputation and the esteem the industry has for her, the pedigree, and the family is established, Katz said. She s demonstrated who she is. She would be part of the discussion of any of the great trotting fillies we ve seen in the past 10 or 20 years. That can t be taken away from her. Where she takes us from here, we ll enjoy the ride and see where she goes. Takter can t wait. I m excited to have her back, he said. HB Rich Fisher is a freelance writer living in New Jersey. To comment on this story, email us at readerforum@ustrotting.com. Hoof Beats March 2018 / 73