Renee and Bill Bercury recently added two stakes-winning horse to their stable, Ponda Adventure and Liteningonthebeach, but also said farewell to a barn favourite.
Blue Ivy, a Grand Circuit stakes-winning pacer who came within a neck of capturing the 2021 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series championship, was retired by the Bercurys following the seven-year-old’s second-place finish in the Fillies & Mares Open Handicap on Nov. 30 at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. She was sold to Crawford Farms earlier this month.
Lifetime, Blue Ivy won 56 of 146 races and earned $858,819 in purses. She was purchased by the Bercurys near the end of her three-year-old season and became a mainstay in the Open Handicaps for female pacers at The Meadows and Northfield Park. During her career with the Bercurys, the mare won 50 times, with 40 of those triumphs coming in opens.
Blue Ivy won 14 races in both 2021 and 2022, tying for fourth in victories among all pacing mares in North America two years ago and for fifth last season. She hit the board in nearly 75 per cent of her starts over the past four campaigns and earned a paycheque in 102 of 116 of those outings.
Earlier this year, Renee Bercury said the mare’s narrow miss in the Blue Chip Matchmaker final at MGM Yonkers Raceway was “the highlight of our whole racing career.” Blue Ivy won three preliminary rounds of the Matchmaker and finished second in the remaining two.
“She was tremendous,” said Bill Bercury. “What she did, and the way she did it, was just unbelievable. She gave us an awful lot. I miss her every day.
“But you have to do the right thing. You just get the feeling from some horses that they don’t want to be on the track anymore. We had a lot of fun with her, and she had a lot of fun with us, but she wasn’t having any fun anymore. You can just feel it.”
In her final race, Blue Ivy finished second to Alexa Skye in a track record-equalling 1:49.4 mile. Blue Ivy was timed in 1:50.2, just one-fifth of a second off her career-best win time of 1:50.1 established in 2021 at The Meadows.
“She went a very nice mile, but I know she didn’t want to be racing anymore,” said Bercury. “She’s sound, but she was telling me. I want horses to enjoy racing as much as I do.”
Blue Ivy is a daughter of Captaintreacherous-Ali Blue. Her two-year-old full brother, Ivy Park, was a winner on the Kentucky Sire Stakes circuit and finished second to Better Is Nice in the KYSS Championship Series final. The family also includes millionaire Fashion Delight.
“She’s going to be a wonderful broodmare," said Bercury. “I can’t wait to see what she produces.”
As for the newcomers to the stable, four-year-old Ponda Adventure made his debut for the Bercurys on Thursday, Dec. 14 in the $21,200 Open Handicap Trot at The Meadows, finishing seventh from post nine. The gelding, a multiple winner on the Grand Circuit and in the Indiana Sire Stakes, has 27 wins in 47 career starts and earnings of $753,432.
“He raced all right,” said Bercury. “He’s such a nice horse to be around, a real pleasure. He’s going to be OK. He’s a very smart horse. He seems to have an awful lot of ability.”
On Friday, three-year-old Liteningonthebeach will look to win his third in a row for the Bercurys when he faces five rivals in the $19,200 Open Handicap Pace at The Meadows. Unraced at two, the gelding has won 13 of 25 starts this season and earned $220,510. He won the Buckeye Stallion Series championship in late September and was purchased by the Bercurys for $61,000 in an onGait.com auction in mid-October.
“I’m very excited about Liteningonthebeach,” said Bercury. “I bought the horse with one bid, which is pretty unusual. They had a starting bid of $60,000. I was sitting there for a half-hour watching it and there were no bids. With 15 seconds to go, I hit it, and mine was the one and only bid. I expected him to go for more. I’m not disappointed that he didn’t.
“I feel like I fell into a wonderful animal. He’s fit right into the system and is a pleasure to work with. I usually would have quit with him by now, but he’s so happy, and he’s in such good shape, there is nothing from him indicating that he would rather be doing something else than racing. He loves his work. Every morning, he’s ready to go.”
Liteningonthebeach will start from post six on Friday with driver Aaron Merriman and is the 2-1 second choice on the morning line. Chase H Hanover is the 6-5 favourite for driver Dave Palone and trainer Virgil Morgan Jr.
Racing begins at 12:45 p.m. (EST) at The Meadows.
(USTA)