The ghost of Greyhound appeared again at Goshen Historic Track when the grey trotting gelding Goneinapuffofsmoke popped out from behind leader Centurion Hanover to win his division of the Landmark Stake by a half-length in 1:59.2 on Saturday (July 2).
Centurion Hanover (DR Ackerman) held for second and One Chief (Jason Bartlett) was second.
Karen Garland owns and trains and Steve Smith was at the lines for the win, bringing the three-year-old gelding’s career earnings to $40,074 for a horse Garland didn’t look for and purchased without ever laying eyes upon him.
“Paul Jessop and Laurie Molner brought me a book on the [Delaware] Ohio Sale,” she said. “I’ve always wanted a grey trotter and they said, ‘There’s a grey trotter in this sale.’ So I had somebody look at him and I bought him. I didn’t see him, I had a friend look at him, Dr. Bauslaugh. He was only $6,000. He’s paid for himself. He doesn’t have a whole lot of stakes. I made him eligible to a couple of things. He’s Illinois-bred [by Psychic Spirit] and we’ll just see. If he keeps doing well in overnights [5-2-3-0 so far], I’m happy. He takes everything in stride, we had some little issues, but I think he likes what he does."
Goneinapuffofsmoke has been racing primarily at 1-1/4 miles at Yonkers Raceway and the win was his career mark at a mile.
“It [the added distance] bothers me more than it bothers him,” Garland said. “I don’t like racing at 1-1/4 miles, but it doesn’t bother him at all. I don’t know where the bottom is yet."
The lights were all green for Moulin Rouge in deep homestretch when the chestnut trotting filly, who’d trailed the field in fourth for the first three-quarters of a mile, passed leader Magic Tail (DR Ackerman) in the last few strides of the $9,474 Landmark Stake for three-year-old trotting fillies in 2:03.
Trained by Janice Connor and driven by her husband Chuck, the filly earned her first win of the season after making breaks in six of her most recent seven starts.
“I eased her off the gate a little in her last qualifier and that seemed to help,” said Chuck Connor. “Once she gets to the quarter-mile mark, she’s fine.”
Trainer Janice Connor had a fair amount of experimentation to fine tune Moulin Rouge, but thinks she now has it right.
"We adjusted the trotting hopples and she has a hood and fly mask goggles. I think we have her set now," she said.
Magic Trail was second and Anime Hanover was third. Moulin Rouge is owned by Arden Homestead Stable and Kitefield Stable of Goshen, New York.
Reach For Infinity’s toughest days at the racetrack have been at the entry box recently, with post positions six, a pair of sevens, an eight and a nine in his last six starts, but he and driver Steve Smith took advantage of the rail to get a 1:56 win by three-quarters of a length, fastest race of the day, in a $14,499 division of the Landmark Stake.
“It’s been very hard to drive to Pocono for the six-hole and The Meadows for the nine-hole,” said trainer Paul “Stretch” Jessop about the Dragon Again colt, owned by DCPM Stable of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Reach For Infinity sat second to Rooney runner-up Tailgunner Hanover (Ray Schnittker) throughout fractions of :29.2, :58.3 and 1:27 before popping out to pass the leader.
“That’s usually how Dave Miller drives him and we had Dave Miller today in Steve Smith,” Jessop said. “He doesn’t have a lot of early speed, but he gives it a good run home -- he always finishes. He’ll go to Chester next Sunday [July 10] and then on the 14th he’ll go to The Meadows again for the Stallion Series.”
Racing resumes at Goshen Historic Track on Sunday (July 3) at 1 p.m. with the day’s races featuring Hall of Fame drivers competing in the $10,000 Mr. and Mrs. Elridge Gerry Memorial Trot.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.