On Monday, September 23 at the Meadows in Pennsylvania, Canadian thoroughbred jockey Chantal Sutherland-Kruse broke the North American record for trotting under saddle on a five-eighths-mile track.
Sutherland-Kruse, one of thoroughbred racing’s most well known jockeys, teamed up with four-year-old brown gelding DWs NY Yank to lower the record to 1:59. The effort was one-fifth of a second faster than the previous North American record (1:59.1).
Sutherland-Kruse and DWs NY Yank lowered the record in what was their third attempt of the afternoon. The first attempt saw the Ron Burke-trained DWs NY Yank wear a hood; race without the starting car; have Sutherland-Kruse ride without a crop; and be flanked by horses driven by Burke and harness racing’s ‘winningest driver,’ Dave Palone.
DWs NY Yank broke stride during the first attempt – which thus nullified any record – before trotting to a 2:05.2 mile. The pair came back later in the card and made another attempt; this time with the starting gate; with Sutherland-Kruse carrying a crop; with DWs NY Yank racing hoodless, and with only Palone and his mount flanking as a prompter.
The second attempt saw DWs NY Yank break stride off the starting gate, but the duo would not give up easily. Sutherland-Kruse turned her horse around, reset behind the gate and gave the record attempt another shot.
In third attempt – the record-setter – Sutherland-Kruse and DWs NY Yank got away from the gate well and gapped Palone by at least seven lengths in the early stages. They went on to cut the fractions in :28, :57.3 and 1:27.3 before firing home in :31.2 to record the new North American record of 1:59.
“It was amazing. It is amazing how fit and strong you have to be,” Suthland-Kruse said during a post-race interview.
Commenting on how the multiple attempts at the record started to take their toll on Sutherland-Kruse and DWs NY Yank, the jock said, “I think I was getting more tired than him," adding, "It is really amazing just how he moves and how it is such a fine line of keeping your horse balanced and from not breaking. I commend and my hat is off to all of these drivers [because they are] pretty amazing.”
Sutherland-Kruse wore an HD ‘helmetcam’ provided by EquiSight Inc. to offer a unique view of the time trial.
Sutherlands-Kruse is no stranger to standardbreds, as she spent quite a bit of time around harness horses as a youngster.
“This is an exciting time for me to experience the standardbred equine after having been in the thoroughbred world for so long,” Sutherland-Kruse said when the record attempt was announced in late August. “It will be a joy to get back to my roots, to the good old days when my dad would take me to the standardbred farms and tracks all over Canada. I used to jog horses sitting in the cart with him and also dangle my feet off the back of a pickup truck with a lead shank attached to a couple of young horses to drive them around our track to get them fit.”
Sutherland-Kruse was twice named apprentice of the year in Canada. Her mounts have won more than $47.3-million, and she was featured on Animal Planet’s Jockeys series as well as the HBO series ‘Luck.’ Sutherland-Kruse, a graduate of Toronto’s York University, was named one of the ‘100 Most Beautiful People’ by People Magazine in 2006.
DWs NY Yank, a winner of 14 of 50 career starts and $204,000 in purses, is owned by Burke’s Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, Howard Taylor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. DWs NY Yank is also a co-world-record holder as the fastest four-year-old trotting gelding over a half-mile track (1:54.3).
The under saddle event was sponsored by the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association.
(With files from the Meadows and the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)
What an effort by the horse
What an effort by the horse and even greater one by the jockey. Chantel has a wonderful personality and gave credit and thank you's to all concerned.