When Swansea joined the ranks of Scott Di Domenico’s stable last September, the trainer had high hopes for the Swan For All son.

When Swansea joined the ranks of Scott Di Domenico’s stable last September, the trainer had high hopes for the Swan For All son. The gelding began his career last July as a sophomore racing in the non-winners classes in the barn of Lester Haber at Hoosier Park. Despite the late start to the gelding’s career, Swansea made an immediate impression. He finished second on debut before rattling off consecutive wins and took a mark of 1:55.4 in only his third start.

“My number one agent found him,” Di Domenico recalled. “He watched the horse go and he had a relationship with the guy that trained him and we bought him. He liked the way he trotted. He was a big horse, had a clean gait, he kept coming. At that time, we were trying to find a non-winners horse to race in New York and we just thought he would be a horse that fit that ticket.”

Despite the praise from Di Domenico’s top recruiter, the trainer received a shock when Swansea arrived in the barn. The horse was physically impressive as indicated, but the clean gait which was the basis of purchasing the gelding was missing.

“My first impression looking at him was he was gorgeous. My first impression training him was that we were in trouble,” Di Domenico said. “He was hitting and hitching and hopping and did about everything he could do wrong the first time I trained him.

“It was disappointing. I went out and trained him and he was just all over the place. I was thinking, ‘oh my gosh, what did I get into,’” Di Domenico continued. “It almost didn’t look like the same horse from the horse we watched on TV.”

After his troubling training debut, Di Domenico went to the drawing board and formulated a plan to get Swansea back on track. A change in shoeing was deemed necessary and after being reshod that same day, an immediate change was noted.
“Between me and my blacksmith, we came up with a plan of making a few changes to him and it really clicked,” Di Domenico said. “We put our heads together and we made a couple changes in his shoeing and it’s been smooth sailing since.”

Swansea earned four straight cheques for Di Domenico before breaking through with a victory in a $14,000 overnight at Harrah’s Philadelphia on November 9. By year-end, he won three more times and lowered his mark to 1:55. Then, after a 1:54.3 score at Dover Downs on January 22, Do Domenico decided to bring Swansea to New York.

“At that time, just trying to get speed into him and stretching out and making him go fast was helpful,” Di Domenico said. “We raced him at Chester toward the end of last year and then took him to Dover. By about the time he was out at Dover, he was ready to go the half and do something.”

Swansea connected in his first local try, capturing the winner’s share of a $20,000 overnight on January 31. He doubled up in the same class the following week and after a runner-up finish while up in class on Valentine’s Day, returned to the winner’s circle for $26,000 on February 28.

Swansea continued to improve as his four-year-old season progressed. His talent showed in the SOA of NY Bonus Trotting Series. Swansea won all three $25,000 preliminary legs of the series in convincing fashion, leading at every call and scoring in 1:55.1, 1:55.4, and 1:55. However, after being engaged by in a speed duel Joey Bats in the $73,000 series final, Swansea lost a photo finish with Rich And Miserable.

“He was wonderful. The night of the final of the trotting series was a hard pill to swallow. That wasn’t exactly what I dreamt up, trip-wise, but it is what it is,” Di Domenico said. “It was tough that he got beat an inch; he certainly deserved to win, but that’s racing and prior to that and after that, it’s been ‘A-1’ efforts every time.”

After the trotting series, Swansea made the jump into the open trotting ranks. Despite being handicapped by post seven and post six in his first two bouts, the four-year-old managed to earn a cheque in each of his first two attempts in the weekly $44,000 feature. Then on May 18, Swansea earned his first victory at the open level with Joe Bongiorno in the sulky. Since then, Swansea has hit the board in each of his last two starts. The gelding is 14-for-34 with $207,320 earned.

“It was a little bit discouraging coming out of that series because they handicapped me the outside in the Open for a couple weeks,” Di Domenico said. “He trotted home, he stormed home and got money both times. He did a little bit better the night Joe drove him and he won and the next week he got nailed right at the wire by a really good horse in Weslyn Dancer. She’s a Grand Circuit mare, so not much you can say.

“The biggest thing about him was he was really, really green when we got him and he’s figured it out now. You can leave the gate, you can take him off, you can race him just about any way you want. His versatility and his handiness is great. He’s really, really good that way.” Di Domenico said. “He’s a trotter that’s really matured and he’s figured it out and he’s got it. The one thing that you can be sure you’re going to get from him is a hard-trying effort.”

Swansea will start from post six in the $44,000 Open Handicap Trot Saturday night (June 15). Mark MacDonald will take the lines behind the 12-1 morning line chance. The field includes Will Take Charge, who came from well off the pace to win last week’s trotting feature, and Winning Shadow, last week’s runner-up who drew advantageously in post three.

Smalltownthrowdown, who tired after setting the pace last out, will start from post two while Lean Hanover, who could not overcome post eight last out, drew better in midfield in post five. Trotting Grace and Chasin Dreams complete the lineup.

“It’s a tough spot,” Di Domenico said. “There’s a lot of speed inside of him. It looks like he’ll have to race off the pace. It will probably take somebody else to do something silly for him to win, but that being said, I think he’ll be going forward late and I think he can get money.”

Saturday night’s card also features the weekly $44,000 Open Handicap Pace.
First post time is 6:50 p.m. Yonkers Raceway features live harness racing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. For entries to the races, click here.

(SOA of NY)