Trainer Bruce Saunders’ charge, Rock N Roll Heaven, is unpacked and settled in the Little Brown Jug barn

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“They left the Meadowlands (Sunday) morning at 7:30 or 8 and got out here, bedded down in the Jug barn,” Saunders said. “I also brought out a horse called Nob Hill High, he’s in the Winbak Pace (for older pacers on Thursday afternoon). I guess there are only five horses in there, so we’ll get a check and it justifies coming. They both jogged over the racetrack (Monday) morning and we’re kind of looking forward to racing.”

Rock N Roll Heaven, who will be driven by Daniel Dube, will make his first start over a half-mile track in the Jug and Saunders says his concern about racing the horse on a smaller oval is a thing of the past.

“A couple weeks ago, after the Battle of the Brandywine, we went over to Yonkers and schooled him off the gate and he was real comfortable going around that racetrack,” Saunders said. “Dube was schooling him. When I watched him go, he was real comfortable, steered fine.

“(September 16) we were at Pocono (won a qualifier by over 7 lengths in 1:51, with a :27.1 last quarter) and of course it is a very horse-friendly track and he got around that like a hoop around a barrel. We set foot at Delaware and jogged him there and in looking at the circumference and banking and footing, I think a horse can get around that very well. It’s a good half-mile track and I don’t see any issues. We won’t have that as an excuse.”

Saunders was asked if the fact Rock N Roll Heaven will have to race full tilt twice around the track for the first time could be a factor in the mentality of racing. “I think the smart horses know the difference,” he said. “They know when they’ve been a half mile and when they’ve been a mile. I wouldn’t anticipate any problem. As they continue to race and the driver continues to drive them, I don’t think it becomes an issue. Maybe a two-year-old, you might catch them by surprise the first time, but I don’t anticipate any problem of that nature.

“I think the most important thing is for him to be fresh and fit and that’s exactly what he is. He raced on the 22nd of August (winning the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine at Harrah’s Chester) and five days later, he went a mile at Yonkers in (1):54 and a piece and trained a good mile (a week later) at the Meadowlands. Thursday he went a good mile at Pocono. I think the fact that he’s so fresh the second heat won’t bother him. He has such high energy, he’s never really been tired after racing and has recovered quickly. I’ve asked myself the same question, ‘Do I want to do anything different in preparation for it?’ I don’t think so, just do the same routine.

“I think he’ll relish the fact that he’s getting the harness put back on to go out racing. Whenever we took him home after racing at the Meadowlands, he was up on his toes and acting like he wanted to go another heat. This time around I hope he has a chance to go two heats, he’ll get some luck in his elimination and he’ll come back.”

This is Saunders’ second trip to the Jug. “I only raced one other horse; in 1997 I raced a horse called Manificent. He finished eighth. Howard Parker came out and we had an outside post, left and wound up getting parked the entire mile. We didn’t have much luck, but he came back in the Dancer Memorial (at Freehold Raceway) maybe two weeks later and beat Western Dreamer, who won the ’97 Jug. That was our only time in the Jug.

“When I was doing my wish list for the eliminations, the two things I was hoping for was to be on the inside wing of the gate and not have to race against One More Laugh in the eliminations. As it turned out both of those things worked out fine, so I can’t be disappointed, but I think I am in a very difficult heat, a lot of very good horses. The horse with the rail, Kyle Major, you never quite know what’s going to happen with him, how aggressive he’s going to be or how they’re going to race him.

“It’ll be an interesting thing when the gate swings open. Nobody takes back when the man says ‘go.’ Five of them look to leave in the first turn and they come out of the turn in post position order and whether that’ll happen again, I don’t know. Daniel’s got the option, he’s got enough talent and enough ability with the horse that he can race him any way he wants to race him.”

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.