As some of harness racing's top sophomore trotters will be in action at The Red Mile on Sunday, one of those expected to be a factor in the major Grand Circuit events coming into 2020 will be watching from the sidelines and looking to compete with these horses once again next year.
Real Cool Sam, the 2019 Dan Patch Award winner as top two-year-old male trotter, has been sidelined due to an injury and will not race again in 2020.
"He's up at Fashion Farms right now," trainer Jim Campbell told the Red Mile's broadcast team. "We had to stop with him, he had an injury in his right hind. Everything's looking good for him to come back next year, and the Hambletonian Maturity will be one of the things on our list for next year."
Coming into the 2020 season, Real Cool Sam won nine of his 10 starts as a two-year-old, with his only defeat coming in the $789,474 Breeders Crown final at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Prior to, the Muscle Hill gelding out of former Campbell trainee Cooler Schooner won several Pennsylvania Sire Stakes prelims, the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship and the Peter Haughton Memorial. Much like his dam -- who still holds the world record for two-year-old trotting fillies on a five-eighths mile track -- Real Cool Sam set a world record in his final victory of his two-year-old season with a 1:52.1 win in a division of International Stallion Stakes at The Red Mile.
As a sophomore, Real Cool Sam was winless in two starts. He last raced on July 25 at The Meadowlands, finishing sixth in a division of the Geers. The gelding sports a lifetime summary of 9-0-0 in 12 career starts with $512,838 in earnings.