Daniel Dube knows what it’s like to drive a pacer to Horse of the Year honours. He did it in 2000 with Gallo Blue Chip. He could be in the process of doing it again
, this time with Rock N Roll Heaven, who is the No. 1-ranked horse in harness racing’s Top 10 poll. As the days wind down this season, he is trying to savor every moment with the colt.
“Every race left, it’s a pleasure,” Dube said. “It’s so nice. When are we going to get another one like him? We don’t know. I’m going to miss him a lot. It’s tough to get another one like him. To be a stud, that’s good for the owner. For a catch driver, I would like to race him again.”
Dube, who missed time this summer because of injuries related to a racing accident, has driven Rock N Roll Heaven in 21 of 27 career races. He has won 15 of those 21 starts and finished worse than second just twice. If Rock N Roll Heaven is voted Horse of the Year, Dube will join John Campbell, Mike Lachance, Bill O’Donnell, Ron Pierce, and Brian Sears as the drivers in the last 30 years to guide at least two different horses to the honour.
Of course, Dube is quick to note the recognition belongs to the horse.
“Speed [is his best quality]. When you ask him to do it, he just does it,” Dube said. “He goes around those horses like it’s easy for him. It’s like his legs never touch the ground. He’s always been easy to drive, and at the end right now it’s like he’s getting better and better. After the Little Brown Jug, it’s tough usually to recover. It looks like it doesn’t even bother him.”
Rock N Roll Heaven won the Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in consecutive heats, both with world-record-equaling 1:49.2 miles. He next won his Breeders Crown elimination race at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in 1:49.1 and a week later won the $500,000 final with a 1:49 mile. In the Breeders Crown, Rock N Roll Heaven led the field to three-quarters in 1:19.4, marking the first time a horse reached that point in less than 1:20 on a five-eighths of a mile oval.
“That race at Pocono, when I see the timer at 1:19, I think maybe he’s going to stop,” Dube said. “At the top of the stretch I asked him a little bit again, and he gave me some again. It was something special.”
On Saturday, Rock N Roll Heaven will face four rivals in the $437,100 Messenger Stakes at Yonkers Raceway. Rock N Roll Heaven’s owner, Frank Bellino, supplemented the colt to the race for $60,000. Yonkers is a half-mile racetrack, as was the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
“The way he raced in the Little Brown Jug, it doesn’t look like the turns bother him,” Dube said. “He should be real good at Yonkers. He’s good gaited and he’s so smart. He does everything the right way.”
Dube said Rock N Roll Heaven and Gallo Blue Chip were the best horses he has ever driven. Beyond that, he was uncertain.
“I don’t know which one is better,” Dube said. “One was very tough and the other one has got more speed. They’ve got something special. They are two great horses. I couldn’t pick one.”
Rock N Roll Heaven, trained by Bruce Saunders, has won 13 of 18 races this year and earned $1.83 million. The colt has won seven consecutive starts – all in 1:49.2 or faster – since losing by a head to Rockin Image in a division of the Oliver Wendell Holmes at the Meadowlands on August 7.
His win streak includes the Little Brown Jug in a world-record performance, the Breeders Crown, the Tattersalls Stakes, the Battle of the Brandywine, and a division of the Bluegrass Stakes.
With a victory in the Messenger, Rock N Roll Heaven would become the 19th horse to capture two jewels of the Pacing Triple Crown, and the first since Always A Virgin in 2007. Of course, the same can be said of One More Laugh, driven by Tim Tetrick, as he aims for another Triple Crown triumph.
One More Laugh has won seven of 16 races this year and earned $1.30 million for trainer Ray Schnittker, who owns the gelding with the Creative Racing Stable and Jerry Silva. In addition to winning the Cane Pace, One More Laugh’s victories include the $1 million Meadowlands Pace, where he edged Rock N Roll Heaven by a head, and a division of the Bluegrass Stakes. He finished second to Rock N Roll Heaven in the Tattersalls and the Battle of the Brandywine.
Here is a look at the field in post position order for the Messenger with listed drivers and trainers:
1. Tobago Cays, Cat Manzi, Jeffrey Webster
2. Urgent Action, Jason Bartlett, Jerry Silverman
3. Hes Gorgeous, George Brennan, Linda Toscano
4. Rock N Roll Heaven, Daniel Dube, Bruce Saunders
5. One More Laugh, Tim Tetrick, Ray Schnittker
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.