The aptly named four-year-old pacing mare Shortest Distance (30-20-1-3; $68,209) has found the shortest distance to the winners circle 20 times this year, a feat that ties her with three-year-old pacing filly Bell On Wheels
as the winningest Standardbred of 2009. Neither horse is giving an inch and both are expected to race at least once more this year, possibly twice.
There are two horses tied with 19 wins - three-year-old filly pacer Real Espresso, who has not raced since October, and nine-year-old trotting mare Krissy K, who has won two in a row at Northfield Park.
Shortest Distance has the first chance to move ahead as she is in-to-go in race seven at Yonkers Raceway on Thursday from post eight – not the shortest distance around the track. Bell On Wheels (31-20-3-4; $65,929) qualified in 1:59.1 on December 11 and is ready to race again after a brief break. She's expected to race on December 23, but is not yet entered.
Mark Kesmodel, the trainer of Shortest Distance, says they're not conceding to anyone and will attempt to edge to the lead.
"We're going to try at Yonkers on Thursday, give it one more shot," said Kesmodel, who has had the mare since late August for owner Larry Baron. Baron bought the daughter of Park Place from John Schmigel, who also owned her when she won an even dozen consecutive races earlier this year, including all legs and the final of the Faithful Filly Stake at Freehold Raceway. Schmigel trained the filly as she rose from an 0-for-17 streak and a stint as a $4,000 claimer.
"I'm going to drop her a little," Kesmodel said. "She's been racing in a $15,000 claimer; I'm going to drop her to $12,500, so she'll have a little better shot. I don't think anybody will take her, (but) they might. I want to try to get the record so I'm willing to take that risk."
Shortest Distance's greatest trait may be her attitude on the track.
"She's a little thing, but just a tough, tough mare," Kesmodel said. "She likes to have her picture taken, so that's her best quality. She pins her ears and she doesn't like to get passed; she's got a winning attitude.
"I think she's getting a little tired, to me she's not quite as sharp as she was. This is understandable since she's been going all year, but soundness wise, she's relatively sound. She could be getting a little tired because she gives 100 percent every time she's out there. It's been tough getting in at Yonkers every week, so you've got to do some work in between. On a weekly basis, she doesn't need a whole lot. She gets daily exercise which includes turnout time plus work on the track."
While Shortest Distance is a winner on the track, she's no Miss Congeniality to get along with, says Kesmodel.
"She's sort of nasty, she'll hurt you if you're not careful, she'll come at you," he said. "You have to watch her. On the track, she's fine. In the stall, she wants to be left alone."
Meanwhile, out in western Pennsylvania, Bell On Wheels is ready to go after a break from the races since October. She is coming off a streak that saw her win her 20 races all in a row, all at the Pennsylvania fairs, for then-owner/trainer/driver Roger Hammer.
Trainer Rod Bolon, who bought her for owner James Snyder in late October, says Bell On Wheels is ready to go.
"We qualified her, so she might be racing next week or the week after," he said. "Actually she can go in a maiden (horses that have never won a race) because she doesn't have any pari-mutuel wins. She ought to be pretty good in there. We'll see."
Bolon says Bell On Wheels will be racing with one less piece of equipment - her hopples.
"We qualified her free-legged; Hammer thought she could go free-legged and so we went ahead and did it," Bolon said. "My son Kyle drove her and she won in (1):59.1. If she really gets pressured some time, it might not work out, but right now she qualified fine without the hopples. We're going to try her that way a few times and see if she can handle it.
"She's in great shape. Basically she just needed a little rest after the fairs, so we gave her two months off. They'll go in (1):57 or (1):58 (in maiden races) this time of year; she should be good in there I think."
Like Shortest Distance, Bell On Wheels can be a bit challenging to deal with, though she is a lady around the barn.
"She's pretty nice," Bolon said. "She's a little testy on the track, she'll run off the track once in a while, stuff like that, but in the barn she's fine. She does have her little quirks."
*
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S.
Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com. *