Yet another marquee three year of the class of 2009 is set to make his Florida debut as trainer Bill Gallagher confirms Tom Cango will be entered for Pompano Park's top weekly trot on the upcoming Boxing Day doubleheader card
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"He's trained just great since he got here," said Gallagher. "That said, he's a really mean horse around the barn. The only one that can go near him is my girlfriend, Kim. He really hates men but once harnessed he's fine to jog and go about his work."
The three-year-old Tom Ridge-B Cor Tamgo colt was a career winner of over $466,000 for owners Arlene and Jules Siegel prior to Gallagher's purchase of him from the recent Harrisburg sale for Joe Chnapko.
"Joe is 89 years old now, he's a Mercedes-Benz dealer in New Jersey and he's just a great guy for the business," Gallagher says. "We had a lot of luck and fun with Hellava Hush that made over a million dollars for us. Mr. Chnapko decided he wanted to try again to have a top class trotter. He raced against Muscle Hill and was third in this year's Kentucky Futurity. We went up to the $130,000 price for him at Harrisburg based on his future earnings potential and his stakes scheduled for 2010 is being left up to me."
Tom Cango will need to be at his best for his Florida debut on Saturday night. He'll be against the top older trotters spending the Winter in South Florida and that's a crop that includes Battleshoe Victor, Gale Warning, Colies, Mccoy, Sam Nelson and Talk About Me.
"I'm not really worried about him going against those older horses now," Gallagher said. "It's really late in his three-year-old season and I'd consider him a four-year-old now. Plus, he made only 13 starts this year and he's had only 22 lifetime starts. Mind you, they were all tough starts against the best in his division but he seems really fresh with a great future still ahead of him."
Having great trotters in his barn is certainly nothing new for Gallagher. The 45-year-old conditioner hails originally from Saginaw, MI and in addition to the conquests of Hellava Hush earlier this decade, he was the trainer of 1996 Breeders Crown filly trot champion Personal Banner in a monumental upset of 1-9 favourite Moni Maker.
"I still recall my first lifetime win in the early 1980's with Dancing Clown at my hometown track in Saginaw," Gallagher says. "Dollar for dollar the racing at Pompano Park is really tough. This year I've seen horses that were racing in $20,000 claimers at Tioga and Pocono have to be dropped down to the $12,500 or even $10,000 levels to get a win here. Wintering in Florida as I have now for several years is really great and whether I stay until the end of the current meet next May 22 will depend on what the racing schedule turns out to be for Tom Cango in 2010."
Milestone Birthday For Macomber
Though his lone starter (Fox Valley Arika) on the Monday evening program finished fifth, Pompano Park trainer Dick Macomber of Ft. Lauderdale marked his 75th birthday on December 21 at the South Florida track. In 2009, he's sent out 239 starters to date with 43 of those returning for winner's photographs. Lifetime, he's trained almost 700 winners for almost $5 million in purses. He stepped away from driving duty just over three years but has also amassed over 1,100 lifetime driving wins for over $4.9 million in purse earnings.
In the current meet at The Isle Pompano Park which began on September 19, Macomber has harnessed 14 winners from 59 starters for purse earnings of over $68,000.
Harmer's Win Well Deserved
A newcomer to the stable of Tom Harmer came up a winner in her debut from his outfit on the Monday evening, December 21 card at Pompano Park.
Stylish Soiree N, a two-year-old filly by Elsu-Fake Cash benefited from perfectly patient handling by Harmer to win a NW1 pace as they caught the pacesetter Monsieur Paris in mid-stretch. Ciara Stable of Willowbrook, IL holds the ownership papers on Stylish Soiree N as she earned a life's mark of 1:58.
Earlier this month, Harmer organized a huge donation of equipment and horses on the Pompano backstretch and from his northern base in Chicago and then volunteered the use of his staff and large trailer for the deliveries to Ohio's Lebanon Raceway barn fire relief effort.
(Pompano Park)