Heidi Rohr traded a career in finance for one in harness racing, a decision that will pay big dividends if The Awful Truth wins the $73,800 Exit 16W Final on Saturday night at the Meadowlands
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The Awful Truth is listed as the 4-1 second choice from Post 2 in the Exit 16W for four-year-old pacers. Rocknroll Band, winner of five straight, looms the one to beat as the 2-1 favourite from Post 8. Carded as Race 10, the Exit 16W shares the spotlight with the $84,000 Aquarius and $82,500 Junior Trendsetter finals on Saturday night.
Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, 29-year-old Rohr was introduced to harness racing by her father as a child and was instantly smitten with the sport. Although she obtained a college degree in finance and computer information systems, Rohr soon decided the only statistics she wanted to analyze were those in a racing program.
“My father and I bought our first horse back in the 1980s, and I became hands on,” Rohr said. “I worked in the finance industry for about six years, and did the horses part time. It just got to the point where I didn’t want to sit behind a desk anymore. I’d much rather sit behind a horse.”
Rohr quickly established herself in Maine, where she formerly resided. She expanded her stable last season and reached personal bests in wins (129) and earnings ($607,586).
“Last summer I tried Rockingham and then in September, I moved to the Golden Shoe Training Center in Bullville, New York,” she said. “It’s about 20 miles south of Monticello. This is a semi-permanent move, and we’re hoping it works out and we do well from here. My boyfriend, Jim Nickerson, and I have a great team, and right now we have 20 horses. We’ve been mainly racing at Yonkers and Monticello, and once Saratoga opens we’ll race a little bit there. We want to race more at the Meadowlands.”
Rohr bids for the biggest win of her budding training career with The Awful Truth, who entered her barn last August at Rockingham Park after being privately purchased by Mary Craig of Etna, Maine.
“The way we got the horse was good luck on our part,” she said. “He was supposed to go to Jason Bartlett and he wasn’t taking on any more horses. Also, at the time there was an alleged strangles outbreak at that track, so we were asked to race him there until the ban to leave was lifted. We did really well when we first got him and really liked him.
“When we shipped him to the Meadowlands in November, we thought he’d be competitive,” she continued. “He’s the best athlete I’ve ever sat behind. He’s regally bred and has blossomed, as he’s gotten older. He was real green, and didn’t know what he was doing, so we just took our time with him. We took him to a bullring fair track (Oxford) in Maine for a $25,000 invitational and he won that. Then, we decided to shut him down and let him mature. He’s grown a lot over the winter.”
The Awful Truth concluded his three-year-old campaign in the Oil Burner Series last November. He posted a second and third in the preliminary legs but was a distanced sixth in the final won by Bettor Sweet.
“He showed us how fast he could be in the Oil Burner Series finishing second to Bettor Sweet in 1:51.1,” she said. “In that first leg, he got by Bettor Sweet and kind of pulled himself up like he was done. So, we’ve really been working with him and tinkering with his bridle trying to get him right. It was like every week he had something different on. I think we’ve finally got him figured out right, and Tim Tetrick really likes the horse. We haven’t changed anything in the past couple of weeks with his equipment or training program.”
The Awful Truth rallied from far back to finish a close second behind Major General in the opening round of the Exit 16W Series. In the second leg, he dug in gamely after being parked the mile for a 1:51.3 victory.
“The first week of this series was pretty noteworthy, then he was monstrous first over to win in 1:51.3 last week,” Rohr noted. “Again, this horse is such a natural athlete. When he came back in after that mile he wasn’t exactly blowing too hard and was still bouncing around. He doesn’t realize how fast he is. All of last summer he raced on the front, but down here he’s gotten into a role of coming from off the pace. Things are setting up well from a good post for this final and we’re pretty excited. I love racing at the Meadowlands, and it’s a dream come true.”
PP, Horse, Driver, Trainer, Odds
1, Major Stone, Brian Sears, Mark Silva, 10-1
2, The Awful Truth, Tim Tetrick, Heidi Rohr, 4-1
3, Frankyluvsmeatbals, Eric Goodell, Debi O' Brien-Moran, 15-1
4, Major General, Andy Miller, Joseph Poliseno, 6-1
5, Camshaft Hanover, Daniel Dube, David Pinkney Jr., 10-1
6, Segundo Hanover, Yannick Gingras, Mark Ford, 8-1
7, He Means Business, John Campbell, Mark Ford, 15-1
8, Rocknroll Band, David Miller, Ken Rucker, 2-1
9, Drive All Night, George Brennan, Carmine Fusco, 5-1
10, Not Quite Forty, Ryan Anderson, Al Pellegrini, 15-1
(Meadowlands)