Chris Page got to watch Smoking Jet’s 2022 season from multiple vantage points, but whether he was in the sulky or on the sidelines, Page enjoyed the view.
Page, along with Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi, purchased Smoking Jet in March 2022. Last season, the now six-year-old gelding won 16 of 38 races, earned $245,685 and was named Ohio’s Older Trotter of the Year. He tied for the second-most victories by any trotter in North America.
Interestingly, Page drove the Ron Burke-trained Smoking Jet only four times. Ronnie Wrenn Jr. sat behind Smoking Jet most often, winning 12 of 20 starts, all at MGM Northfield Park.
Wrenn’s triumphs with the trotter included the Tom Aldrich President’s Trot, a state-bred invitational, in a world record 1:52.1 on the half-mile oval. Page was at Northfield for Ohio Sire Stakes action but watched that race as a spectator.
“I said leave Ronnie up; I still own a piece of the horse and I’ll be Ronnie’s biggest fan that race,” said Page. “Those two made a very good team, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They ended up winning the race and I got my picture taken [in the winner’s circle]. It was cool.”
Page drives mostly at Ohio’s three tracks located in the central or southwest portions of the state — Miami Valley, Hollywood Dayton and Eldorado Scioto Downs (where Page drove Smoking Jet to victory in the Ohio Sire Stakes championship for older male trotters) — while Smoking Jet flourished at Northfield, near Cleveland.
“He fit very well at Northfield,” said Page. “He’ll go on any track, but he kind of found his niche. [Burke] knows where the horses fit, you just have to go for the ride. I’ll be cheering him on wherever he goes.”
On Wednesday, that will be at Miami Valley Raceway, where Page will drive Smoking Jet in the $30,000 Open Trot. Smoking Jet, who will be making his first start since a victory at Northfield on Jan. 8, is the 3-1 morning-line favourite in a field of 10. He will start from post three.
Smoking Jet prepped for the race with a 1:56.3 qualifier win last week at Miami Valley with Page in the bike.
“He had a nice vacation and that always does a body good,” said Page. “He looked really good. He had a lot of bark on the tree. He’s always been a pretty good looking horse, even when we purchased him. He went a year straight with racing. It was a well-deserved break.”
Rick Hartman, who passed away at the end of April of complications from a battle with cancer, and his wife Tami owned and trained Smoking Jet prior to the trotter joining Burke’s stable. Following the completion of the sale, the horse’s new connections told the Hartmans they would continue to receive five per cent of the horse’s earnings — the typical payout to a trainer — for the remainder of the year.
Smoking Jet headed to Northfield and won his first four starts for the Burke Brigade on his way to earning $230,960 over the rest of the campaign.
“The horse takes care of himself,” Page said about the son of Triumphant Caviar-Paris Filly, who has won 25 of 96 career starts and earned $344,412. “He’s built to race. He’s very user-friendly from a driver’s standpoint. He might take a little nap down the backside but around the last turn and down the stretch, he’s always trotting forward. He’s always trying to pass horses, or if he’s on the lead, extend the lead. He knows where they pay you.
“It’s tough to teach that aspect. That’s what got my attention as far as liking the horse to begin with; he’s always trotting late. It’s just been a privilege to be able to jump on board, kind of piggyback on the success of the Burkes. It makes my job easy. From an owner’s standpoint, it’s like ‘Owning Horses for Dummies.’ They’ve got it figured out. Everything is nice. They make life very convenient.”
Smoking Jet is one of about a dozen horses, including broodmares and foals, owned by Page. The 39-year-old Ohio native had a memorable 2022 in a number of ways, including getting career victory 6,000, setting a career high with $7.78 million in purses, and winning the Little Brown Jug with Burke-trained Bythemissal.
“I’m in love with harness racing; it’s what I think about breakfast, lunch and dinner,” said Page. “I enjoy all different aspects of the game. First, I just like the horse. Second, I thought I could give back to the game a little bit and buy a baby every year or keep a broodmare and sell a baby.
“[Being an owner] gives you a different perspective. It’s fun. I make a living driving horses, I do the rest on the side because I just enjoy it. Anytime you’re passionate or enthusiastic about something it makes it very exciting.”
Racing begins at 4 p.m. EDT at Miami Valley. For Wednesday’s complete entries, click here.
(USTA)