Brennan On Milestone, Borgata & Matchmaker

George Brennan was 14 when he drove a horse to a paycheque for the first time. The teenager, making his only start of 1981, steered Myrons Bunny to a fifth-place finish in an amateur race, with the trotter collecting $50 in purse money.

At the time, the Monticello, N.Y., native could not imagine what the future held. Entering Friday, Brennan has amassed 11,543 career wins, which ranks No. 10 in North American history, received consecutive Driver of the Year awards from the U.S. Harness Writers Association in 2010 and 2011, and captured many of the sport’s top races, including the Hambletonian with Broad Bahn and Hambletonian Oaks with Bold And Fresh, both in 2011.

He also has accumulated — since that initial $50 start — nearly $199.7 million (USD) in purses as he prepares for the first Grand Circuit finals of the season Monday (April 24) at MGM Yonkers Raceway.

Brennan will drive Idealsomemagic A in the $511,000 MGM Borgata Series championship for older male pacers and Drama Act in the $328,200 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series finale for older female pacers, with it conceivable that a good night could boost Brennan to more than $200 million (USD) in purses.

Only six drivers in history have reached that $200 million plateau: John Campbell, David Miller, Tim Tetrick, Yannick Gingras, Ron Pierce and Brian Sears.

“When I first started racing at Monticello, I don’t know what I was looking for, honestly, I just knew I wanted to race horses,” Brennan said, adding that at the time a number like $200 million in purses was unfathomable.

“As far as racing goes that’s a huge milestone, which I’m proud of, and I’m proud of the company I’m going to be in. That’s special. When you look at the six in front of me, I look up to all those guys. I’m very happy about it. It’s a lot of work, a lot of miles on the road. Like I tell young guys in the game, you’ve got to show up and you’ve got to work. You’ve got to be there every night. When you’re there every night, good things happen eventually.

“It’s worked out pretty good for me.”

Brennan will look to keep the good times going Monday. Idealsomemagic A, trained by Cory Stratton, led the Borgata standings at the end of the five preliminary rounds of the series thanks to three wins, a second, and a fourth. Brennan drove the nine-year-old gelding in his two most recent starts after driver Jordan Stratton opted to remain with defending series champion Funatthebeach N.

Idealsomemagic A defeated Funatthebeach N by a head last week, completing a rally from fifth place in the last quarter-mile. The previous week, Idealsomemagic A took the lead at the start, but got nailed by Funatthebeach N nearing the finish line. The margin was a neck.

“He went a great mile on the lead for me two starts back,” Brennan said, adding with a laugh, “I actually thought I had Funatthebeach put away, but he wouldn’t go away.

“Last week, the plan was to race him from behind and race late. That’s what we did, and he picked them up. I personally think he’s a little better from behind. The week Jordan won with him from behind (in round one of the series) he just flew home. He paced home pretty good for me, too, last week. But I raced against him enough when he was on the lead, and I don’t think I ever got by him. So, he’s pretty good that way too.”

Idealsomemagic A paced his last quarter in :26.4 last week, duplicating the time of his finishing kick in round one. Of the remaining seven horses in the Borgata final, only Backstreet Shadow recorded a sub-:27 last quarter during the series. He did it once, coming home in :26.2 last week to end up third behind Idealsomemagic A and Funatthebeach N.

The draw for the Borgata final finds Idealsomemagic A starting from post three. He is 6-1 on the morning line.

“He’s in a pretty good spot; I’ve got options,” Brennan said. “That being said, it’s a strong bunch.”

This Is The Plan, the 2021 Borgata champion, will leave from post two with Yannick Gingras driving for trainer Ron Burke and is the 2-1 favourite. This Is The Plan, who started from inside post six just once in the five weeks of the series, was ninth in points but joined the field when eighth-place Jimmy Freight was not entered due to injury. This Is The Plan heads to the final off a gate-to-wire score from post six last week.

Covered Bridge, who won his starts in rounds four and five, will leave from post one with Tyler Buter driving for trainer Jeff Gillis and is the 5-2 second choice.

In the Blue Chip Matchmaker, defending series champ Drama Act will start from post six with Brennan in the sulky for trainer Burke. The six-year-old had two wins, one second, and two fourths in the prelims. She is 6-1 on the morning line.

“She wasn’t as fortunate with the draw this year as she was last year (with post one),” Brennan said. “Four of the speed horses in the race are inside of her. It doesn’t look like I can go forward in there, that’s for sure. It’s not happening, that’s the bottom line.

“But she’s come back good. I have confidence in her, and I have confidence in the barn she comes from too. She likes the track, she gets around it great, and she’s versatile. She can win on the lead, she can win from behind, first over; she can do pretty much whatever I want to do with her.”

Racine Bell, who raced four times in the series and posted two wins and two seconds, is the 2-1 favourite from post two with Jason Bartlett driving for trainer Dave Dewhurst. Amazing Dream N, with three wins and a second in four prelims, is the 5-2 second choice from post one with Gingras at the lines for trainer Linda Toscano.

Racing begins at 7 p.m. (EDT) at Yonkers. For free TrackMaster past performance pages of Monday's card, click here.

To complement the series finals, the Empire Terrace dining room will be open Monday evening. Owners and fans are invited to attend the races and enjoy a dinner buffet for $50 per person plus 20 percent gratuity. A cash bar will also be available. No reservations are required but those interested can call 914.457.2627 for more details.

(USTA)