Returning Ohio divisional champ LT Loverboy will make his seasonal debut in the $25,000 USD James K. Hackett Memorial elimination for three-year-old male trotters on Thursday, April 24 at Miami Valley Raceway and trainer Daren Harvey is looking forward to getting the campaign underway.
“Hopefully, the sky’s the limit for him,” said Harvey. “Everybody gets the stars in their eyes, but you try to stay grounded. But it’s hard when you sit behind him in a mile.
“We’ll see how he came back. One day at a time, that’s where we are.”
Last year, LT Loverboy hit the board in all 10 of his races, winning six and finishing second three times on his way to being honoured as Ohio’s top two-year-old male trotter by the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association. The gelding was an Ohio Sire Stakes champion and earned $416,514 for owners Wayne Mast Jr. and Callam Racing.
“You always hope you get to be around horses like this,” said Harvey, adding about LT Loverboy’s divisional recognition, “The feeling is unexplainable. It was a dream come true.”
LT Loverboy, a son of Long Tom-Fortheloveoflindy, was purchased for $60,000 at the 2023 Ohio Selected Jug Sale. He is a full brother to multiple Ohio Fair Stakes winner Commander Tom and a half brother to another multiple Ohio stakes winner, Vivi D. His family also includes the likes of Dan Patch Award winners Pizza Dolce and Bella Bellini as well as millionaire French Wine.
After beginning his career with two starts in a Pop-Up Series for two-year-old male trotters at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, LT Loverboy spent the remainder of 2024 competing on the Ohio stakes circuit. And while Harvey certainly enjoyed the horse’s wins, it was a head loss to Scrappys Love in a division of the Ohio Breeders Championship at the Delaware County Fairgrounds that most impressed the trainer.
LT Loverboy and driver Brett Miller began a first-over move from third just prior to the mile’s halfway point and engaged in a duel with leader Scrappys Love from there. The two raced side-by-side for nearly the entire final quarter-mile.
“The race where he awed me, and I’ve watched the replay a dozen times now, was the Breeders Championship,” said Harvey. “It takes a next-level horse to fight twice down the lane. Scrappys Love kind of pulled away from him by a half-length and we were still charging back to the wire. You don’t see that. That’s a rarity. I know we finished second, but all the same, it’s just watching that desire. You can’t train that.”
On Thursday, LT Loverboy and Miller will leave from post seven in a Hackett elim field of nine. LT Loverboy is 7-2 on the morning line, behind Battle Hill at 2-1 and the three-horse Ron Burke entry of Rose Run Alex, Hilltop Sonar and Memory Vault at 5-2. The top eight finishers will join bye-taker Whats Shakin in the final.
LT Loverboy heads to the race with one qualifier, which he won in 1:57.4 at The Meadows on April 8, under his belt. The horse’s connections had the first crack at accepting the Hackett bye as the field’s top money-earner, but Harvey wanted to get the gelding a start.
“I hoped to have another qualifier, but I feel we’re ready,” said Harvey. “We might be a little short this week, but with how he trained last week, I feel pretty confident.
“We’ve got some good competition on Thursday. Nothing we didn’t see last year, but we’ll see if they’ve developed more than what they were then. Hopefully, we did too.”
So far, Harvey has been pleased with the changes he’s seen in LT Loverboy as they prepare for the season.
“The horse has always been extremely handy, but he’s a racehorse now,” said Harvey. “I can’t believe the racehorse mentality that he’s developed. He’s always been on the lazy side, but now this year, I don’t want to say he’s aggressive because I don’t know if this horse ever could be aggressive, but he’s just right there.”
In addition to the Hackett elimination for three-year-old male trotters, Miami Valley on Thursday hosts Hackett elims for sophomore female trotters and sophomore male pacers (there is a prep for the filly pacers). Racing begins at 4 p.m. For complete entries, click here.
(USTA)