St Elmo Hero Recovering

Published: May 10, 2011 12:08 pm EDT

After a fading, eighth-place finish in the $50,000 Graduate elimination at the Meadowlands on Saturday, May 7, after a lengthy duel with eventual winner Bettor Sweet, owner John Barnard knew something was wrong with

pacer St Elmo Hero.

“That was just not like him. After the race we found out he was sick,” he said, adding that there were inklings before the race that all might not be well.

“I don’t think he had a good trailer ride down from Canada,” said Barnard, who drove the truck and trailer. “He ate his breakfast, but showed no interest in his lunch that day, and then he started nibbling at it later. He jogged well the next day and even scored down well for the race, but obviously, he wasn’t himself. You could see he was in distress at the end of the mile. Sure enough, we had him looked at and he’s sick.”

After treatment by a veterinarian, Barnard said St Elmo Hero is bouncing back quickly.

“He is feeling better today,” Barnard told harnessracing.com on Monday afternoon. “I’m walking him right now and he’s eating Meadowlands grass. If he keeps getting better I might race him in the Open at Pocono this weekend. I don’t want to ship him all the way back home unless he’s fully recovered.”

After just the second loss of his career, Barnard’s faith in his pacer remains strong.

“He’s staying in all the big races we paid him into. His next big race is the Dan Patch at Hoosier on May 28. He’s already been invited and our plan is to go.”

(Harnessracing.com)

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