Razzle Dazzle has been nothing short of dazzling so far this year for trainer Mark Silva and owner Ira Kristel.
The six-year-old gelding enters Saturday’s opening round of the TVG Free For All Series for older pacers at Meadowlands Racetrack off his neck victory over Foiled Again in the $450,000 George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series final on April 27 at Yonkers Raceway.
Razzle Dazzle has won four of six starts this season – including three-in-a-row entering this weekend’s race – and earned $301,250, pushing his lifetime purses to $914,419.
“So far he’s just been awesome,” said Silva, who took over the training of Razzle Dazzle late last year. “The one race (in the Levy series) where he got parked was the only time that he wasn’t just super. I trained him (Tuesday) and I thought it’s the best he’s been so far.”
There are two seven-horse $50,000 divisions of the TVG Free For All Open for pacers on Saturday night. Razzle Dazzle races in the first division, which includes Dancin Yankee, Dynamic Youth, Golden Receiver, Sweet Lou, Warrawee Needy and Meirs Hanover. Razzle Dazzle starts from post five with driver John Campbell.
Levy runner-up Foiled Again, the richest pacer in North American harness racing history with $4.8 million in earnings, headlines the second division. Also in the race are Fred And Ginger, Hurrikane Kingcole, Casimir Jitterbug, Modern Legend, Dial Or Nodial and Mr Hasani N.
Also on Saturday’s card are two seven-horse eliminations for the Arthur J. Cutler Memorial for older trotters. Defending champion Mister Herbie is among the horses entered in the elims, which serve as the opening round of the TVG Free For All Series for trotters.
Razzle Dazzle, trained previously by Jerry and Richie Silverman, picked up his most lucrative win with his Levy triumph last month, but has been a consistent earner during his career. He was second to Foiled Again in last year’s Indiana Pacing Derby and third in the Molson Pace. In 2010, he was second by a neck to Rock N Roll Heaven in a division of the Bluegrass and third in the Little Brown Jug and American-National.
“I knew he was a good horse from before,” Silva said. “I always liked the way he covered the ground, especially late. He’s just a big, nice horse going over the ground.”
Of Razzle Dazzle’s six starts this season, five came in the Levy series on Yonkers’ half-mile oval. The Meadowlands is a one-mile track.
“I really want to see him get on the big track to see where I’m at with him,” Silva said. “I don’t know where we’re at on the big track, but I think he’s a better horse on the big track just because of his stride and his size.
“He feels really good and he came out of Yonkers really good. Plus when a horse wins three or four in a row they feel better. I think he’s feeling sound and that combination has him starting to feel pretty good about himself.”
The TVG Free For All Series features nine preliminary rounds for pacers and trotters and finishes with a $500,000 final for each on Nov. 30 at the Meadowlands. The prelims for pacers are Saturday’s Open, an Open on June 1, the eliminations and final of the William R. Haughton Memorial, the eliminations and final of the U.S. Pacing Championship, the Allerage Farms Open Pace, the Breeders Crown, and an Open on Nov. 23.
“It’s going to be interesting,” said Silva, who trained the sport’s top older male pacer of 2005 in Boulder Creek. “It’s going to be tough; you’ve got to last for a long time. Normally if you can get a horse to peak for six or eight weeks you’ve done good for the year. To get them to peak all year is pretty tough.”
The trainer added, “It’s a tough group this year, but I think (Razzle Dazzle) can hold his own.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.