Rick Zeron has surely been in the limelight as of late, as his sophomore trotting filly Atlanta has been captivating the industry with brilliant performances. Although, it is one of Zeron’s other big guns, Shamballa, who has quietly resurfaced.
On Tuesday (June 26) at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the career winner of 24 races and $943,000 in purses recorded his first charted mile in 10 months, as Shamballa took part in a compact, five-race qualifying session over the Campbellville, Ont. course.
Shamballa, who owns a scintillating mark of 1:47.1 taken over the Meadowlands, kicked off the morning session, as he lined up in Post 5 for the first of the Mohawk qualifiers.
Zeron was calling the shots in the affair, and he elected to ease his Somebeachsomewhere gelding off the gate. The duo raced third as the James MacDonald-driven Tuxedo Bay led the field down to the quarter pole in :28.2 over the ‘fast’ track.
The ‘Z-Man’ called on his charge to make a move in the second quarter, and the bay responded with a first-over advance. While still on the outside, Shamballa tripped the half-mile timer in :57.4, and cleared to the point in the third quarter.
From there, Shamballa spun off three quarters in 1:25.2, and he finished things off with a 27-second final quarter.
Shamballa’s win time was 1:52.2, and his margin of victory was one and a quarter lengths over Tuxedo Bay. The Jonathan Drury-driven Daylight Rush rounded out the top three.
It goes without saying that Shamballa is one of the best Open pacers on the continent when he is in form. He took his 1:47.1 mark in the 2016 U.S. Pacing Championship, where he defeated the likes of 2016 U.S. Horse of the Year Always B Miki and 2016 O'Brien Award winner Wiggle It Jiggleit. After a hoof issue put a dent in Shamballa’s 2017 campaign, Zeron and his co-owners have let the speedy gelding tell them when he’s ready.
By all reports, Shamballa is ready to spar again.
In speaking of Shamballa’s Tuesday qualifying effort, Zeron told Trot Insider that the bay paced his back half in :54 and that he was “very happy with him.”
“We took our time with him, brought him back slowly,” Zeron continued, adding that Shamballa is “100 per cent sound."
Rick Zeron Stables (of Oakville, Ont.) co-owns Shamballa with Cool Cat Racing Inc. (Flemington, NJ), Howard Taylor (Philadelphia, PA) and Brad Grant (Milton, Ont.).
"I'm extremely happy for my partners,” said Zeron. “They were very patient and let me take my time him. I hope they're rewarded."
Zeron also told Trot Insider that he is planning to enter Shamballa to contest Woodbine Mohawk Park’s July 7 Preferred.
Zeron also noted a number of stakes engagements as possibilities for Shamballa. Those races include the Canadian Pacing Derby, the Bobby Quillen, the Hoosier Pacing Derby, the Allerage, Breeders Crown, TVG and the Potomac Pace.
To view the harness racing results for the Tuesday qualifying session at Mohawk, click the following link: Tuesday Results – Woodbine Mohawk Park (Qualifiers).