JK Owhatanite, a three-year-old filly named after the Four Seasons’ hit song 'December 1963 (Oh, What A Night),' is among the horses entered for Friday’s afternoon of racing at Historic Track in Goshen, New York
, as part of Hall of Fame Weekend.
Trained by Linda Toscano and driven by Jason Bartlett, the filly has won four of five races this year, including the $197,634 Lismore Stakes at Yonkers Raceway on June 4.
Friday’s card at Historic Track features nine New York State Fair Sire Stakes events for three-year-old male and female pacers. In addition, there is the Ladies Invitational and one Catskills Amateur Drivers race.
JK Owhatanite will compete in the day’s first race. Post time is 1 p.m.
“We’re ecstatic with her,” said Alan Katz of the 3 Brothers Stable, which bred and owns JK Owhatanite. “We knew she could get around the half-mile tracks. That’s where her advantage has been, around the small tracks. We planned to keep her on the small tracks pretty much, and she’s a New York-sired [horse] and most of the tracks are half [mile]. She’s been very good.”
Katz and his brothers, Ron and Steve, make up the ownership group. Their horses all carry the initials JK in memory of their late father, Jack Katz.
The Katz family, which operates a linen supply business in New York, is no stranger to success in harness racing. They were among the owners of 1993 International Trot winner Giant Force and also 2002 Breeders Crown champion Molly Can Do It. Their Jkmusicofthenite, named for the song from the musical “Phantom of the Opera,” was a multiple stakes-winner and finished second in the 2009 Lismore.
JK Owhatanite won once on the New York Sire Stakes circuit in 2010 and finished second on three occasions. She brings a four-race winning streak into Friday’s start. She will start from post six in a seven-horse field.
“She had ability at [age] two and she matured between two and three,” Katz said. “Our filly is handy on a small track. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that she stays sound and continues to perform. I wish I had more like her. Right now she’s giving us a good time.”
Randy Bendis’ first foray into the New York Sire Stakes program with three-year-old male pacer American Rage has been a success so far. The son of American Ideal-Raging Heart has two wins and a second in three starts on the circuit. He faces six rivals Friday in the New York State Fair Sire Stakes at Historic Track.
Ed Hart trains the gelding for Bendis, who owns the horse with Michael Novosel Jr. and Reed Broadway. Jordan Stratton handles the driving.
“He’s a real nice horse,” said Bendis, who lives in Pennsylvania and perhaps is best known for training multiple stakes winner Georgia Pacific. “He’s just a long, real gorgeous colt. This is our first endeavor into the New York Sire Stakes. He looked like a pretty good candidate. He reminded me a lot of his dad, American Ideal. He looked a lot like the Direct Scooter side of the family.”
American Rage was a $32,000 purchase at the Lexington Selected Sale. His mother, Raging Heart, was a multiple stakes winner and his family includes 1986 Breeders Crown winner Masquerade and 1981 Meadowlands Pace runner-up Computer.
Last season, a stakes payment snafu left American Rage to compete in Pennsylvania, where he won two of five starts and was no worse than third in any race. This year, he has won six of 12 races and earned $91,040.
“We raced him light,” Bendis said. “We thought we had a pretty nice horse and pointed him toward getting some races under his belt. It seemed like he got a little better, a little stronger, every start. He accomplished some things as a two-year-old, but you always felt he was saving a little bit. That’s why we decided to castrate him, and it helped him for sure.”
American Rage is staked only in New York, which is fine with Bendis.
“If you’re going to follow that [sire stakes] program, there’s not a lot of room for anything else,” Bendis said. “That was our aim, to be one of the better ones and get in the final, and have a nice older horse when it’s all said and done. Ed Hart has done a wonderful job with him. As long as everything works out, he should have a real nice racing future.”
The 101st anniversary of Grand Circuit Racing at Goshen Historic Track will be marked on Friday with these New York State Fair Sire Stakes for three-year-old pacers. Also on tap for Friday are the Ladies Invitational and the Catskill Amateur Series. Saturday features all divisions of the Landmark Stakes. Sunday is Hall of Fame Day and Historic Track hosts the New York State Fair Sire Stakes for three-year-old trotters, the Hall of Fame Trot, and the C.K.G. Billings Series.
Goshen Historic Track will feature a full field of drivers, all members of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame, in the 13th annual $10,000 Mr. and Mrs. Elbridge Gerry Memorial Trot, Sunday. Drivers expected to participate in the race are Jim Doherty, Herve Filion, Wally Hennessey, Mike Lachance, Cat Manzi, Bill O’Donnell, Ray Remmen and John Simpson Jr. Filion, Palone and Manzi are the three winningest drivers in North American harness racing history. The race honours the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Elbridge Gerry; their sons Elbridge and Peter will be on hand to present the trophy.
Hall of Fame drivers will be on hand to sign autographs and the all-time leading money-winning pacer, Gallo Blue Chip, will be stabled near the grandstand for photo opportunities.
The U.S. Trotting Association, with the cooperation of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, will offer a live webcast of the 2011 Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Sunday. The webcast will begin at 6:45 p.m. (EDT) and will be available on the home page. Master of Ceremonies Roger Huston will again preside over one of the sport’s most glittering evenings, conducted on the lawn of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, located in historic Goshen, N.Y.
Jim Simpson of Hanover Shoe Farms and Walter Russell, a longtime leading racing official, will be inducted into the Living Hall of Fame. In addition, Eternal Camnation, Gallo Blue Chip, Artistic Vision, J Cs Nathalie and Tsunami Hanover will be inducted into the Living Horse Hall of Fame.
Also to be inducted are the newest members of the Communicators’ Hall of Fame, the late publicist Joe Hartmann and television personality Gary Seibel. Owner and breeder Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg will receive the Pinnacle Award and Steve Oldford will be honored as the Amateur Driver of the Year. The 2010 U.S. Horse of the Year, Rock N Roll Heaven, also will be cited.
On Monday, racing will feature all divisions of the New York County Fair Stakes. Post time is 1 p.m. every day.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.