Sunday’s elimination race for the $500,000 Ben Franklin Pace for older pacers at Harrah’s Chester was the 25th victory in 72 career starts for the seven-year-old Shark Gesture
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It was the fifth win in six 2010 starts, coming in wire-to-wire fashion in 1:49.1 and trainer Larry Remmen says the horse is at once amazing and uncomplicated.
“Nothing bothers him. Somebody has to feed and water him, that’s all,” Remmen said. “He’s just a complete professional. We’ve never had a horse like this before, ever. Beach Towel (1990 Horse of the Year) was a nice horse, but a different kind; nothing like this guy, that’s for sure. If he could do one more thing, I wish he could interviews for me, because I’m not very good at them,” said Remmen with a laugh about the $2.3 million winner.
Shark Gesture, the No. 1-ranked horse in harness racing’s Top 10 poll, won his Franklin elim by a length over Atochia in 1:49.1. Hypnotic Blue Chip was third, followed by Three Of Spades. All four horses advanced to Sunday’s $500,000 Franklin final.
Vintage Master won the other elim, beating Won The West by a half-length in 1:48.1. The time set a world record for four-year-old pacers on a five-eighths of a mile track. Keep It Real was third and Dali was fourth to round out the Franklin field.
Shark Gesture had a brief stallion career in 2008 and his first crop of yearlings will go to the sales this fall. Of 43 foals born, 33 were colts.
“I’ve got to be honest, I don’t even know where they all are,” Remmen said. “There was a guy by today that has a friend in Canada with one that they love, a colt. They’re supposed to be nice looking individuals and I was talking to (fellow trainer) Noel Daley and he has some babies Down Under, too. I’ll be surprised if they’re not big on everybody’s radar. There’s no reason why he won’t give his abilities to his offspring. If they’re anything like him I don’t know why somebody wouldn’t want one.”
Remmen says he can’t find a chink in Shark Gesture’s armour.
“Nothing that we’ve found yet,” he said. “He’s fully mature now at age seven. I think that missing that year (2008 when he was at stud duty) just made him that much better. We’ll never know for sure, but it seems like it didn’t hurt him. I don’t know what he would have been like if he raced that year. As nice as he is, you’d never know the horse had bred mares, that’s how quiet an animal he is; the perfect gentleman to be around. I think anybody that was in his presence can see he’s just a nice animal.”
Remmen says Shark Gesture does not need much work between races. “This week he’ll get a couple days off, but when he’s had a couple weeks in between races, he goes out to Leslie McLaren at Blairwood Farm (in Columbus, New Jersey) for about three or four days and then he comes back in and gets in his routine. It’s worked for us.
“He really, really enjoys having a regular schedule. He likes the routine and if there’s a day he’s not going out, he doesn’t understand. He doesn’t have a fit or anything, he just keeps looking at the door wondering why we’re not calling on him to go out and do his work. He’s the first one to go out. As stupid and corny as it sounds, he nickers as soon as he sees you come down to get him. He knows it’s time. He’s been waiting for you to get there.”
Remmen doesn’t have a grand race strategy for driver George Brennan on Sunday.
“Just the way it’s been going,” he said. “Hopefully bust out of there early and when we go by the grandstand we’re on top and from there, all the way home.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S.
Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com. *