Not many horses can pace a mile in 1:48.1 after having three vets tending to him 48 hours prior to the race and leading the trainer to think the horse would be scratched from the eliminations of a million-dollar race
.
Canadian sweetheart Sportswriter provided Casie Coleman with her very first North America Cup victory over two weeks ago and will look to give the three-time O’Brien Award winning trainer another first this Saturday in the $1 million Meadowlands Pace in New Jersey.
Sportswriter, a three-year-old son of Artsplace-Precious Beauty owned by Steve Calhoun, the West Wins Stable and Southwind Farm, paced his fastest mile yet with a 1:48.1 fourth-place effort in the third elimination won by OK Commander (1:47.4) last weekend. He will start from the dreaded Post 10 in the final and a victory would be the first in the Meadowlands Pace for Coleman, who finished fourth from Post 10 with American Ideal in 2005 and ninth with an injured Art Colony in 2009. A victory in the ‘Pace’ would also be the first ever for a female trainer.
While Sportswriter suffered from heat stroke prior to his elimination, Coleman noted today that the winner of over $1.6 million in earnings appears to be back to his healthy self thanks to some cooler weather this week in New Jersey.
“This week the horse has been unbelievable,” Coleman told Bob Heyden at the Meadowlands Pace post-draw today. “He just trained this morning and he’s sound and healthy. His blood counts are right where they should be. It’s been a lot cooler week this week in Jersey. It’s been raining and a lot cooler, which is very good for him because he just doesn’t seem to like the heat all that much or he’s just not used to it. But I’m thrilled the way the horse is coming into the race right now.”
“Whatever [driver] Mark MacDonald does, I stand behind him,” she added. “He’s got the 10-hole and you’re not going to win any races coming from last so I assume he’s going to be firing out of there. Whether he’s going all the way to the front or just looking for a spot, I don’t know yet. I just hope we’re the first one there at the wire."
This revelation about this
This revelation about this horse and any horse of this stature, he was almost scratched.
He was the prohibitive favourite in his division. I did not bet on the race but I watched it. If he was pronounced fit to race but potentially not 100% why did the commission not allow him to race but with no betting on him?
I do not believe there was any announcement to the betting public that he had suffered from the extreme heat.
As soon as he went 1st over you could see he was struggling, and to say the least very lucky to get into the final.
Unless I am wrong the public was not being protected from this potential problem he suffered.