Drop The Ball has won multiple stakes races during her career, set a world record and earned more than $1 million. If she only had a little luck on her side, her list of accomplishments might be even more impressive.
“She’s had a pretty good career, but she hasn’t had the best of luck in the big races,” trainer Tony O’Sullivan said as he preps Drop The Ball for Saturday’s $323,500 Roses Are Red Stakes for older female pacers at Mohawk Racetrack. “She never gets an easy trip. It seems the race always works out where she’s doing the road work for everyone else.
“You’ve got to make your own luck at the top level. It would be nice to see her get the perfect trip and for things to go in our favour this time.”
Drop The Ball and Anndrovette won the Roses Are Red eliminations last weekend. Drop The Ball won by two lengths over Bettor B Lucky in 1:49.1 as the top five finishers advanced to the final. Krispy Apple was third followed by Economy Terror and Greystone Ladylike.
“She was super,” said O’Sullivan, who trains Drop The Ball in Canada while Ross Croghan handles the conditioning in the United States. “She did it easy and paced strong right through the wire.”
Anndrovette, who won last year’s Roses Are Red in a stakes-record 1:48.1, beat Rocklamation by three-quarters of a length in 1:48.4, with Camille, Shelliscape and Monkey On My Wheel also advancing to the final. Anndrovette, the winner of 33 of 79 career starts and $2.27 million, was named the best older female pacer in both the U.S. and Canada the past two seasons.
The five-year-old Drop The Ball has won 18 of 42 career races and earned $1.07 million for owners Let It Ride Stables, Dana Parham and Robert Cooper Stables. In 2011, Drop The Ball won the Mistletoe Shalee, Bluegrass and Matron stakes as well as a division of the Shady Daisy.
She finished second in the 2011 Breeders Crown for three-year-old filly pacers and was second again last year after moving into the mares division. She also was second in last year’s Roses Are Red and Golden Girls. In 2011, she was second in a division of the Glen Garnsey Memorial.
Third-place finishes include the 2012 Artiscape and 2013 Golden Girls.
“She deserves to win a big one,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s going to be tough. There are so many good mares in this division that with the right trip on any given day can win.”
In addition to Drop The Ball and Anndrovette, the Roses Are Red field includes Golden Girls winner Rocklamation, Artiscape winner Camille, Betsy Ross winner Economy Terror, and former O'Brien Award winner Monkey On My Wheel, who won the 2011 Breeders Crown for three-year-old female pacers.
Here is a look at the Roses Are Red field with listed drivers and trainers:
1. Monkey On My Wheel, Keith Oliver, Travis Umphrey
2. Bettor B Lucky, Sylvain Filion, Ron Burke
3. Drop The Ball, Doug McNair, Tony O’Sullivan
4. Anndrovette, Tim Tetrick, P.J. Fraley
5. Economy Terror, Ron Pierce, Chris Oakes
6. Camille, Filion, Burke
7. Rocklamation, Rick Zeron, Burke
8. Shelliscape, Randy Waples, Robert McIntosh
9. Greystone Ladylike, Scott Zeron, Brent Belore
10. Krispy Apple, Billy Davis Jr., Fraley
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.