Art Official, the only horse to slay the dragon on the racetrack that was eventual 2008 Horse of the Year Somebeachsomewhere, is back on track
.
After winning last year's Meadowlands Pace, but missing the chance for a rematch with "Beach" in the Breeders Crown in the fall because of a muscle tear in his left front leg, Art Official has returned to the scene of his greatest victory and is ready to go.
The four-year-old was second to Won The West at The Meadowlands on July 4 in a prep race for Saturday's $688,000 William R. Haughton Memorial. He had previously won a free-for-all event at Balmoral Park and was third, behind Mister Big and Winbak Speed, in the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational at Hoosier Park in Indiana.
Joe Seekman, the horse's trainer, said the son of Art Major got all the time he needed to recover.
"He had a little time off from the injury," he said. "He got four months off and started jogging through the winter. Stall rest for a month and then hand walking for another month in preparation for June and July. Everything seems good with him. He looked real good the other night (with a :26.2 final quarter to finish in 1:48.4)."
There is no sign of trouble from the muscle tear that brought his three-year-old season to a halt in October 2008.
"Knock on wood, no, you shouldn't even mention it," joked Seekman.
"He's a pretty simple horse; all he requires is jogging and training. He filled out and that helps. It helps all the horses when they get a little break from the track, get some weight on and get ready for the racing wars again. They take it off fast when it's 80 degrees and racing. He's pretty well rigged like he was last year. We've let up a bit on the headpoles. He's actually gotten straighter and he uses two plain poles. He is driving well and a lot better."
Last July, Art Official used a then-record 1:47 mile to win the $1-million Meadowlands Pace and hand Somebeachsomewhere his only career defeat in 21 races. Now, Art Official is back (on the same night as this year's Pace elims) and trying to slay two-time defending Haughton winner Mister Big, who was a fast-closing third in last weekend's prep.
Mister Big, who is six, has won the Dan Patch Award as the sport's best older male pacer each of the past two years and has earned $3.4 million in his career.
Art Official, driven by Ron Pierce, has won 14 times in his career and earned $1.6 million. Seekman was pleased with the horse's tune-up for the Haughton.
"He kind of got caught in behind a dead (not progressing) one there in the final turn and when he went around and Ron found a little seam to get through, he shot through good," Seekman said. "You can't have any more confidence going into the final off a trip like that."
(Harness Racing Communications)