"No Wasted Motion In Her"

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Published: August 22, 2013 12:45 pm EDT

Trot Insider has spoken with trainer Jim Campbell, who has said that harness racing's newest world-record holder, two-year-old trotting filly Cooler Schooner, has come out of her impressive 1:51.3 mile at Pocono Downs in good form.

"She came out of it well and was acting perky this morning," Campbell said of the filly, who went wire-to-wire in the victory.

The dash, which took place during Pennsylvania Sire Stakes action at the five-eighths-mile oval, saw Cooler Schooner leave the gate hard down to the :26.4 opening quarter. The Fashion Farms-owned bay then proceeded to hit the half-mile marker in :54.4 before clicking off three quarters in 1:23.2. She sealed the deal with a :28.1 final panel which earned her a one and a half-length win over Shake It Cerry, who captured the $321,700 Merrie Annabelle on Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands Racetrack earlier this month.

Campbell told Trot Insider that Cooler Schooner has always showed tremendous speed and potential. Even though the filly does show a couple of breaks on her racelines this year, Campbell said that she has been making all the right strides and has been rounding into form particularly well as of late. "She has been pretty good training the last couple of weeks," he said.

Campbell explained that Cooler Schooner had Post 10 in the Merrie Annabelle on Hambo Day when she ended up making a break. "She was pretty fired up that day," said Campbell, who added that she was then poised to go a big mile in her next start, a division of the Historic at Harrah's Philadelphia on August 14.

"She was going to be good in [the Historic]," said Campbell. "A filly ran in front of her and forced her to break stride. She was charted with an interference break, which was justified."

Showing back-to-back breaks heading into her world-record performance, it is not all that surprising that she was sent postward at odds of 12-1 Wednesday at Pocono. Campbell told Trot Insider that he wasn't surprised at all that Cooler Schooner went a big mile at Pocono, but he said that he and the connections were not expecting a mile in 1:51 and change, let alone a world-record effort.

"She has shown tremendous high speed before," said Campbell, who explained that the connections of Cooler Schooner were high on the filly after her first and only two-year-old qualifier. "John (the filly's driver, John Campbell) baby-raced her and loved her."

Jim explained to Trot Insider that Cooler Schooner's biggest asset was on display Wednesday at Pocono. "She gets over the ground so easily," he said, adding that "there is just no wasted motion in her. John said that he couldn't believe how quickly she was getting it done out there."

Cooler Schooner's growing fan base won't have to wait much longer to see her in action again, as the trainer confirmed to Trot Insider that the bay will be entered to contest a PASS leg next Friday (August 30) at Harrah's Philadelphia.

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