The 2010 American National Stake season kicked off on Saturday, August 28 with a pair of three-year-old trotting events bringing some of North America’s top talent to the Crete oval
. Both races attracted full fields of 10 with the colts going for a purse of $150,000 while their female counterparts battled for $131,500. When the smoke cleared after these battles, it was Hall of Famer Dave Magee who found himself with his record setting 33rd and 34th career American National titles after guiding Wishing Stone to a four and a quarter length triumph in the colt event and Springtime Volo to a two-length verdict in the filly battle.
Settling into a perfect early spot in fourth with Wishing Stone, Magee then elected to send this year’s third place finisher in the Hambletonian to the front after watching Great Emancipator (Brad Kramer) stroll through an opening quarter in :28.1.
“They weren’t going much and my horse felt very strong when we headed onto the backside so I decided to let him trot to the top,” explained Magee.
After easily grabbing command of the proceedings the Dewayne Minor trainee was allowed to continue the leisurely pace trotting through middle splits of :57.4 and 1:27.
“My horse really seemed to enjoy doing his work out there tonight,” commented Magee. “He had his ears pricked the entire time and he was just going along effortlessly. I felt pretty confident when we turned for home.”
Opening up his lead while still under a firm Magee grip, the son of Conway Hall-Meadowbranch Magic effortlessly trotted home in :27.2 while stopping the timer in a career best of 1:54.2. Great Emancipator held on for second while Thro Time (Mike Oosting) turned a ground saving trip into a third place check.
After watching Wishing Stone win for the first time in eight starts this season, trainer Dewayne Minor was quite proud of his colt, who now boasts $319,389 in earnings this year and a career bankroll of $525,585.
“A horse can get frustrated and lose their heart when they don’t get to the winner's circle but you’ve got to remember he’s been up against the best in the country all year long,” said Minor. “He’s a complete professional and always goes about his work in that same way. Tonight it paid off with a nice victory.”
Sent off as the even-money choice, Wishing Stone returned $4.00, $3.00 and $2.80.
Magee produced another Hall of Fame steer in the filly division as he worked out a perfect second trip for Kentuckiana Racing Stable and Jorgen Jahre’s Springtime Volo and the filly responded beautifully as she cruised under the wire in 1:54, equaling both the track and stakes record.
Coming into the race off a disappointing sixth place finish in the Moni Maker Stake last week, the daughter Classic Photo-Silver Springs came away in mid-pack as longshots Cantab It All (Marcus Johansson) and Jesses Messenger (Ryan Stahl) battled through an opening quarter in :27.3.
Heading down the backside, driver Trace Tetrick elected to pull from third with the 9-5 favourite Ultimate Cameron, starting a live outer flow as the fillies breezed by the half-mile mark in :55.
Trotting into the final turn, Magee had moved up to fourth while following the live cover of Glide Power (Jan Johnson), who was just a head behind Ultimate Cameron as the field hit the three-quarter-mile mark in 1:24.1.
“I was following the horse that I wanted to but my horse was almost struggling to stay on the helmet of our cover,” said Magee. “She felt strong to me at that point and I knew they were going pretty fast so I really wasn’t that worried about it at that point.”
After blowing right by a leg weary Ultimate Cameron, Magee moved the Jan Johnson-trained Springtime Volo to the inside of Glide Power. Quickly gobbling up ground, this year’s Delvin Miller Memorial winner overtook Glide Power with a sixteenth of a mile to go and was comfortably in front as she trotted under the wire with her fourth win in eight starts this season. Glide Power was a game second while last year’s two-year-old American National champ Behindclosedoors (Mike Oosting) rallied to be third.
After the victory Magee was quick to explain the poor showing last week and the reason for a much better race on Saturday.
“We had a terrible trip in the Moni Maker and part of that was my fault,” said an always humble Magee. “The one thing that turned out perfectly from that race was that I learned a lot about her and her tendencies, which helped me out there tonight. She’s a pretty special filly and she showed that tonight.”
The second choice in the wagering Springtime Volo, returned $8.60, $4.80 and $3.60 while running her career bankroll up to $346,390.
(Balmoral Park)