Three of harness racing's most dominant trotters will not appear on this year's Hambletonian Day program electing to skip the $300,000 Nat Ray
Invitational.
Trot Insider has learned that Arch Madness, Lucky Jim and San Pail have passed on invitations to this Saturday's Nat Ray. The field for the race will be drawn on Wednesday afternoon.
With an unusually lacklustre performance in his Maple Leaf Trot elimination, Arch Madness' co-owner Barry Goldstein reports that the two-time O'Brien Award winner scoped sick after the race and has been given time to rest. The son of Balanced Image is a two-time winner in 2010, including a stunning 1:51 world record performance at Pocono Downs in May.
Also not at the top of his game is 2009 Nat Ray winner Lucky Jim. Trainer Julie Miller told Trot Insider that "Jim didn't come out of the Maple Leaf Trot at 100 per cent, and if he's not 100 per cent I won't race him."
Lucky Jim finished fourth, beaten five lengths in the 2010 Maple Leaf Trot. It was Jim's first off the board finish on North American soil since entering the Miller Stable in 2009. Lucky Jim set a world record of 1:50.1 in last year's edition of the Nat Ray.
After his dominant efforts in the Maple Leaf Trot elimination and final, San Pail's connections opted for a week of R&R instead of a trip to New Jersey. Trainer and co-owner Rod Hughes states that San Pail will be back in to go in the next few weeks.
A winner of eight of ten starts this year including the 2010 Maple Leaf Trot, San Pail is the top money winning trotter in North America this year with over $551,000 of his lifetime $1.6 million earned coming this season.