Bob Bongiorno has attended harness racing at the Meadowlands since it opened in 1976. His wife, Barbara, is the daughter of Harold “Sonny” Dancer and her uncle, the late Stanley Dancer, was a five-time winner
of the Hambletonian. So it is easy to understand their excitement as Saturday’s $1.5 million Hambletonian approaches.
The Bongiornos are among the owners of Hambletonian finalist Pilgrims Taj. The colt – whose other owners are Peter Heffering’s Pilgrims Taj Stable, Bix DiMeo and Marty Granoff’s Val D’Or Farms – won his Hambletonian elimination by a half-length over Muscle Massive and Hard Livin in 1:53.3.
“This is a dream come true,” Bob Bongiorno said. “To have this opportunity is very special for us. We’d love to get the job done.” Added Barbara, “If you are in harness racing, there is certainly one race that you hope you are lucky enough to be in, and that’s the Hambo.”
The road to the Hambletonian final was a bumpy one for Pilgrims Taj. Last year, he won seven of 10 races, including the Breeders Crown, with driver Mike Lachance and never was worse than second. Returning this season, he went off stride in his second qualifier on May 20 and made a break in a Three-Year-Old Open on July 9. In between, he picked up two victories and a third-place finish on the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes circuit.
After a sixth-place effort in a division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial, the final prep prior to last weekend’s Hambletonian elims, the owners decided to change trainers from Monte Gelrod to Trond Smedshammer. In 2004, Smedshammer won the Trotting Triple Crown with Windsongs Legacy.
“Last year, I was so calm in all his starts because I thought he was the best and was going to win,” Bob Bongiorno said. “This year, every start, it was pins and needles because you have such high expectations.
“Trond is a longtime friend of mine. Mike said that’s the expert you need to get the job done as quickly as we have to get it done.”
When Lachance first heard the owners wanted to make a change, he feared the worst.
“Honestly, I thought it was the driver,” Lachance said, smiling. “I could see it there; we weren’t going anywhere.”
After Smedshammer tinkered with Pilgrims Taj’s shoeing and equipment, Lachance and the horse are going somewhere together.
“I’ve got more confidence now because he looks like he’s on his way back to where he was,” Lachance said. “I’m just assuming [Smedshammer] can get him even better by next week. I’m hoping. I had a perfect trip [last week] and I won by half a length; I don’t want to get too high on that.
“I’m confident that I have a contender. I don’t know about winning the race; the Hambletonian is not an easy race to win. I know one thing: I’m not nervous about it. If the horse is good, we’ll get there.”
Smedshammer was happy with the result last week.
“He got a good trip and Mike didn’t have to push him too hard,” Smedshammer said. “I’m sure both the horse and the driver had lost their confidence a little bit. I’m sure when they both start getting their confidence back, it’s going to get better. I think there’s room for more improvement.
“I feel good about the horse. He’s a smart horse and he’s got a lot of class.”
Bob Bongiorno watched the eliminations from a different location than usual in an attempt to change Pilgrims Taj’s luck.
“I stayed in the paddock. I had to do the quarter-of-a-mile sprint to the winner’s circle, which wasn’t too fun,” he said, laughing. “But I’ll be in the same spot this week. You’ll see me running down the stretch, God willing. I can’t change that up.
“I’ll probably put 50 miles on [Saturday], just walking and pacing.”
And if all goes well, trotting to the winner’s circle.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.