"She's really unique. I've never personally been that kind of speed with her, I was actually thrilled to sit behind her and see how easy she floats. My track is not that fast so I value that as maybe a :48 or :49
mile."
It's been a month of million-dollar wins, world records, injured horses and mysterious ailments for trainer Jimmy Takter but the Hall of Famer is able to take it all in stride and reports optimistic news on both of his sophomore stars. See You At Peelers was slated for action in the Jugette before being scratched out of a New York Sire Stakes event. On Tuesday, Takter trained the filly in 1:51 at his farm track and reports that the superstar pacer had a lung virus.
"We had a heart monitor on her while she did that workout. I haven't got the report back yet on how her heart was. We also ultrasounded her lung on you could see that either had or has a virus on her lung."
The future is still unclear as Takter will defer to his vet on what kind of treatment See You At Peelers requires as despite the speedy mile, Takter feels she's not quite right.
"It tells you what kind of filly she is, I trained her alone in :51 and most of the time you would be very excited about that but she still wasn't at 100 per cent."
Takter also had good news on the coffin bone fracture suffered by Pastor Stephen on Sept. 10 at Mohawk Racetrack.
"The prognosis is good, the fracture is not lading into the joint. In his case it's just a little hairline fracture on the tip of the coffin bone so normally those things heal very well and the horse shouldn't have any future problem with it."
When asked by Norm Borg about the suggestions of Jeff Gural to use a cut of the purse pool to increase marketing and drug testing, Takter sees the writing on the wall.
"If we don't promote the sport there will be less and less crowds in the grandstand. We have to promote that we have a good sport, we can't just take the money and put it in our pocket hoping we get casino money," noted Takter. "A state like Pennsylvania I feel very unsure about, they're getting a new governor...he could walk into office and say 'hey, how much we give those people? There's nobody here' and maybe cut it in half overnight. That worries me."
On the issue of drug testing, Takter would like to see increased penalties for the more serious infractions like Class I positive tests. To listen to the full interview with Borg and Takter, click the play button below.
Episode 226 – 2012 Hall of Famer and harness racing's trainer of the decade Jimmy Takter
Audio Format: MP3 audio
Host: Norm Borg
Please note that the opinions expressed in the featured interview are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect Rideau Carleton Raceway and/or Standardbred Canada.
(Photo credit: Todd Heisler / The New York Times)
Mr Takter as usuall is spot
Mr Takter as usuall is spot on. It is the empty grandstands that will spell the end to racing!! Howamany more times must the customers cry "cut back the takeout to VEGAS RATES"