Horsemen and fans have compared Somebeachsomewhere to some of the greatest pacers in harness racing history, including the likes of Nihilator and Niatross. On Saturday, Somebeachsomewhere will attempt to do something not even those Hall of Fame legends accomplished – win the Meadowlands Pace with an unblemished lifetime record.
Somebeachsomewhere, driven by Paul MacDonell and trained by co-owner Brent MacGrath, rolled to a 4-1/2 lengths victory on July 12 in his Meadowlands Pace elimination race, stopping the timer in 1:48.3 – a mark that was the fastest elim in Pace history and equaled Rocknroll Hanover's stakes record. Art Official was second, followed by Badlands Nitro and Mucho Sleazy to advance to the $1.1 million final.
With the triumph, Somebeachsomewhere improved his record to 10 wins in 10 career starts and increased his lifetime earnings to $1.6 million. In addition, the victory was Somebeachsomewhere's third in a row in 1:49 or less, which tied 2006 Meadowlands Pace winner Artistic Fella for the most wins in 1:49 or less by a 3-year-old in history.
"Somebeachsomewhere was awesome," said George Teague Jr., the trainer of Badlands Nitro. "He's a monster and looked every bit the part of it. Good horse, great horse, he definitely deserves the titles he's gotten so far."
It was the first start for Somebeachsomewhere since his win in the $1.5 million North America Cup on June 14 at Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario, where he beat Badlands Nitro by 2-3/4 lengths.
"It's a big climate change; it's a lot hotter down here," MacGrath said. "But he shipped down good. He does whatever you ask him to do. He's a very easy horse and he makes us look good. I was a little bit (nervous) as the time drew near, but not during the week. I was confident about what he would do. He has never disappointed us. Why would he now?
"He's healthy, he's happy, he's strong, he's fast, he's good gaited. He's good. I think he'll be a stronger horse next week just because of the month off."
Also winning elims were Share The Delight and Sand Shooter.
Share The Delight, trained by Linda Toscano and driven by John Campbell for the Four Horsemen Stable and Algonquin Farms, beat Tiz A Masterpiece by three-quarters of a length in 1:50.2 while Dontloseyourdayjob was third. Share The Delight has won seven of 14 lifetime starts and earned $177,841. He went off stride in two of his first three races this season, including his North America Cup elim.
"He's never been short on ability," said Campbell, who got career win No. 10,000 with the triumph. "We've just got some kinks that took a little while to get ironed out. He wasn't perfect (Saturday), but he's certainly going in the right direction. I just wanted to get him around the last turn. I was sure he'd kick home strong if I did. Once I got him around the turn, I asked him and he dug in."
Sand Shooter, who was second in last year's Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands, won his Meadowlands Pace elim by a head over Bullville Powerful in 1:49.4 while Atochia was third. Sand Shooter, trained by Jim Arledge Jr. and driven by Tim Tetrick, has won eight of 20 career races and earned $410,957.
"I don't even think about winning because the odds are so strong against us," said Bill Sanders, who owns Sand Shooter with Jerry Silva. "We're going against the best horse I've ever seen. There were some before me, like Nihilator, but this is the best I've seen. We're going to try to win it, but it's just a great honor to be among 10 elite horses.
"If we get a chance, we're going to race (Somebeachsomewhere). I don't think anyone's raced him yet." After a pause, Sanders added with a laugh, "Maybe they can't."
(HRC)