The competition amongst the aged pacing ranks could get a little stiffer this summer with world champion pacer Hypnotic Blue Chip coming out of retirement for the 2012 stakes season
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The connections of Hypnotic Blue Chip have reconsidered their decision to retire the $1.5 million earner.
“He was going to stand stud in Pennsylvania and it was slow,” trainer Kevin McDermott told Trot Insider following his second qualifier of the season on Friday evening. “The breeding was slow and we weren’t getting all the bookings that we were hoping to so we decided after four months that we were going to put him back in training. We brought him back to New Jersey and he’s doing both. Last month there I think he bred eight mares and he’s training too so he’s doing a little bit of both."
The Francis Azur-owned Hypnotic Blue Chip will perform his stud duties at Walnridge Farm in Cream Ridge, New Jersey while racing out of McDermott’s stable at Showplace Farms in Millstone Township.
Reunited with driver Tim Tetrick, the Art Major-A Traceofmagic six-year-old turned in a 1:51.4 qualifying effort in his first charted mile since last September on Saturday, May 26 at Meadowlands Racetrack, finishing third behind Won The West and Westwardho Hanover after cutting out the race fractions. During the Friday, May 1 qualifying session he advanced to command from third after the opening quarter and led the rest of the way to record a 1:53.1 victory.
“I was very happy with [the qualifiers],” said McDermott. “Last week we didn’t expect to put him on the front end; things just didn’t work out and he ended up on the front end. Timmy was very happy with him [Friday]. We rushed him back a little last year I think, but this year he had four months off in the field and I can’t be any happier with him right now.”
Hypnotic Blue Chip enjoyed a career year in 2010 in which he won his U.S. Pacing Championship division in a world record 1:47.2 mile and equalled the 1:49.4 track record at Northfield Park in the Battle of Lake Erie. He also finished second in the Canadian Pacing Derby, William Haughton Memorial and Bettors Delight.
Last season, he won the Spring Pacing Championship and recorded three sub-1:50 wins, but didn’t quite perform at the top stakes level as his connections had hoped. However, Hypnotic Blue Chip will now get a second chance to shine, although his connections haven’t set any expectations for the 24-time career winner this year.
“Hopefully, he is going to come back the horse he was two years ago. We staked him to everything, but I really don’t know what to expect, that’s the truth,” said McDermott. “He’s sounder, he’s bigger, he’s better than he was last year, but he’s going to have to tell us what he’s going to be. If things go well that’s going to be great and we’re going to race him, but if he doesn’t do what we think he should do we’re probably going to stand him in Australia come September. We’ll let him tell us what he is and then we’ll go on and see if he’s stakes calibre this year or not.”
Hypnotic Blue Chip will make his pari-mutuel return in an overnight race next week.