After a rare unplaced finish in her last outing at Yonkers Raceway, six-year-old mare Safe From Terror will look to rebound in Friday night’s (March 9) $40,000 Filly and Mare Open Handicap Pace.
Safe From Terror finished last in the distaff feature February 23 as the race’s 6-5 betting favourite, but trainer Rob Harmon noted the daughter of Western Terror has been battling a lingering illness since she arrived in his stable at the end of January. After trying to cure her with antibiotics on and off between races to conform to withdrawal times, Harmon finally gave Safe From Terror a week off to receive a full dose of medication.
“She’s had a bug here and when we treat her, she’s good. But I have to stop treating her a couple days out because with the medicine, you just have to stop,” he said. “She just needed to get through it a whole week.”
Safe From Terror finished sixth in her last start at Miami Valley January 19 before shipping east to Harmon. She finished second on debut for her new barn at the Meadowlands Racetrack February 2 and again was the runner up in her next outing at Yonkers a week later. The daughter of Western Terror finally broke through with a win in the Filly and Mare Open Handicap February 16.
Despite her sickness, Harmon describes Safe From Terror as “absolutely perfect.” A 49-time winner from 112 starts with another 30 placings, Safe From Terror has accumulated $931,207 in earnings. Out of In A Safe Place, Safe From Terror is a half-sister to Foiled Again and shares some of his gutsy qualities.
“I wish I could pick her apart, I can’t. She’s a racer, she gives you her heart,” Harmon said. “She’s not a big horse, she’s a little horse. That’s the thing, she just goes, she’s got a set of lungs on her. She gives it her all when she’s healthy.”
Safe From Terror came to Harmon’s stable after bouncing from track to track in the Midwest. Her owner, Dan Telle of Big Bad DT Racing Stable, set a goal for his mare to reach $1 million in earnings before she retires to broodmare duties. Unable to find a suitable place to meet that objective in Ohio, Telle sought an east coast trainer and called Harmon.
“I’m lucky I got the opportunity to train her. They want to make $1 million and they thought it would be easier out here than running around Ohio,” Harmon explained. “A lot of the tracks won’t let her race there because every time she races there, she wins. She went to the Meadows and she won four or five and they told her not to come back there. Cleveland said the same, it’s just one of those deals. It’s a good problem to have.”
Transitioning to Harmon’s stable came easy for Safe From Terror. She’s raced for eight other trainers throughout her career, including a stint for Ron Burke that saw her win the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final and Nadia Lobell as a three-year-old.
“There’s really nothing to figure out with her. She’s been a nice horse. Everybody that’s trained her, they’ve done [well] with her,” Harmon said. “She came with her own harness and everything and there was no sense in changing anything. We haven’t changed anything.”
Safe From Terror will start from Post 6 in Friday’s distaff feature, which has been carded as Race 6 on the 12-dash program. Matt Kakaley will drive her for the first time since her three-year-old campaign. She’s 10-1 on the morning line. As Harmon looks to have Safe From Terror back in top form with the Matchmaker Series quickly approaching, he admits her luck could largely depend on post positions.
“With her, I think the posts are really going to count because she can’t leave that hard and it looks like she doesn’t race that great from the back,” he said. “She’s always parked or making a quarter move to the front going to the half. That’s the only thing, we’re making a half move and she just keeps going once she hits the front. You just keep chasing her, she just keeps going.”
Safe From Terror will face seven rivals Friday night, including 3-1 early favourite Divas Image, who captured four consecutive distaff features at Dover Downs before being compromised by outside post positions in her two most recent starts. Gina Grace is a 7-2 chance after having drawn Post 3 and posting two wins in her first four North American starts for Larry Stalbaum and Kimberly Asher. Millionaire L A Delight will debut for trainer Nancy Johansson off two sharp qualifiers, but is a 7-1 morning line after having drawn Post 7. Itty Bitty, Delightful Dragon, Carobbean Pacetry, and All About Madi complete the field. Absent from the lineup is Sell A Bit, winner of the Filly and Mare Open Handicap from Post 8 on February 23.
“I think she’ll be OK. I know Matt Kakaley is our driver and hopefully he can stick with her through the Matchmaker,” Harmon said. “Sell A Bit’s not in there this week, but when you get up to that upper class, they’re all good horses.”
First post time at Yonkers Friday night is 6:50 p.m.
(SOANY)