Shartin N, the imported pacing mare from New Zealand who has ascended to the No. 1 spot in North American harness racing’s weekly Top Ten poll, will race on Sunday at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
Shartin N has drawn the rail for an eight-horse leg of the Great Northeast Open Series (GNOS) for pacing mares. The ladies will be gunning for the lion’s share of a $30,000 purse.
The six-year-old daughter of Tintin In America, trained by Jim King Jr. for owners Richard Poillucci, Jo Anne Looney-King, and Tim Tetrick LLC, has been the dominant force among the pacing distaff ranks in the U.S. and Canada for the last year and a half. She won over a million dollars in 2018 while earning her divisional championship, and in 2019 she has already won over half a million. Shartin N is undefeated in her Harrah’s career, having captured the Betsy Ross Pace in both 2018 and 2019, and also winning a GNOS contest last season.
Tim Tetrick will be in his usual spot behind Shartin N on Sunday afternoon as the Kiwi sensation goes for her eighth victory in a row.
It is very unusual for any one race to have two horses bringing in seven-race win streaks, but Shartin N is joined by Reclamation in not having lost in her last seven starts. The daughter of A Rocknroll Dance, trained by Ron Burke for owner W J Donovan and Donal Murphy, began her career in Ireland and showed so much promise that she was brought stateside. She has worked her way up the ranks while racing at Pocono and the Meadowlands. Sunday’s contest will certainly be the ‘acid test’ for Reclamation, who will be starting from Post 4 for driver Yannick Gingras.
Sunday’s collection of talented mares is full of distaffers that love to win their races – the assembled eight have captured 47 of the 100 collective starts they have made in 2019. But Shartin N will be the key horse to go through if anyone else is to raise any winning percentages.
The GNOS mares pace will be the eighth dash on a 14-race card at Harrah’s Philadelphia on Sunday. First post has been set for 12:40 p.m.
(Pennsylvania Harness Horsemen’s Association, in conjunction with The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and Harrah’s Philadelphia racetracks)