Stanley Dancer Memorial winners are contenders
The Dancer divisions, contested as the first, fifth and 11th races on July 17, at the Meadowlandswerewon by He’s A Demon by Muscles Yankee, Muscle Massive by Muscles Yankee and Holiday Road by Yankee Glide.
The late Harness Hall of Famer Dancer was one of harness racing’s legendary figures and had a huge impact on the sport in the Garden State. His famous Egyptian Acres farm was in New Egypt where he hosted a popular three-day fair that helped the New Jersey Sire Stakes program gain traction. Dancer drove, trained and owned some of the greatest standardbreds in history such as Albatross, Nevele Pride and Most Happy Fella.
The three pacers who captured their respective Dancer division races have stamped themselves as the leading contenders for the $1.5 million Hambletonian on Aug. 7. The Hambletonian, the biggest race in harness racing, is run at the Meadowlands. It’s a race that Stanley Dancer won four times.
In the $127,500 first Dancer division, He’s A Demon, driven by Jody Jamieson and trained by Jeff Gillis, rallied for a neck victory over 1-5 favorite Cassis in a career best 1:53.1 mile. It was three-quarters of a length to Coco Lindy in third.
He’s A Demon, winless in three starts at two, picked up his fourth win of the year and has finished on the board in all six efforts in 2010.
“I was real happy with the draw, you know we missed Muscle Massive and a couple other real killers there,” Jamieson said in a press release from the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey. “We didn’t know about Cassis, we didn’t know about Senor Glide, we didn’t know about a bunch of those horses in there. When Yannick [Gingras with Oh No It’s Steveo] ran leaving, I thought it was going to set up really good. As it turned out, the flow wasn’t really good at all. I couldn’t tell how fast we were going and the wind was blowing.
“At the head of the stretch, I was just hoping to stay flat, maybe get up to be third,” Jamieson added. “He really overcame a bad trip. My horse was trotting hard through the stretch. He put a couple of steps in; it was his first time on this track. We’ve just been real careful with him his whole life so far, and we took a bit of a leap of faith to put him in the Stanley Dancer. And it paid off.”
Trainer and co-owner Gillis said his colt is headed to the Hambletonian.
“He [He’s A Dream] showed a lot of raw ability from the outset,” Gillis said in the press release “He’s not trotting just quite the way we’d like him yet but we have a couple of weeks to tinker. We’ll try to have him 100 percent. We’re going to take a shot [at the Hambletonian].
He’s A Demon lifted his career bankroll to $95,277 for the ownership of 1140545 Ontario Ltd of Dundas, Ontario; Gerald Stay of Buffalo, N.Y., and Gillis, who is from Hillsborough, Ontario.
Muscle Massive, sent off as the 2-5 favorite in the $130,000 second division, was an easy one-length winner over Temple of Doom by Yankee Glide in 1:53.4. It was a length and three-quarters to Pilgrims Chuckie in third.
Although Muscle Massive picked up his third win in six starts this year, trainer Jimmy Takter was not thrilled with the effort.
“No, actually I was not [happy],” Takter said in a press release from the SBOA. “I thought the horse looked a bit unsafe for a mile. He looked better last time he raced. Maybe the track was a little deeper. I need to figure it out. We have two weeks to straighten that out. He won the race, and he had a great performance, but he was better last time.
Ron Pierce guided Muscle Massive who now has compiled a career tally of five wins, two seconds and two thirds from 12 starts and earnings of $227,692, with nearly half of that coming from a victory in the $200,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Championship last month. He races in the name of Brixton Medical AB of Orsundsbro, Sweden; Order By Stable of Boras, Sweden; Louie Camara of Puslinch, Ontario and Mkatz, Alibfeld, Sgoldband of Pickering, Ontario.
The $130,000 third division was the muchanticipated second start of the year for Holiday Road, and he did not disappoint.
The 2009 Peter Haughton winner, who won a division of the Dickerson in his season’s debut on July 2, scored a half-length victory in 1:54 in his Dancer division, holding off the charge of Lucky Chucky by Windsong’s Legacy and Mystery Photo.
“He felt even better this week than last week,” said winning driver Brian Sears. “Last week was a really big first effort, and tonight we didn’t have to go as much. I was really pleased with that. He just trotted down the lane. Greg [trainer Greg Peck] has done a great job pointing him to the Hambletonian.
“This horse definitely had some issues, but he seems to be on the right track now,” Sears added. “Hopefully things go well the next few weeks. This horse will go on when I call on him so I was really pleased with how he felt coming down the lane. This horse has proven that he’s one of the best out there last year, and when he’s right, he can definitely be one of the best out there this year.”
The three divisions of the Dancer Memorial were held on the New Jersey Sire Stakes’ $800,000 Night of Champions for 2-year-olds.
One of the highlights of the evening was the NJSS record for 2-year-old filly pacers of 1:52.3 set by Ace If Pace in the $200,000 Championship final. Driver George Brennan waited until the three-quarter pole to take the lead and once Ace Of Pace was in front, the race was for second place as she became the fastest 2-year-old filly pacer in NJSS history. She dipped under the old mark of 1:53.0 she had set the week before in the preliminary legs of the NJSAA that was later equaled by Lionness Hanover.
Ace Of Pace is the daughter of Cam’s Card Card Shark and is undefeated in her three starts.
In the 2-year-old colt trotter Championship final a Sire Stakes record was equaled. Ron Pierce drove Leader Of The Gang to his win in 1:56 flat, matching the 18-year-old stakes record first set by Yankee Glide.
Hall of Fame driver John Campbell won two of the four $200,000 Championship finals. He drove Thatsnotmyname in the 2-yearold filly trotters final, which was won in 1:56.1 and Lookinforadventureto a 1:52.0 victory in the 2-year-old colt pacer final.
Jimmy Takter trained two of the winners, Thatsnotmyname and Leader Of The Gang.
