Harrisburg, PA --- Harness racing’s richest pacer of the year, 3-year-old gelding Wiggle It Jiggleit, and fastest pacer of the year, 6-year-old stallion State Treasurer, were among the six pacers named divisional champions in Dan Patch Award voting announced by the U.S. Harness Writers Association on Wednesday.
On November 12, Hoosier Park race track hosted the $40,000 Dan Patch Invitational. It attracted an impressive field of top horses and was the first race held in Hoosier Park race track that was simulcast to other venues. The race was won by Ready to Rumble with a time of 1:53.1. Free In-store Pickup. Lot of 6 Dan Patch Days Programs 1961-1976 Savage Minnesota Harness Horse Racing. The True Story of Dan Patch: Horse Racing.
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Also receiving Dan Patch Award pacing honors were undefeated 2-year-old female Pure Country, 2-year-old male Boston Red Rocks, 3-year-old female Divine Caroline, and older female Venus Delight.
Pacer of the Year, Trotter of the Year, and Horse of the Year will be announced live Thursday at approximately 1 p.m. from Monticello Raceway, following the second race. The announcement will be available on Monticello’s simulcast, advance deposit wagering sites, or via replay at www.monticelloraceway.com/video-racing-results. An e-mail announcement will follow immediately.
A total of 136 Dan Patch Award ballots were returned. Wiggle It Jiggleit received 97 percent of the votes in the 3-year-old male pacer division while Pure Country got 91 percent for 2-year-old female pacers. Divine Caroline, State Treasurer, and Venus Delight each received more than 77 percent in their categories and Boston Red Rocks got 60 percent. All six pacers are receiving their first Dan Patch Award honors.
Wiggle It Jiggleit won 22 of 26 races this year and finished second on three occasions on his way to $2.18 million in purses. The gelding’s victories included the Meadowlands Pace, Little Brown Jug, Battle of the Brandywine, Max C. Hempt Memorial, Carl Milstein Memorial, Hap Hansen Progress Pace, and Matron Stakes.
In addition, Wiggle It Jiggleit paced the fastest mile ever by a 3-year-old on a half-mile track when he won in 1:49 at Harrington Raceway. His time of 1:48 in winning the Battle of the Brandywine set the world record for a 3-year-old gelding on a five-eighths-mile oval.
Wiggle It Jiggleit is owned by George Teague Jr. Inc. and trained by Teague’s longtime assistant Clyde Francis. Teague’s son, Montrell, drove Wiggle It Jiggleit in all his starts.
Three-year-old filly Divine Caroline won five of her final six starts this year -- including the Breeders Crown and Tarport Hap -- and won eight of 22 races overall. She finished among the top three a total of 19 times and earned a division-leading $667,266 for trainer Joe Holloway and owners Val D’Or Farms, Ted Gewertz, Rojan Stables, and Michael Ouriel.
Divine Caroline’s remaining wins this season also included divisions of the Glen Garnsey and Bluegrass stakes.
State Treasurer topped all older pacers in purses with $865,807. His time of 1:47 in winning the U.S. Pacing Championship at the Meadowlands was this year’s fastest mile by a pacer and only one-fifth of a second off the fastest race mile in harness racing history.
For the year, State Treasurer won nine of 19 races and hit the board a total of 15 times. His victories also included the Canadian Pacing Derby, Roll With Joe, Dayton Pacing Derby, and Molson Pace. His triumph in the Molson Pace made him the first three-time winner of the event.
State Treasurer, trained by Ian Moore, is owned by Sally MacDonald and Paul MacDonald.
Venus Delight was the richest pacing mare of the season, with $603,265 in purses for trainer Jeff Bamond Jr. and owner Bamond Racing. She won eight of 19 starts and finished among the top three on 15 occasions.
Her wins included the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series championship, the Milton Stakes, the TVG Free For All Series championship for pacing mares, and the Artiscape.
Pure Country was a perfect 10-for-10 this year and led all 2-year-old pacers with $689,968 in earnings. She joins JK She’salady (2014), See You At Peelers (2010) and My Little Dragon (2005) as the only 2-year-old female pacers to win a Dan Patch Award with an undefeated season.
Trained by Jimmy Takter for owner Diamond Creek Racing, Pure Country’s wins included the Breeders Crown, the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship -- in a stakes- and track-record 1:51 at The Meadows --- and divisions of the Bluegrass and International Stallion stakes.
Boston Red Rocks never finished off the board in nine races this year, winning four times. His victories included the Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male pacers and Governor’s Cup.
The colt, trained by Steve Elliott, is owned by Peter Blood and Rick Berks. Boston Red Rocks earned $579,205 this year, the top figure for a 2-year-old male pacer.
2-YEAR-OLD MALE PACER
Boston Red Rocks (82 votes)
Rocknroll Hanover---McGibson---McArdle
Yearling Price: $50,000 at Standardbred Horse Sale
Breeder: Andray Farm
Owners: Peter Blood, Rick Berks
Trainer: Steve Elliott Drivers: Tim Tetrick, John Campbell
Races: 9-4-4-1 Purses: $579,205 Mark: 1:50.3 at Meadowlands
Top wins: $600,000 Breeders Crown; $413,000 Governor’s Cup
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2-YEAR-OLD FEMALE PACER
Pure Country (124 votes)
Somebeachsomewhere---Western Montana---Western Hanover
Yearling Price: Homebred
Breeder: Diamond Creek Farm
Owner: Diamond Creek Racing
Trainer: Jimmy Takter Driver: Brett Miller
Races: 10-10-0-0 Purses: $689,968 Mark: 1:51 at The Meadows
Top wins: $600,000 Breeders Crown; $350,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship
3-YEAR-OLD MALE PACER
Wiggle It Jiggleit (132 votes)
Mr Wiggles---Mozzi Hanover---Jenna’s Beach Boy
Sale Price: Private
Breeders: James Bernstein, Theresa Bantle, Eric Felter, Vincent Tancredi
Owner: George Teague Jr. Inc.
Trainer: Clyde Francis Driver: Montrell Teague
Races: 26-22-3-0 Purses: $2.18 million Mark: 1:47.4 at Meadowlands
Top wins: $706,000 Meadowlands Pace; $677,000 Little Brown Jug; $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine; $500,000 Hempt Memorial
3-YEAR-OLD FEMALE PACER
Divine Caroline (113 votes)
Rock N Roll Heaven---Loving Caroline---Art Major
Yearling Price: $75,000 at Standardbred Horse Sale
Breeder: Diamond Creek Farm
Owners: Val D’Or Farms, Ted Gewertz, Rojan Stables, Michael Ouriel
Trainer: Joe Holloway Driver: David Miller
Races: 22-8-5-6 Purses: $667,266 Mark: 1:49.2 at The Red Mile
Top wins: $500,000 Breeders Crown; $173,500 Tarport Hap; $117,250 Glen Garnsey division
OLDER MALE PACER
State Treasurer (108 votes)
Real Desire---Ideal Treasure---Western Ideal
Yearling Price: $6,500 at Standardbred Horse Sale
Breeder: Brittany Farms
Owners: Sally MacDonald, Paul MacDonald
Trainer: Ian Moore Drivers: David Miller, Chris Christoforou, Randy Waples
Races: 19-9-1-5 Purses: $865,807 Mark: 1:47 at Meadowlands
Top wins: $513,750 Canadian Pacing Derby; $215,400 U.S. Pacing Championship; $150,000 Roll With Joe
OLDER FEMALE PACER
Venus Delight (105 votes)
Bettor's Delight---Venus Killean---Run The Table
Sale Price: Private
Breeder: Estate of George Hempt Trust
Owner: Bamond Racing
Trainer: Jeff Bamond Drivers: Jason Bartlett, Tim Tetrick, James MacDonald
Races: 19-8-3-4 Purses: $603,265 Mark: 1:49.4 at Vernon Downs
Top wins: $261,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker; $225,000 Milton; $200,000 TVG; $194,000 Artiscape
by Brett Sturman
In 2021, Always B Miki, Bee A Magician and Sweet Lou will be the newest racehorses inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame. As with all other top vote getters from their nominating class both past and present, their nominations were only first allowed due to each of them meeting sets of criteria set forth by the Living Horse Hall of Fame Committee.
In order to be under consideration for the Hall of Fame, racehorses must either have won $2.5 million in career earnings along with two Dan Patch (U.S.) awards. Or, absent of two Dan Patch awards, horses must have won $3 million lifetime. Horses who have been named Dan Patch Harness Horse of the Year can be eligible, too.
The specific sets of nominating prerequisites present a conundrum where horses that would otherwise qualify for consideration based on their merits, cannot even have their credentials debated.
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Take for example, the case of Mach Three. The son of Matt’s Scooter raced in 2001 and 2002 and retired with career earnings of $2,376,700. Though inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame following his untimely death in 2017, in part because he had deep Canadian connections, Mach Three will never enter the U.S. Hall of Fame. It’ll never even up for debate, as current conditions do not allow for it.
Mach Three doesn’t meet the Dan Patch or earnings requirements, but if not for a nose defeat to second-over Western Shooter who rode his first-over cover in the 2001 Breeders Crown, he would have gone from zero to being two-thirds of the way there. If that narrowest of finish went the other way, Mach Three would have ran away with 2-year-old divisional honors and would have also finished over $2.5 million in career earnings.
That Mach Three never won a Dan Patch award or the comparable O’Brien award in Canada is more of a reflection of the quality of those loaded 2- and 3-year-old crops more so than on Mach Three himself. After just losing out to Western Shooter as a 2-year-old, he was bested for the honor by future Hall of Famer Art Major as a 3-year-old. In addition to Art Major whom Mach Three beat while racing, that crop also included the likes of McArdle, Red River Hanover and a host of other millionaires.
With a career record of 18 wins in 27 starts against one of the best racing crops in history – if not the very best – Mach Three’s career highlights were winning the Metro Pace at 2 (over Red River Hanover) and winning the Meadowlands Pace at 3 (over McArdle), the latter of which in 1:49 established a Meadowlands Pace record at that time. Are those two wins plus 16 others and a lasting overall body of work Hall of Fame worthy in the U.S.? I honestly don’t know. It seems like it might be, though. What would be lost by being able to bring it forward for discussion?
It should also be noted that Mach Three sired the winners of more than $150 million, including one of the greatest racehorses and stallions of all time, Somebeachsomewhere. Mach Three may, in fact, qualify as a stallion. The criteria for stallions is as follows: must rank among the 10 all-time leading money-winning sires at their gait, OR have sired at least 100 $200,000 winners, OR been a leading money-winning sire at his gait in three or more seasons. He is hovering around the top 10 all-time and has produced 445 $100,000 winners, so, presumably, he has more than 100 offspring over $200,000, though the exact count was not available at press time.
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For race mares, the Living Hall of Fame nominating requirements are similar, though the earning thresholds have been lowered. Though, that won’t aid the cause of one of the great race mares of all-time in Darlin’s Delight.
The third-highest earning pacing mare ever at over $2.9 million, she only won a single Dan Patch award during her 3-year-old season in 2006. The reason she didn’t win another Dan Patch either as a 2-year-old or in her final two seasons had a great deal to do with her chief rival, My Little Dragon. Darlin’s Delight and My Little Dragon represented one of the best pacing mare rivalries this century, and neither have yet been nominated to the Hall of Fame for their accomplishments. For her part, My Little Dragon does have the two Dan Patch requirements (winning as a 2-year-old and again as a 4-year-old) as well as the required career earnings for a race mare.
In looking at these two race mares, couldn’t it be debated where they relate to fellow Hall of Fame pacing mares from around that same time period, Rainbow Blue and Bunny Lake? Both of those fillies were named Horse of Year for their 3-year-old seasons, but I don’t recall either of those having to deal with the depth of a crop such as Mach Three or an equally talented rival such as Darlin’s Delight and My Little Dragon. Don’t misunderstand – this isn’t meant to retract from Rainbow Blue nor Bunny Lake whom are both more than Hall of Fame worthy – but they didn’t race against barriers others did that precluded them from higher earnings or additional accolades.
From an even more recent instance, Tall Dark Stranger would seem be on track for eventual U.S. Hall of Fame induction. His two-year career mirrors that of Captaintreacherous who was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but Tall Dark Stranger would get in only on the condition that he wins the 2020 Dan Patch award for Horse of the Year since his $2.3 million in career earnings is less than the required $2.5 million (even with multiple divisional Dan Patch awards, unless one of them is Horse of Year). It’ll work out this time but had 3-year-old filly Party Girl Hill not been upset in her Breeders Crown this year, then Tall Dark Stranger would likely not be Horse of Year and would not be up for Hall of Fame consideration. And it seems like exclusion would then be due to appearance of a technicality between earnings and awards, which doesn’t do justice to anyone in the process, including the Hall itself.
I’m not calling for the eligibility into the Hall of Fame to be less stringent; just perhaps less rigid. Set out to provide objective measures, the underlying Dan Patch award process can be subjective to start with. And earnings can vary based on the fluctuations of race purses, something that is increasingly prevalent today in current economic uncertainty.
At the end of the day the Hall of Fame should be reserved for the very best horses, as it always has been. Changing or removing the limits for horses to first be considered won’t suddenly allow an undeserving horse to be inducted. But it might allow for an induction of a deserving horse that wouldn’t be considered otherwise.
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