Camtastic - 2CP
When Frederick Van Lennep envisioned the creation of the Breeders Crown series, one of his many objectives was to create a nationally recognized showcase for true champions of the standardbred breed. It's fair to say that the series has accomplished that; the races have either been hard fought battles waged to settle divisional honors, or centerpieces in which a dominant horse performs with such authority as to confirm that he or she is indeed the "Horse of the Year".
When the Breeders Crown returned to beautiful Rosecroft Raceway for the fourth time in four years, it was to showcase the two-year-old pacing colt division. The "Raceway on the Beltway" was in tor yet another treat. The track had hosted the division in 1985, and seen the impossible - tiny Robust Hanover defeating the huge Barberry Spur, demolishing the track record on the way. In 1984 Rosecroft fans witnessed a devastating performance by the three-year-old trotting filly Fancy Crown, who handled her foes with embarrassing ease and went on to win "Horse of the Year" honors. Then in 1986 the two-year-old pacing fillies fought a thriller to the wire that saw Ha1ycon emerge victorious by a neck and also be awarded divisional laurels.
This year's race had all the ingredients for another classic confrontation. There was Camtastic, a first-crop son of two-time "Horse of the Year" Cam Fella, who had only been defeated once coming into the Breeders Crown at Rosecroft. There was the regular pilot of Camtastic, $1 o million dollar man Bill O'Donnell, the man behind Fancy Crown's tour of the same half-mile oval two years prior, a man who had captured more Breeders Crown crystal trophies than anyone except John Campbell - who would be sitting right on his back with an inauspicious colt named Money Lender, a New Jersey Sires Stakes star who could get around a half-mile track with astonishing versatility.
Eleven other freshman were willing to test Camtastic's win streak, including early season's star Pied Piper and a steady little pacer owned by Richard Staley and trained by Doug Ackerman named Ever So Rich. Two New Jersey-breds, Scoot Herb and Nuclear Nightmare were at the top of their game coming into the race, and Woodrow Wilson winner Even Odds, a disappointing eighth in the Presidential at Rosecroft the week before, was looking to make amends.
Camtastic had swept the Presidential series in handy fashion. and jogged a wire-to-wire 1 :59.2 mile in his Breeders Crown elimination. Ever So Rich won the other elim in similar fashion, in a time of 1 :59. The many members of Dreamaire Racing Corp. Ill, under whose ownership Camtastic competed were assembled in the clubhouse. Dining on the splendid buffet Rosecroft had laid out for all the owners, the atmosphere appeared festive and relaxed. But an undercurrent of tension ran through the group, because in horse racing there is no such thing as a sure thing.
Surprisingly, O'Donnell elected not to send Camtastic after the lead when the gate wings folded. First Ever So Rich got the front, pursued by a three-wide Even Odds, and the two dueled it out until the quarter, when Even Odds finally got the top. Camtastic had taken the tuck into the three-hole behind Ever So Rich and waited for the horses to settle out of the second turn before making his move. An undecided D.R. Ackerman was half in and half out in front of him, and that was all the motivation O'Donnell needed. Approaching the half he guided Camtastic out of the three slot and the colt unleashed a ferocious brush past the two leaders. From there Camtastic aired the rest of the field, striding out under little prompting from O'Donnell as two then three then four then five lengths separated him from his nearest pursuer at the wire. A new track record of 1 :56.2 shone from the timer, and a new champion was crowned in the crowded Rosecroft winner's circle. The Bob Bencal-trained Camtastic had so overwhelmed his peers that he not only was awarded divisional honors, but was also lauded as "Pacer of the Year•.
Nuclear Nightmare, owned by the Sartorial Splendor Stable, followed Camtastic's winning move nearing the half-mile pole, but could simply not keep up in his wake, though he held bravely for second. Arlene Traub's Even Odds. pressured from the word "Go", did his best to get third place.
