Armbro Prowess - 2FT
bay filly, by Speedy Crown
Owner
Robert Rosenheim
If there is a division that embodies the most intriguing aspects of harness racing, a strong argument would have to be made for the two-year-old filly trotters. They all contain the promise of champions, yet each bears a distinct personality and temperament, from lady-in-waiting to star in the making.
With eliminations necessary to narrow the division to the prescribed number behind the starting gate, the only surprise was that Merrie Annabelle winner Vernon Blue Chip did not make the final, coming up short after an impressive season. The eight fillies that composed the final field for the $406,200 Breeders Crown, the first of four freshman events at Mohawk Raceway, were all fascinating in both their lineage and their accomplishments.
No Nonsense Woman, an elimination winner, held a strong record of five wins in eight starts. She herself was the daughter of a filly who did not show racetrack promise at two, and was instead immediately bred, concentrating the gene pool to produce a fine contender as her first foal. The daughter of Sierra Kosmos was selected as a yearling by Jim Doherty, a Meadowlands pioneer and stalwart trainer/driver, for himself and longtime patrons Helen and Frank Rubinetti. She was double-staked to Pennsylvania-sired and Maryland-foaled races, and had mined that profitable route before trying the Breeders Crown.
The state of Pennsylvania was also represented by Russell Williams’ Gironde Hanover, prepared by trainer/driver Bob Roberts. She was one of three fillies in the race with a trainer who also drives, a species growing especially scarce in today’s catch-driver oriented world. Roberts was making his first start in Crown competition but came with the proper ammunition in Gironde Hanover. She had won her division of the Champlain at Mohawk over the favored Gramola, and her elimination win came at the expense of Gramola and Armbro Prowess.
Richard Heffering owned Grill Now, a daughter of Cookout, who trotted to a world record in winning her 1991 Breeders Crown elimination. Though Cookout faltered in the final, her offspring has taken up the cause. With $75,000 in the bank, trainer Linda Toscano felt Grill Now deserved a chance in the Breeders Crown. Grill Now would be piloted by Swedish driving legend Berndt Lindstedt, who drove her mother some five years before.
Trainer & Driver
Jimmy Takter
Jimmy Takter has shown an intense work ethic, limitless skill and improved driving abilities since emigrating to this country in the early 80s. He won the 1993 Two-Year-Old Filly Trot with the precocious filly Gleam, then turned the lines over to her owner and amateur driver, Mal Burroughs. Takter brought an entry to the 1996 event, Kramer Cascade and Armbro Prowess. The latter filly was sharpening into a real competitor, and trotted a 1:56.2 mile at Lexington in the International Stallion Stakes.
Elegantimage entered the final after breaking in her elimination due to near contact with No Nonsense Woman. She settled back to the trot and streaked to a second-place finish. Driven and co-owned by Steve Condren, she benefited from his excellent touch with young trotters, and was a hometown favorite and Ontario Sire Stake standout.
Lastly, the enigmatic Neith, named for an Egyptian goddess, had shown a flash of ability in the International Stallion Stakes in Lexington, but was blocked by a breaking horse. A creditablerunner-up performance in her elimination and drivemaster John Campbell at the helm meant she could not be discounted.
Glengate Farms Gramola was rightfully the favorite, with the most earnings (more than $300,000), the most victories (9), the fastest time (1:55.2) and rock-solid Bill O’Donnell in the bike for Bill Wellwood, who turned out top trotters in his sleep. The weather was not conducive to good behavior, the wind, rain and rock hard track surface providing ample excuse for those fillies inclined to lose their bearings. The first casualty on the sloppy track was No Nonsense Woman, who banged her muzzle on the gate and galloped from the shock, losing all chance. Gramola, who to that point had made one break, in the Merrie Annabelle, followed suit almost immediately, and saw her hopes for divisional honors go up in smoke. Campbell, driving Neith, made a modest bid for the lead that dissolved into a miscue when she galloped as well.
And then there were four. Four fillies who had the chance to go on to world wide recognition, like Peace Corps, or enjoy the limelight just once, like Super Flora.
Takter, driving Armbro Prowess, found a clear path for the front end and immediately changed his to settle for second best, as Armbro Prowess in peak form, trotted away to a 1:59.2 win. Grill Now trotted sharply for third.
Owner Robert Rosenheim paid as little heed to the torrential rain and gusting wind in his dash to the winners circle as Armbro Prowess had paid to it in her race. The first time owner, who apparently does everything with gusto, plunged into horse ownership at full bore, purchasing 16 horses in 1995. Armbro Prowess was a full sister in blood to Gleam, and was a relatively modest $35,000 purchase for Rosenheim, who had to be a lifetime convert after his Breeders Crown experience.
She is a daughter of Speedy Crown, a bittersweet win, as the stallion who has produced reams of champions was retired from breeding at the end of the year at age 28. He leads all Breeders Crown stallions, with 13 trophies, and $6 million in earnings, and his remaining crops will surely improve that number.
Jimmy Takter had barely finished showering the mud out of his ears when he had to run back to the winners circle for the second Crown event, which his pupil Malabar Man had just won for owner and driver Mal Burroughs. Takter became one of seven trainers to win dual Crowns on a single night, and the expert management of Armbro Prowess saw her win divisional honors at year-end. Armstrong Bros. picked up a eleventh breeders credit, followed a week later by Armbro Operative’s victory in the 3-year-old colt pace. Once again the fillies did not disappoint, providing more drama then any serialized fiction.
Purse $406,200
Mohawk Raceway, Campbellville, ON - October 18, 1996
Extras
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