Personal Banner - 3FT
bay filly, by Royal Prestige
It’s a given fact that in a horse race someone has to win and someone has to lose. Those who have enjoyed the sport for any length of time come to realize how precious the wins are, and to be philosophical about the losses. In the history of the Breeders Crown series, there has never been a tougher loss than the one that went down in the 1996 Three- Year-Old Filly Trot. The $350,000 event was awarded to Vernon Downs in upstate New York, a coincidental locale that would enhance by fourfold the drama of the race.
The performance of Continentalvictory in 1996 transcended any of the traditional splits of age, sex or gait. She was simply breathtaking every time she stepped on the racetrack, and easily defeated all competitors. The Yonkers Trot, Hambletonian, World Trotting Derby -- all hers for the taking.
In the fall at Lexington, Continentalvictory was a race away from winning the first trotting triple crown title in 20 years. She was entered in the filly division of the Bluegrass Stakes as an easy prep for the Kentucky Futurity and in the backstretch Continentalvictory broke into a gallop.
It was an ominous sign that Continentalvictory did in fact have limits. Just prior to the Futurity, trainer Ron Gurfein announced she would not race again in 1996. Her achievements were more than enough to insure her Horse of the Year honors, and her return to the races at four was eagerly awaited.
The filly that won that division of the Bluegrass, Personal Banner, also defeated Act Of Grace, considered the second best racehorse in the division, and also a filly. Act Of Grace was trained by Stanley Dancer and driven by John Campbell, a team with enough star power to dull the lights of any other contender. But Personal Banner had star power of her own.
Young Bill Gallagher graduated from one of the toughest shedrows in the sport, that of Team Nordin. There he acquired valuable skill with trotters, and the experience of dealing with the autocratic Nordin family would prepare him for the biggest oportunity of his life. Gallagher inherited a horse owned by N.Y. Yankees team owner and maverick George Steinbrenner. When Gallagher improved the reject and sold him for double what Steinbrenner had hoped, the bond was forged.
Steinbrenner sent Gallagher to the yearling sales, where Gallagher’s girlfriend and assistant trainer Annette (Suzie) Collins selected Personal Banner on looks and pedigree, along with two other yearlings. Despite getting all three yearlings to the races, Gallagher got the “Billy Martin” treatment from Steinbrenner and had the horses (including Personal Banner) yanked from him in April. When results were still not forthcoming, Personal Banner was returned to Gallagher. After defeating Continentalvictory in the Bluegrass, Personal Banner then bested Act Of Grace in the Kentucky Filly Futurity. Steinbrenner sold Personal Banner, practically on the eve of the Breeders Crown. If anything, the sale improved her chances of winning. The purchaser was the Biasuzzi family of Italy, owners of some 200 to 250 horses, both racing and breeding stock. Their Nalda Hanover won the 1988 Three-Year-Old Filly Trot (paying $97.00 to win) and Jean Bi captured the 1990 two-year-old edition. It was up to Personal Banner to keep their batting average at 1.000.
Eleven fillies entered the Crown at Vernon, including one filly who had a home run streak of her own going. Trainer Bill Andrews attracted very little media attention in 1996, despite an achievement of such magnitude that record books don’t yield the last time it happened, if indeed it ever happened.
All Andrews did was win 18 straight races with a three-year-old trotting filly, who never put a foot wrong. No matter the track, the weather, the size of the field, the waxing or waning moon, no matter who drove her or in what state. She was simply a Moni Maker.
Andrews had an incredible luxury, which is to work for a group of people who may arguably be the best owners the sport has to offer. E. Carlyle Smith, David and Tim Smith, and Dr. Alan Foster have been in the sport long enough to stay on an even keel, but as Moni Maker racked up win after win, the pressure began to build. The group stood back and let Andrews do his job.
As a two-year-old, Moni Maker had the credentials to be good. Jim Giannuzzi, who advises the Smiths and Foster on yearling purchases, remembers circling the filly over and over, debating over a minor confirmation flaw. She was bred in the purple, the offspring of Speedy Crown and Nan’s Catch, who won both the Breeders Crown and the Hambletonian Oaks. Ironically, it was Wally Hennessey, who would end up steering the filly to 15 of her 18 wins, who convinced Gianuzzi to follow his instincts and buy the filly. She went for $87,000, which seems expensive, but since the first two foals of Nan’s Catch cost $150,000 each, Moni Maker was a bargain.
Moni Maker was a capable freshman, winning six of 14 starts and $72,610, but when she opened her 1996 season with an overnight win at Pompano -- establishing a season’s record in the process -- the die was cast.
Moni Maker won her elimination and the final of the Currier & Ives at The Meadows, and the Reynolds at Pocono, interspersed with New York Sire Stakes victories at Saratoga, Vernon, Monticello and Buffalo. No diva she, Moni Maker arrived at The Meadowlands to prep for the richest race of her career, the Hambletonian Oaks, with zero fanfare, despite her undefeated record.
Rarely does the sophomore trotting filly division feature performers with the depth of Continentalvictory, Act Of Grace, Personal Banner, Real Diamond, Spinning Reel and of course, Moni Maker.
Guy, Frank and Gerry Antonacci’s Lindy Racing Stable have enjoyed some of the greatest trotting performers of the recent decade, and they liked what they saw in Moni Maker. Based on her flawless breeding, impeccable manners and ideal record, Lindy Racing purchased a share in Moni Maker. Nothing about her conditioning would change, and the Antonaccis would assume control of the filly when the Smiths and Foster decided she was finished racing for the season.
“Her willingness to win” was what made her special, according to driver Wally Hennessey. “If you gave her the chance to win, she would”, he was quoted as saying, time after time.
Andrews tried the colts after the Hambletonian and successfully won the Zweig with Moni Maker at Syracuse. Next it was off to Mohawk, where she won the Simcoe Stakes. Some of her most demanding races were to come, in the New York Sire Stakes program, where the tenacious Real Diamond refused to acknowledge her supremacy, fighting her week after week.
Moni Maker prevailed however, her toughest task coming in the NYSS Final, where the sloppy track was just one of the deterrents to getting close to the pace-setting Real Diamond. Her nose victory was a heart-stopper, but it went on the books as her 18th straight win.
Andrews took Moni Maker back home, to Vernon Downs, where a pair of qualifiers served as a tightener to her biggest test. Perhaps it was predestined that her biggest challenge would come on Andrews’ home turf, outside of Syracuse, hometown of her owners.
No crowd has been so partisan since Jeff Mallet and Dragon’s Lair beat Nihilator at his home track of The Meadows in 1984.
The Crown competition was the toughest Moni Maker would face. Personal Banner was sharp as a machete, and Act Of Grace, driven by John Campbell was always a threat, as was the persistent Real Diamond. Post position seven, to the outside of two of the aforementioned fillies, was not an ideal place to be, but Andrews and Hennessey had played every hand they’d been dealt to date, and weren’t going to start making excuses at this point.
A decent trip unfolded for Hennessey behind Act Of Grace but soon turned into a double-edged sword. As Hennessey tipped three-wide around Act Of Grace to trot clear, Act Of Grace broke into a gallop, and Campbell pulled her out of the way. This action opened up a space off the rail for maybe half a second. Peter Wrenn, driving Personal Banner, dove for that space, and the pair of fillies trotted as a team down the stretch. At the wire, Personal Banner had the audacity to stick her head in front of Moni Maker and end her immaculate season in her 19th try.
Moni Maker gave up nothing in defeat. She went on to win the Matron in Florida, and then earned a well-deserved rest. She raced creditably in Europe in early 1997 and may yet win her Breeders Crown this year. Neither she nor Personal Banner got any awards or year-end honors, though no two horses have been more deserving, after the display they gave on a fall evening at Vernon.
Purse $350,000
Vernon Downs, Vernon, NY - October 25, 1996
Extras
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