Artiscape - 3CP
bay colt, 3, by Artsplace -- Delinquent Account, by On The Road Again
Owners
Brittany Farms & Brian Monieson
As 1997 faded away and the racing world geared up for the new year, the bar was already set quite high for Artiscape. The blue-blooded son of Breeders Crown champions Artsplace and Delinquent Account, Artiscape had already done more in his freshman year than most. A winner of six of eight races as a freshman, Artiscape made history when he won the Breeders Crown at Mohawk - the first contestant to win a Breeders Crown whose sire and dam were also Breeders Crown winners.
Trainer Bob McIntosh is capable of turning a deaf ear to the siren song of rich but early-season purse money, and brought his colt along slowly as a two-year-old. It was September before Artiscape made his pari-mutuel debut, which probably cost him divisional honors against the more polished slate of Sealed N Delivered. But McIntosh felt the strategy that had served him so well in 1997 would do in 1998 as well. He purposely avoided the early big money races, including the two worth a cool million -- the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace -- believing a horse that is sharp for the North America Cup will not be a fresh horse in the fall. Convinced that because of some nagging injuries Artiscape was better pointed for the end of the season, McIntosh watched as Straight Path annexed the North America Cup and Day In A Life took the Meadowlands Pace.
It was July 4th to be exact, before Artiscape even qualified, a 1:57.1, 12-length stroll around Mohawk’s oval. From there, McIntosh sent his prize pupil down the road less traveled, avoiding the east coast and picking up wins at Woodbine and Chicago, where Artiscape won the American National final by more than nine lengths in 1:50. Among the rivals he trounced that night were Day In A Life, the Meadowlands Pace winner. Then came post position 12 in a 12-horse field in the Oliver Wendell Holmes at the Meadowlands on August 8th. Despite being carried extremely wide around the last turn, Artiscape emerged from the crowded field to finish second. It was in the Holmes that Artiscape was reunited with Mike Lachance, the man who had guided him to victory in four of six starts together the previous year.
From there, it was west to Indiana for the Hoosier Cup. Sailing through the elimination in 1:51.2 for a comfortable one-and-a-quarter length win, Artiscape was the public's choice in the $500,000 final, but a :26.2 opening quarter found Lachance and his colt ninth in the outer tier. More than eight lengths out of it at the half in :55.2, Artiscape devoured ground with every stride, unleashing a final quarter of :26.4, but finished third.
Three consecutive wins in the Provincial Cup elimination, Final and Simcoe Stakes did much to restore the luster to Artiscape's reputation as the multi-heat test of the Little Brown Jug loomed large on his horizon. In the interim, Shady Character had come to the fore as the dominant pacer of the division, with wins in the Jersey Classic, Art Rooney and Cane Pace. His regular driver was Mike Lachance.
Trainer | Driver
Bob McIntosh | Mike Lachance
Other than trainer McIntosh, the one person most able to accurately assess the ability of Artiscape was obviously Lachance. On Jug day, his faith in the colt was put to the test. Lachance drove Shady Character, on his quest for the second leg of pacing’s Triple Crown, to a 1:53.1 victory in the first elimination.
In the next elimination, Artiscape, also piloted by Lachance, finished second to Cam's Knows Best in 1:52.3. For the final, Lachance was forced to choose. Stick with Shady Character - a horse whose proclivity for the half-mile track was well known - or go with Artiscape.
Before the post positions for the final were drawn, with no hesitation, Lachance chose Artiscape. Howls of protest and indignation rose from the Delaware County Fairgrounds - all coming from the connections of Shady Character. It seemed everyone questioned Lachance's judgment that day: owners, trainers, drovers analysts and fans. Two years earlier, Lachance had opted to drive Firm Belief over eventual Jug winner Armbro Operative. When Shady Character won the Little Brown Jug with catch driver Ron Pierce, Lachance's critics felt vindicated. Lachance himself never wavered, answering all questions politely, until finally stating emphatically some days after the Jug. "I stuck with him because I think he's the better horse. And you know what, I still think he's a better horse."
Wins in the Bluegrass and Tattersalls and pacing in 1:50.2 over Kentucky's Red Mile bolstered Lachance's confidence in Artiscape and sent him into the October 16th Messenger Final as the betting choice, where he again met Shady Character, just one win away from becoming a Triple Crown winner. The two horses dueled to the half in :55.2, with Shady Character refusing to yield the lead and Artiscape taking the long way around the Meadows' oval. The torrid pace took its toll on both horses; Artiscape finished third and Shady Character sixth.
Shady Character had won the New Jersey Classic, Art Rooney and Cane Pace, Day In A Life was the winner of the Meadowlands Pace, Fit For Life had won the Messenger, Dragon Again had won the Hoosier Cup.
Artiscape had won the American National, Provincial Cup, Simcoe Stakes, Bluegrass and Tattersalls. The stage was truly set for the November 14th Breeders Crown showdown at Colonial Downs in Virginia. For Artiscape, the November 8th elimination was a pocket-sitting walk in the park to beat Shady Character. In what turned out to be their final meeting, Artiscape drew off to win two-and-half lengths in 1:54. For Shady Character, the season was over. Pelling sensed he would not offer his best effort and decided to let his pupil, who'd earned a million dollars and won 10 races be retired. Instead he sent Browning Blue Chip, another pacer from his seemingly endless supply, after Artiscape.
Artiscape drew post eight in the $440,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Pace, the outside post a potential problem over Colonial Downs' sweeping one-turn mile with its initial long straightaway. Lachance sought to negate the outside post by controlling as much of the pace as he could and sent Artiscape rocketing away from the gate and after the lead. Tony Morgan and Sealed N Delivered had other ideas though, and the quartet blew through the first two panels in :26.2 and :53. Artiscape prevailed by the three-quarters in 1:21.1, opened up one-and-half lengths in the stretch, then doggedly fought off the late rush of Browning Blue Chip to win by a nose in 1:49.3.
"This horse is like a bulldog,"' Lachance said after his 17th career Crown victory. `"He just keeps on grinding out the mile. I have never had to work so hard as I did in this race with this horse. It paid off.'"
For Bob McIntosh, it was Breeders Crown trophy number 11, which tied him for the moment with Chuck Sylvester as leading Crown trainer. Muscles Yankee’s performance in the next race put Sylvester ahead to an even dozen. For George Segal (who also won the two-year-old filly trot with Musical Victory earlier in the evening) and Brian Monieson, who bred and own Artiscape it was their fourth Breeders Crown trophy as partners. Monieson, seriously ill, insisted on coming to Colonial Downs to watch his dream colt perform "To win this race for Brian Monieson was the proudest moment of my life," said McIntosh. "Artiscape is as good as it gets."
With his second consecutive Breeders Crown win, Artiscape became the fastest and richest son of the leading pacing sire Artsplace and the only son of dual Breeders Crown winners to win not just one, but two Breeders Crowns. When casting votes to award Artiscape divisional honors as three-year-old
pacing colt of the year, many voters cited Artiscape's stirring Breeders Crown win as the deciding factor. As has been true so often in the past and will be in the future, "In harness racing it all comes down to the Breeders Crown “
Purse $490,000
Colonial Downs, New Kent, VA - November 14, 1998
Extras
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