Oolong - 3FT
Bay filly, 3, Armbro Goal -- China Tea, by Super Bowl
Owners
Jason, P H, Lost Revenue & Rich N Poor
As the final Breeders Crown night of the millennium approached, the sophomore filly trot division sought a leader. Rum Boogie, the defending Crown champion, had bounced back towards the end of the season, winning a division of the Zweig, and was on a four-race win streak that included the Bluegrass, the Kentucky Futurity Filly Division, and her elimination of the Breeders Crown. A win in the final would move her ahead of her next closest rival for divisional honors, Oolong.
Oolong, a daughter of Armbro Goal and the Super Bowl mare China Tea, was bred by Castleton Farm and NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and was a subsequent $16,000 yearling at Tattersalls in 1997. She was brought home by Norwegian ex-pat Per Henriksen, a trainer whose expertise with trotters has resulted in a Hambletonian win with Nuclear Kosmos and a Breeders Crown title in 1993 with Expressway Hanover.
In the spring of 1998, Henriksen sought to have Dr. Richard Meirs of Walnridge Farm perform a throat operation he knew would help the promising filly. When Henriksen offered a quarter ownership in the filly to clear up a backwash of unpaid vet bills, Meirs agreed and convinced his father, also a vet, to go in with him. Thus the Rich N Poor Stable was born, and Meirs was delighted about a deal that saw the filly race creditably at two, picking up close to $40,000 from a limited number of starts.
Co-owners included Herb Sopenoff, a long-time client of Henriksen, who's stuck by him through thick and thin and owned the top trotter Deliberate Speed, PH Stable (Peter Haffer) of Luxembourg and Lost Revenue Stable, comprising Bill Pappa, Frank Fede and Gary Goldstein
Their year began on an auspicious note with Oolong picking up checks in sires stakes competition and right on track for some of the bigger money events at the Meadowlands. She won her first start of the year in June with Henriksen at the reins, and was sent into the $100,000 NJ Sires Stake final as 30-1 shot from the 10 hole. Oolong had the ten position, was eighth at the three-quarter pole when she stumbled -- her nose nearly hit the ground -- and never broke stride. She Oolong, showing the stuff of what real racehorses are made of, recovered and trotted right by the leaders to win the event.
Mike Lachance was in the bike for her next start, a Del Miller elim and won by a head over Canland Hall. But Lachance was committed to Rum Boogie, and Henriksen asked John Campbell to take Oolong in the Miller final. Henriksen had worked hard on her manners, and schooled her to relax, be comfortable and save her sprint for the last part of the race. Campbell couldn't work out that kind of trip and the filly finished sixth.
In the Hambletonian Oaks elim, Campbell gave a perfect steer, and Oolong emerged with a mark of 1:55.4 and the favorite's role in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks. Astonishingly, the Oaks was one race John Campbell hadn't won. Oolong remedied that, sitting chilly throughout the mile and unleashing a charge down the middle of the stretch, trotting in 1:54.4 like the easiest of winners. So not just Campbell, but Henriksen and the ecstatic owners celebrated their first Oaks win.
Despite her impressive bankroll, the catch driver roulette continued. To Oolong's credit, she had made all her pilots look good. In the Breeders Crown elims Campbell was committed to Chuck Sylvester's charge Eicarl's Theresa, though it was at his suggestion that Henriksen skip the Ohio and Kentucky Grand Circuit and reserve his filly for the Breeders Crown.
Trainer | Driver
Per Henriksen | Ron Pierce
Instead, Ron Pierce hopped in the bike and steered Oolong to a breezy four and half length win in her elimination, setting a new track record of 1:55.4 in the process. She entered the race as he favorite, with Pierce looking for his second Crown win of the season. The two-pronged Lindy Racing Stable entry of Rum Bogie and Dream On Candy would be her main obstacle.
Yet the race didn't unfold that way. Berndt Lindstedt, driving Dream Valley Om, shot to the lead and was able to keep the lead through moderate fractions. Pierce found himself trapped on the rail throughout as first Decapode, then Poster Princess made a bid for the front. But Lindstedt, sensing a chance to steal the race, kept the inside tier powerless until the head of the stretch when both Rum Boogie and Dream On Candy fanned wide to sprint down the newly widened Mohawk stretch.
Henriksen long hours of instilling patience and manners in Oolong paid off in the next seconds. Locked hopelessly on the inside, Pierce was able to thread the filly though a narrow opening on the inside when a tiring Dream Valley Om drifted out. Since Oolong's powerful closing kick had remained untapped through the mile, she trotted off to a secure length and quarter 1:56 victory.
Oolong and pacing filly Eternal Camnation were the only favorites to win that night. The entry of Rum Boogie and Dream On candy finished second and third.
Ron Pierce would be the only driver to win two Crown titles in 1999, while Armbro Goal picked up his fourth Crown credit. Oolong still had the Matron at Dover Downs, but the ownership group had received an offer from German owner Juchen Furch that was impossible to turn down. She finished third in the Matron elim and seventh in the final and was shipped overseas soon after.
Oolong left behind impressive stats of 21-7-2-5 and the most earnings of her division with $704,580. Her record propelled her to year-end honors for her ecstatic ownership group. The intangibles she left, the memories and emotions generated by her spectacular victories will also remain.
Purse $588,00
Mohawk Racetrack, Campbellville, ON - October 29, 1999
Extras
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