Shore By Five - Mare Pace
bay mare, 4, by Shore Patrol – Lilith Lobell, by Oil Burner
Owner
Ferme Carillon
By late summer the older divisions in harness racing usually sport a clear leader, and the Breeders Crown serves as a means to punctuate that claim. But the open mare pacers of 1999 were uniformly strong and of the 19 mares eligible, only two were not racing at Crown time. Armbro Romance, the fastest distaffer ever, had retired earlier in the year after suffering an injury, and Western Azure, put off her racing schedule by an attempt at embryo transplant, was not quite ready to face the Crown competition. The 10 mares who did enter boasted three Crown titles among them. Galleria, the defending 1998 Crown and divisional champ was oddly winless on the year for trainer Jim Campbell and owners Jules & Arlene Siegel. After roaring through her sophomore season and wresting the divisional title from Armbro Romance in her final start - the Breeders Crown - Galleria did not return to the races till June and had not managed a win in her seven previous starts.
Extreme Velocity, the 1997 Crown winner from Indiana, had missed starting in the event in 1998 due to illness, but was back in fine form as a six-year-old, winning her Breeders Crown prep race and four of her eight starts on the year. Also returning was reigning champ Jay’s Table, who stole the ‘98 race out from under the likes of Western Azure and Jules Jodoin, an iron gray mare whose color matched her constitution. Jules Jodoin was part of a two-horse entry from the powerful Joe Anderson stable, which topped all stables in purse money earned last year. Ohyouprettything was the second and supplemental part of the entry. A daughter of Sportsmaster and therefore not Crown eligible, her connections paid the $40,000 supplemental fee only to scratch her from the race before the post position draw with a cyst on her hind leg. Sanabelle Island, who suffered the same fate - withdrawn before post draw - the previous year, was in perfect health and even better form, with nine wins or seconds in 11 tries.
Also entered was Movie Star Laag from the wily trainer-driver team of Monte Gelrod and Luc Ouellete, who simply won most of the races they contested; Hot Shot Michelle, a daughter of Crown winner Artsplace and Five O’Clock Cindy, who produced the only triple Breeders Crown pacer in history, Jenna’s Beach Boy. Hot Shot Michelle hailed from the same ownership and trainer, Joe Holloway, who won this event in 1996. Ross Croghan, a runaway atop the current trainers standings at the Meadowlands, sent out Miss Kitty Hanover with Meadowlands newcomer Dave Miller at the reins.
Trainer | Driver
Bob McIntosh | Daniel Dube
A Quebec-bred mare from the Bob McIntosh stable bore immediate watching. Despite carrying odds of 53-1, Shore By Five deserved consideration for the following reasons. She was one of four homebreds Trainerin the field, and they have won this event six out of 13 times. No entry of Bob McIntosh can ever be disregarded. He won this event in 1991 in addition to 10 other Crowns and $3.5 million in purse money. Lastly, and in fairness, only the numerologists in the grandstand could have picked this angle, but when Shore By Five drew post five in the Breeders Crown the fickle finger of fate was pushing the BET button with all its might. Shore by Five was born at the farm of Jennifer and Roger St. Germain at 5:00 a.m. on April 5 (5/5/95). On top of that the St. Germains have five sons and the clerk who stamped their NJ racing license was named Albert Five (???!!!!). How did ANYONE let this mare off at 53-1?
A last minute driver change saw Daniel Dube, who had driven Shore By Five successfully in Quebec where she spent most of her racing career, in the bike. In his attempt to break into the Meadowlands driver colony, Dube benefited from his “French” connection. At post time the favorite was Sanabelle Island, a mare looking to break the $800,000 earnings mark.
But it was the iron mare, Jules Jodoin who was in front as the gate sped away. Anderson drove her hard for the lead, knowing he would end up with the desirable two-hole trip. Steve Warrington, driving Sanabelle Island obliged Anderson, snatching the front past a quarter in a breath-taking :26.4. Sanabelle Island kept that lead through a blistering pace that saw her rocket by the three-quarter pole in 1:22.1, faster than the horse pacers would go later in the card. Behind her lay the double threat of Jules Jodoin and Galleria, and if ever there was a time for Galleria to post her first win of the year and regain her divisional position, it was now.
Also on the stalk was John Campbell, ready to unleash the lethal stretch kick of Extreme Velocity, the same kick that carried her to victory two years prior. Jay’s Table was jammed hopelessly behind mares who were not advancing, and would have had to sprout wings and fly to get into striking position. In deep stretch Jules Jodoin, weakened, unable to take advantage of her garden spot. Galleria came out of the three hole like a locomotive and paced by Sanabelle Island with authority. But behind that pair came John Campbell and Extreme Velocity, who had enjoyed a easy trip and had all the late pace at a moment’s asking. Extreme Velocity replaced Galleria on the lead and appeared headed fore a second Crown title....when in the last five strides, Daniel Dube working over Shore By Five in a frenzy lunged past Extreme Velocity to confound the handicappers and claim a Crown title by a mere head.
The $108.20 mutuel was the third highest in Crown history, and marked the fourth time in the five editions of this event at The Meadowlands that an outside horse has shipped in and made off with the money. Not many drivers can call their first Breeders Crown drive a winning one, but Daniel Dube is one who can. McIntosh, who did not even see his mare on the racetrack monitors till the last strides of the race, picked up his 12th trophy, which ties him with Chuck Sylvester for number of crystal blocks.
Shore By Five also provided the St. Germains with their first Crown winner, from just their second starter. It was also St. Germain's first visit to the Meadowlands, and the retired insurance executive nearly didn't make it to the ground floor in time for the trophy presentation, as he and his wife got lost trying to find their way from the Pegasus to the winners circle. Shore By Five is a daughter of Shore Patrol, a Breeders Crown starter who did not advance to the final of his sophomore Crown event in 1992.
Shore Patrol earned the first Breeders Crown credit for the province of Quebec, where the sire first stood at the Quebec Stallion Station. The dam, Lilith Lobell, by Oil Burner, was purchased by St. Germain for $17,500 and her offspring have earnings that total more than $1 million. Shore By Five dropped her lifetime mark by nearly four seconds to 1:50.4. She also entered the event with just one win in eight starts this season, and had the least amount of money made on the year of any previous Breeders Crown Mare Pace winner -- $19,345. The winners share of the purse, $141,250, jumped that amount considerably.
Extreme Velocity was second and Galleria third, with Sanabelle Island holding tough for fourth and Jay’s Table grabbing the last check after a frustrating dead-end tour of the track.
Through the remainder of the fall Shore By Five did not remain at the level she sought on the final day of July...but the Crown title was hers...and next year she turns....five!
Purse $282,500
Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, NJ - July 31, 1999
Extras
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