By Evan Pattak For The Meadows Standardbred Owners Association

SPLENDID EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO 7 WITH GRITTY CURRIER & IVES SCORE AT THE MEADOWS

It took a gritty, sustained first-over move to do it, but Splendid extended his winning streak to seven in Saturday’s $97,854 Currier & Ives at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. Spaaaanzano was just as impressive in the other division of the 50th edition of the stake for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters, winning as he pleased on the front end.

Splendid’s previous six wins in the streak came off a variety of trips, but in the Currier & Ives — away fourth with no cover in sight — it appeared that the streak was in jeopardy. Winning driver Chris Lems, though, was confident in the ability of the son of Father Patrick-Long island Tea to triumph from that spot.

“He’ll do it however you want to do it,” Lems said. “He does it pretty much on his own. Actually, when everybody’s driving hard on his horse, it makes him go more.”

Splendid lived up to expectations, wearing down early leader E-Pass in deep stretch and holding off the Lightning Lane charge of Father Mike to down him by 1-3/4 lengths in a career-best 1:53.4. I’m Out rallied for show. Splendid boosted his lifetime bankroll north of $100,000.

Todd Rooney, who trains Splendid and owns with April Mance’s Trotting For Bourbon, indicated he intends to give the colt a month off . . . maybe.

“There are some races for him at Oak Grove, so I have to give it some thought,” Rooney said. “I’ll probably give him a well-deserved break.”

Entering the Currier & Ives, a number of factors marked Spaaaanzano as the horse to beat.  For one, he’d already banked $372,150 in his career. For another, he’d recently taken the $100,000 Battle of Bunker Hill at Plainridge and finished second in a pair of Ohio Sire Stakes. Perhaps most importantly, he’s trained by Chris Beaver, who owns the Coraggioso-Grace N Charlie gelding with Spaaaartners, Bill Manes and Leo Fleming.

Since 2002, Beaver had won the Currier & Ives — counting filly and open divisions — seven times. While he didn’t claim ownership of the event on Saturday, he certainly extended the lease. Once Aaron Merriman put Spaaaanzano on top, he had only to deflect the mild first-up challenge of Reggianito, who ultimately broke stride, and cruise home under wraps by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:53.3. Memorynimagination and Bird And Grenade rounded out the ticket.

“I was 100 percent under wraps,” Merriman confirmed. “I know Chris won’t over-race him, but I think he’ll give this guy some opportunities against Grand Circuit horses. This horse has done everything that’s been asked of him.”

Merriman also offered some insight into the colt’s name and why it contains four consecutive a’s.

“They knew I’d be driving him, and my name starts with two a’s,” he said. “They wanted two a’s for him, and they just combined them.”

Hmmm.

In harness racing, it’s common for freshmen to improve for their 3-year-old seasons. That having been said, the development of Lillehammer Hall remains remarkable. Off the ticket in all six starts last year, she’s begun her sophomore campaign by ripping off five straight wins — including a pair of PA Stallion Series splits.

She’ll try to stretch that streak to six in Saturday’s $58,390 Currier & Ives for 3-year-old filly trotters at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. The Currier & Ives goes as race 9, with first post at 12:45 PM.

Owner Kimberly Farmer shifted the daughter of Andover Hall-Contender Hanover to The Meadows stable of Todd Rooney only a few months ago, so Rooney really can’t address her freshman season. (Lillehammer, by the way, is the Norwegian village that hosted the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.) But he indicates he didn’t press any magic buttons in the areas of rigging or training regimen to trigger her improvement.

“It’s just maturity more than anything,” Rooney says. “Sometimes, if these young ones have some talent and you give them a chance to grow up physically and mentally, that’s all they really need.”

Nevertheless, he’s seen some assets that bode well for the future.

“She has decent speed off the gate, so she never gets away too far back. And she doesn’t give up. She’ll dig right through the wire.

“She’s had a lot of success because we’ve managed her well. We could have been over-anxious and put her in sire stakes where she might have been overmatched. She’s never had to drop three or four seconds in a race, so she’s been able to dominate her competition.”

She leaves from the rail with Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. at the helm.

If Lillehammer Hall is to dominate once more, she’ll likely have to get by Swanky Hanover (post 5, Dave Palone), who also is on the upswing, with three victories in four outings this year after laying a goose egg at 2. Here’s the difference. While Lillehammer Hall brought $30,000 — responsible enough — as a yearling, Swanky Hanover is a daughter of Muscle Hill out of the Cantab Hall mare Secret Magic.

That makes her a full sister to Manchego, a three-time Dan Patch Award winner and one of the greatest contemporary distaff trotters. At Harrisburg, Swanky Hanover was hammered down to Jeff and Michael Snyder for a tidy $700,000.

She’s marched through her conditions this year for trainer Marcus Melander but has yet to win a stake race. Rooney, for one, isn’t unhappy to see her in the field.

“Beating a $700,000 filly definitely would be a feather in our cap,” he says. “It certainly wouldn’t hurt Lillehammer Hall’s value.”

Caviar Gold zipped to the point from post 6 and widened late to capture a division of Saturday’s $96,884 Currier & Ives at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. El Toro Loco went from worst to first in the lane to take the other split in the Grand Circuit event for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters.

Caviar Gold won the Hackett final and an Ohio Sires Stake division before throwing in a couple clunkers in overnights, prompting a shoe change. He had no trouble grabbing The Meadows surface and continued to draw off despite an apparently insurmountable lead. Trainer Chris Beaver said he asked winning driver Aaron Merriman to keep the Triumphant Caviar-Gee Okeefe gelding busy.

“Aaron was rolling him along because if you don’t keep his attention, you can have a problem,” Beaver said. “He’s well staked at the end of the season. We try to get through the Ohio Sires Stakes, make the finals and then think about the Grand Circuit.”

The victory extends a record of uncommon Currier & Ives success for Beaver. He won it last year with Perron and in 2017 with Fraser Ridge. In 2009, Triumphant Caviar captured a heat for Beaver while Il Sogno Dream took a 2014 division in 1:53.2, still the stake record.

Asked if he’d heard anything about the stake’s being renamed Currier, Ives & Beaver, he deadpanned: “I don’t have any comment on that.”

Up Blueberry Hill was second, 4 lengths back, with Pappardelle (a Beaver trainee) third. Beaver bred Caviar Gold, who now has banked $170,721, and owns with Bill Manes, Leo Fleming and Steven Zeehandelar.

Pinned to the pylons and 4-1/2 lengths back, El Toro Loco seemed destined for a minor award at best. But when Brian Zendt swung him well outside, he found another gear and scored in 1:55.2, a neck ahead of Last Glow, with early leader S I P third.

Tom Loughry, Jr. conditions the Walner-Southwind Cabaret gelding for Brian Gillespie’s Lone Wolf Stable.

For Loughry, the path to the Currier & Ives winners’ circle was circuitous. For a number of years, he and his cousin, Robert Rougeaux III, have jointly operated the stable of their late grandfather, Harold Brocious, with Rougeaux listed as trainer. But Loughry, who handles most of the shipping, found it was easier to race out of state when the actual trainer was present.

Thus, he got his trainer’s license and had his first start on July 2, 2021, finishing fifth. Today, less than a year later, he’s a Grand Circuit stake-winning trainer.

“This is the biggest thrill with my name down as trainer,” Loughry said. “Still, we get the same thrill when we win at the fairs. Where does he go next? That’s up to Mr. Gillespie. We just try to stay out of is way and give him the best opportunities to win.”

Merriman collected three wins on the 11-race card.

June 12, 2021 — Prior to Saturday’s $99,370 Currier & Ives at The Meadows, trainer Chris Beaver predicted that his horse Perron would win some big races this year by roughing it on the outside. It was a bold forecast since Perron, the reigning Ohio champion, was winless in five starts this year.

But Beaver’s crystal ball was in focus, as Perron moved first over to wear down Whiskey Blu and capture the prestigious test for 3-year-old trotters. Panzano, also trained by Beaver, finished third.

When Whiskey Blu quarter-poled to the top, he was able to discourage any challenges until the three-quarters where Perron took up the chase. Winning driver Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. indicated that was about the best scenario he could draw up for the My MVP-Long Island Tea gelding.

“The four hole is a good leaving spot here, and that’s about as good as he can leave,” Wrenn said. “I knew I would have to grind it first over, but he can go all day long. He’s just not super-handy. He’ll eye a horse down, and he just doesn’t quit.”

Perron and Whiskey Blu dueled through the stretch until Perron inched away to down his rival by 1/2 length in a career best 1:54.

Beaver said Perron has about a five-week gap in his schedule before his next engagement, an Ohio Sires Stake leg, and that he might look for a race for Perron or give him time off and qualify him for his return.

Perron lifted his career bankroll to $272,389 and helped Beaver extend his distinguished record in the Currier & Ives, which has been contested since 1975. Beaver won the 2017 edition with Fraser Ridge, took a 2009 heat with Triumphant Caviar and captured a 2014 division with Il Sogno Dream, who scored in a stake-record 1:53.2.

Dave Palone was aboard a third Beaver-trained Currier & Ives contestant, Kildare King, who broke stride early and often. Palone managed to enjoy a pretty good day anyway, winning six of the 13 races on the card.

July 4, 2020 — Heavily favored It’s Academic cruised to a 5-3/4-length victory in Saturday’s $102,245 Currier & Ives for 3-year-old trotters at The Meadows. When Sister Sledge and Crucial waltzed to similarly easy wins in the $64,594 filly division — each in stake-record time — they gave Yannick Gingras and trainer Ron Burke a Currier & Ives sweep.

Burke’s big day didn’t end there. He started horses in 11 of the card’s 15 races and won a remarkable nine of them.

It’s Academic entered the Currier & Ives off two strong place finishes in Ohio Sires Stakes legs and looked to lay over the field. In this case, looks weren’t deceiving, as the son of Uncle Peter-Annapolis floated to the lead and widened at will, even after Gingras had shut him down. Harley K and Coventry Hall completed the ticket.

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“He’s just a real gentleman — perfect to drive,” Gingras said. “Down by the wire, I left him alone. He’s a little bit lazy, but he’s a nice horse.  To be a top colt, he’ll have to go a lot faster, but for Ohio and here, he’s the perfect horse.”

Burke Racing Stable, William Donovan, Joe Sbrocco and Hatfield Stables campaign It’s Academic, who vaulted over $200,000 in lifetime earnings.

Kate’s Massive powered to the lead past the quarter and made the rest of it look easy, scoring a convincing victory in Friday’s (May 24) $99,430 Currier & Ives for 3-year-old trotters at The Meadows.

Last year’s Pennsylvania Stallion Series champion, Kate’s Massive opened his sophomore campaign with a stallion series victory, so the Currier & Ives represented a step up for him. Nevertheless, Dave Palone steered the son of Muscle Massive-Sister Kate aggressively, protecting the rail starting position and getting away second.

Once Kate’s Massive reached the point, he had little trouble holding off the first-over challenge of Shake N Bake. The 6-5 favorite needed only a single tap from Palone’s whip in the stretch to defeat Shake N Bake by two lengths in 1:54.1, lowering his life mark 1-2/5 seconds. Long shot Stinglike A B K finished third.

Kelly Paver trains the winner, who lifted his career bankroll to $136,267, for owner and co-breeder Harry Horowitz.