Four-year-old harness racing gelding, On The Rantan N (by Bettor’s Delight-Funontherun-In The Pocket), remained undefeated in the United States this past Saturday night winning the $18,500 Open Handicap for horses and geldings at Hollywood Dayton Raceway. In a driving monsoon, On The Rantan N left the Woebkenberg starting car and settled into fifth behind an eye-opening first quarter in 26.4 set by leader Hickory Icon and driver Jeremy Smith. As they passed the grandstands for the first time, driver Dan Noble pulled his mount, Sports Sinner, first-up and driver Jason Brewer quickly pulled ‘Rantan’ out to follow the live cover. Hickory Icon clocked the half in :56 seconds as the field journeyed toward the rain-driven backstretch. Sports Sinner began to stall on the outside approaching three quarters and Brewer made the call to set sail three wide with On The Rantan N and the gelding responded in a big way, striding up and grabbing the lead and opening up two lengths at the three quarters, clocking in at 1:23.3 (27.3 third quarter). As they hit the stretch, the duo of Brewer and ‘Rantan’ drew off by three lengths before throttling down near the wire to win by 2 in a final time of 1:53.2 (29.1 final quarter).
On The Rantan N’s win Saturday marked his sixth consecutive win, in as many starts, since arriving in the U.S. for owners Chris Choros of Calumet City, IL; Eleven Star Stables of Portland, IN; and Jason J Brewer of Moraine, OH. ‘Rantan’ has now accumulated current-year earnings totaling $37,606, of which $35,700 has been earned in the U.S. The gelding has 22 lifetime starts (including 6 domestic) with 10 wins and 1 third and currently has a lifetime mark which he set at The Meadows on August 18th of this year in 1:50.4.
Ohio based Jason Brewer and his father, Jeffrey Brewer, have teamed up as the driver/trainer duo to condition On The Rantan N here in the States. After a few phone calls to an agent (who spoke to Rantan’s trainer) in New Zealand and after Jason spoke to his regular driver there, they narrowed their list of several horses down to just one. The Brewers and partners made the choice to bring ‘Rantan’ home. The gelding traveled from New Zealand by boat to Australia, then a plane to Beijing, China. From China, ‘Rantan’ traveled on another plane to Alaska and from there to New York. Following three days of quarantine in New York, he was shipped by truck and trailer to the Brewer Farm in Ohio. He journeyed along with 17 other horses of various breeds to a variety of destinations throughout the world. A groom traveled with ‘Rantan’ who tended to him and made sure nothing happened along the way.
Jason said, “You couldn’t ask for a better horse to be around. He is well-mannered in the barn; an easy jogger and he knows when to put his game face on. Everyone we spoke with from New Zealand said they enjoyed being around him. After all of his world travels and experiences, the first thing he did was dive into his grain. He did not act one bit stressed.”
On The Rantan N is the first New Zealand horse purchased for the Brew Crew stable. Jason added, “You’re always concerned with how a horse is going to react to something different, but he raced in New Zealand both ways of the track and he also raced from a stand still start, as well as varying distances, including 1 and 11/16s miles and 1 and 3/8s miles in his last few starts there in colt stakes races. He’s just a nice horse and we are grateful to have him in our stable. My dad (Jeff) has done a great job training him down and being patient with him. He has given him the time he needs to become the horse he is today. We are enjoying his success and are looking forward to seeing what he has in store.”
The Brewers’ plan is simple, continue racing him and see what he can do. Based on his success so far, there is reason to believe we have not yet seen the best from this young gelding. Stay tuned!
By Kenneth W. Terpenning, M.I.S. @HarnessRacingReplays811