DOVER, Del—- Unlike the 2011-2012 season which was a meet with good weather from start to finish, the 46th harness racing season was one of chilly and cold weather particularly starting Jan. 1, 2015. Many of the top horses and horsemen again campaigned at Dover Downs during its 46th drsdon.
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For the sixth straight meet, Corey Callahan finished with the Leading Driver title winning races. As last meet, Dylan Davis was Leading Trainer coming from behind to beat Doug Lewis and Wayne Givens for first place haltering wins. The Horse of the Meet balloting by Delaware Valley chapter U.S. Harness Writers Association went to the fast Bandolito who edged trotter Tough Mac and Joebswesternshark.
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Tony Morgan became the third North American driver and fourth in the world to reach 15,000 wins with a victory on the opening card at Harrah's Philadelphia in Chester, Pa. Morgan was a longtime driving champion in Illinois prior to coming to Dover Downs where he made an immediate impact winning a track one-meet record of 447 in 2005-06 and more than 1-thousand wins in one season. Morgan won his 11,000th and later his 13,000th wins at the track. He also has been a standout at Harrington Raceway as well. Only all-time leader, Dave Palone, approaching 17-thousand wins, German driver Heinz Wevering and Herve Filion, both with more than 15-thousand wins are ahead of Morgan.
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Bandolito and Jebswesternshark became the first sjub-150 pacers of the meet on the Thursday (3/26) card. Bandolito, who equaled the track record of 1:48 in 2014, first set by Heston Blue Chip in 2012, came within one-fifth of a second duplicating the feat. One race later, Jebswesternshark, who started the meet as a $15,000 Claimer, before ascending to top class pacers, scored wire-to-wire, in 1:49.1. The 10-year-old won two $26,000 Delaware Specials After three consecutive wins in the claiming ranks.
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A 2014 Matron Stakes resume: heavy rain just before the first raced forced a half-hour delay, but it did not deter a giant night of racing when all eight Matron Stakes were featured on the Nov. 6 card. Yannick Gingras won the night's first three Matrons for the 2-year-old trotters and pacers. Gingras won both ends of the daily double piloting world champion Wild Honey, 1-9, to win the $203,800 frosh filly trot and then Habitat, now 7 for 11, from off the pace, to win the $237,500 2-year-old colt trot. In The Arsenal fired early for Brian Sears and never looked back to win the $193,200 Matron Stakes for 2-year-old male pacers by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:51 and Sassa Hanover led a sweep of the top three spots for trainer Ron Burke in the $199,600 Matron Stakes for 2-year-old female pacers. Starting from post 8, Sassa Hanover and driver Gingras rushed to the front in :26.2 and then cruised to a ninth victory in 11 starts. Weeper flew to the front in 25.4 and then closed from fourth with Ron Pierce driving for a 1:50 victory in the three-year-old filly pace. In the glamor trots, Nuncio, who won the freshman Matron a year before, pulled a mild surprise in the big trot, leaving from post 8 and waltzing to an easy victory when stablemate $2.2-million winner Father Patrick broke stride after the start. The sensations Shake It Cerry was an easy winner of her 14th in 16 starts in the $179,200 filly trot. And, in the $186,550 three-year-old colt pace, Big Boy Dreams made a three-wide move around the final turn on the way to a 24-1 upset victory.
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Breeders Crown winner McWicked, swept the 2014 Progress Pace, winning the Prevue and Final with similar 1:48.4 victories, two of the fastest clockings at the track. To race in the Progress Pace, McWicked had to be supplemented with a paid fee of $25,000. It was worth it winning the $301,560 Progress Pace Final.
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The Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) three-year-old stakes dominated meet-closing week festivities. The top eight point-getters after two preliminaries legs in each of the four divisions qualified for $100,000 finals. Callmema (Call-Me- Miz- A) won the $100,000 filly trot after favorite I Love Punk broke stride before the start. Political Foe breezed through the $100,000 male trot. DSBF preliminary two $20,000 legs winners were I Got Spunk, Dancing Shirley and Penny Paratrooper and Callmemza, in a dead-heat, in filly trots. Political Foe and Go Byem were male trot winners. The filly pace winners were Rusty's For Real and Purrfect Bags while Smoking Joey and Sonofa Sizzle won the two colt and gelding paces.
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The 2014 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) two-year-old program is considered one of the best in its history. With $20,000 preliminaries and $100,000 finals, competition was keen. A gelding, Remember Me VK, 1:51.4, and Totally Rusty, 1:52, turned in the fastest win times taking the male and female paces. Three geldings shared the former record of 1:52.4, Valerin K in 2004, Western Ace and Quick Trim in 2005. The former filly record was 1:53.4 set by Double Flip in 2006. Egosnattitude and Penny Paratrooper won the male and female trotting finals.
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During the Dover Downs meet, Corey Callahan was in the midst of a battle for first place in North America winning drivers. Callahan and Aaron Merriman battled for most wins in 2015.Twice-defending champion Ronnie Wrenn Jr., was a close third in the standings. Among trainers, Ron Burke, again was the far-away leading trainer, in wins and money won. Dylan Davis was fifth and Jim King, 10th, in early 2015 top trainer standings in North America.
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Corey Callahan upped his meet-leading win total to 284 winning drives. Allan Davis finished second with 143. Vic Kirby moved into third-place with 138 winners. Tony Morgan was fourth with 116 wins. Ross Wolfenden, fifth, with 105 winners.
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From Monday-Thursday (2/16-2/19), Corey Callahan won 24 races. The track's leading driver since the 2009-10 meet racked up 204 wins through the first 72 racing days. His UDRS (similar to a batting average) was an outstanding .415. After winning seven races on Tuesday (2/17), Callahan followed with an eight-win night, one fewer than the track record of nine wins (2/ 27/11) by Tim Tetrick. Callahan, the track's leading driver for the past seven seasons, had already wrapped up the 2014-15 title.
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Ross Wolfenden had a banner week in early December. Along with driving Penny Paratrooper to victory in the $100,000 DSBF frosh filly final, Wolfenden then became a member of the 6,000-win club on Tuesday, Dec.2, a three-win day.
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Callahan reached a milestone (1/6) recording his 4,000th career winning drive. The 36-year-old Callahan, a graduate of the University of Kentucky, became a driver at a rather older age, in his late-20s. He comes from a dual harness family. Both his father's and mother's families have rich standardbred backgrounds. In 2013, Callahan represented the U.S.A. in the World Driver Tournament. During the 2014 North American campaign, he was a top 10 finisher in both wins and money won.
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During 2014-2015, Callahan has the highest UDRS (equivalent to a batting average) at .412.Ron Pierce is second at .400. Tim Tetrick is third with a .350 rating, Vic Kirby is fourth at .288 and Ross Wolfenden, fifth, .261.
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Defending champion Dylan Davis continued a late-meet surge in training wins and held on to win the title for the second-straight meet. Davis secured first place with 64 wins. Doug Lewis was second with 60 winners. Jim King with 57 victories finished third place. Wayne Givens completes the top 5 with 54 wins.
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In trainer statistics, Amanda Payson has the highest 'batting average.' She has started 36 horses this meet with 16 winners in 42 starts for a standout .508 percentage. Vic Kirby has haltered 19 wins from 73 starters, good for a .400 rating and third in the standings. Eric Ell is next with a .419 UTRS winning 34 races form 134 starts. Dylan Davis is the only other conditioned over .408. He has won 64 races in 231 starts for a .404 percentage.
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Two popular harness drivers, Ross Wolfenden and Tim Tetrick, were among the missing in late February. Wolfenden vacationed until mid -March with his family in New Zealand. Tetrick is also Down Under, competing in the World Driver Championship in Australia starting this weekend, Tetrick represents the U.S.A. against the best in Europe and Australasia in the week's competition. There was a changing of the guard in March. Ross Wolfenden returned from a month-long family vacation in New Zealand, Meanwhile, Ron Pierce was sidelined to undergo several laser surgeries on his neck and back. Meanwhile, popular driver Trace Tetrick, who spent most of the last two season racing at Dover Downs, returned to Indiana and Hoosier Park's where he is leading driver. His replacement at Dover, was brother, former track driving champion, Tim Tetrick.
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Stories of interest: Al "Rusty" Carter has raced horses in Delaware for more than a decade. Along with breeding and owning horses, plus coaching young boy and girl athletes in theWilminton, Del area, and now driving racing cars has become another pastime. In recent years, Carter has competed in a number of popular automobile races and in January, his racing team won at Dayton and finished a close fourth at Sebring in April . His Carter Racing Stable bred and owns Totally Rusty, the only foal of his stallion, Rusty's For Real, from his mare, Rusty's Joy, scored an all-time fastest 1:52 clocking in the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF) program for two-year-old filly pacers. The former record was 1:53.4 set by Double Flip (Tony Morgan) in 2006. Totally Rusty came back in April to score a 1:52.3 over a 'sloppy' track, one fifth of a second off the track record for a DSBF sophomore filly.
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On Feb. 2, track race-caller Jack Gallagher observed his birthday. In 2015, Gallagher has called races for 37 years with the last 31 seasons (through 2015) at Delaware tracks, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway. Gallagher began his racing career announcing the one-time New Jersey Summer stakes at various farms throughout the Garden State in the 1970s. He later worked at Brandywine Raceway and at Garden State Park when the old burned-out track was rebuilt in the mid-1980s before arriving in Delaware ever since. Only Roger Huston at the Meadows has been behind the microphone longer than Gallagher.
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Ken Wood continues his humanitarian effort of bringing fresh water to Western Africa. Wood returned from his 35th trip to Africa on Feb. 1. The Dover Downs horseman is a well-digger by trade and usually four times each year, Wood takes a three-weeks long, 20,000 mile round-trip digging wells for the needy in Ghana and 2,000 miles away, Tanzania. Digging wells in West Africa, has been Wood's on-going personal campaign to provide water first to Ghana, and now expanded to the nation of Tanzania. Wood's acclaimed, 'Wells for Ghana' drilling provides water to inhabitants who previously had to walk five miles to find water deemed unsafe for human conception. Over the years, Wood has built more than 1,300 wells in Ghana including nearly 300 new Tanzania wells. These wells built by Wood serve more than 2-million native Africans, who until now never have had fresh water. Woods' humanitarian undertaking is underwritten by purse monies won by horses Wood races.
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Two longtime contributors to the Delaware Standardbred industry passed away during the Dover Downs season. Ruth Bower Davis, 89, and Harold Snyder, 91. Mrs. Davis, wife of the late well-known horseman Olin Davis, formerly of Harrington, Del. is a University of Delaware graduate. She drove horses as a hobby and was one of the early women to secure a USTA driver's license. She was renown during the mid-20th century for helping to develop the famed stakes winner Quick Lady. Mrs. Davis served as Clerk of Course and Program Director at Harrington, Georgetown, Brandywine, Rosecroft and Laurel on-and-off for 40 years and was a Director of the Delaware Standardbred Development Fund until it ended.
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Snyder was founder of International Sound Co., headquartered in Pikesville, Md. a leading provider of video and sound at many racetrack in America and a company which enjoyed an enviable reputation for integrity, died (1/ 26).For nearly 60 years, he providing video and audio at a large number of harness and Thoroughbred racetracks in America, In addition to Delaware tracks (Dover Downs, Harrington and Delaware Park), the International Sound product was featured at all three Triple Crown tracks plus more than 75 others.
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Heather Vitale was a 2014-season double winner at the U.S.Harness Writers Association's (USHWA) Dan Patch Awards-Dinner, in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 22, where the top honors are passed out to top horses and individuals. I n the broadcasting category, Ms. Vitale's feature on top trainer Casey Coleman on CBS Sports Network and the other, a feature on harness racing in Ireland shown on her Post Time show on WBOC-TV were winners. .
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Thomas Hundertpfund, 19, from Magnolia, Del., is one of six Harness Tracks of America (HTA) Scholarship Fund winners. Hundertpfund is a freshman majoring in Aeronautical Science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
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Trainer Jeanmarie Kurowski likes to keep busy. After rising to feed and train her two horses which include Osceola Gold, a 10-year-old pacer who has won 11 races under her care. In addition, Ms. Kurowski teaches school in the morning and later in the day works as a server at Dover Downs. By the way, she also takes care of her two young grandchildren.
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Ideal Revue was one of the the longest shot winners of the meet (12/14). George Dennis drove the 70-1 outsider to a 1:56.3 upset in a $14,000 3,4&5-Year-Old Winners-Over trot (12/17). The gelding's fifth win of the season paid $143.60 for a $2-dollar ticket.
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In late 2014, Mustang Art has turned into an iron horse. Thursday (12/18) was his 41st start in 2014 and 82nd including 2013 two seasons. He won eight races in 2014, boosting his seasonal earnings to $127,985 and $533,622 for 191 lifetime starts.
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Trotter Prayer Session was unbeaten winning his first five races to close out 2014. Pacer Drive By Night won six of his last seven taking a $15,000 Claimer (12/14) and Star Recruit made it five winners in Claiming rank but the streak ended on 1/1/15.
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The long eight-race win-streak of Willow Mill Faith came to a close on Monday (12/1), in a Delaware $7,500-$10,000 Claiming Handicap. Quick Pulse Daisy moved past on the backstretch on the way to a 1:55 victory.
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A trainer 'Bib' Roberts and son, driver Jonathan, Roberts family homebred, Egosnattidues pulled a mild surprise winning the $100,000 DSBF Colt Final. "This is the first time that [Egosnattitudes] ever put it all together," said Jonathan. "Last month (in October) he set a track record at Harrington (in a DSBF prelim) but he came up with some issues after that, so this is a pleasant surprise."
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For four decades on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, led by 85-year-old former Dover Downs horseman, Moses Asia, and his fellow winners of the prestigious Purple Heart awarded for exceptional bravery in battle, presented an engraved blanket to race winner, Stirling Breeze, trained by Kerry King and driven by Jason Thompson. This year, the Military Order of the Purple Heart honored one of their own, the late Charles Williams, who served with 83rd Infantry division in the European Theater in World War II. He was twice wounded and awarded two Purple Hearts and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star and V Devise and Combat Badge for his military service.
Marv Bachrad