It’s every owner’s dream in harness racing to win the Hambletonian. For those people that consist of the VIP Stable ownership group on the standout 3-year-old Giveitgasandgo, they won’t be without a chance come Satudray.
With the VIP Internet Stable, the Hambletonian hopeful is also owned by John Butenschoen’s Harmony Oaks Racing Stable, David Miller, Lawrence Means. In addition to co-owning, Butenschoen is also the conditioner for the ridgling by Yankee Glide – Mazda Hanover.
Giveitgasandgo will start from post 4 in the first of two Hambletonian eliminations, and the top five finishers from each elimination will return later in the afternoon for the prized final. Giveitgasandgo – last year’s freshman Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion – enters the Hambletonian off a career mark of 1:52:1 that he took just last week at the Meadowlands when he bested many rivals that he’ll see once again in his elimination.
In that race last week, Giveitgasandgo was racing on Lasix for the first time but stake conditions state that horses cannot race on Lasix for the Hambletonian. According to Butenschoen, Giveitgasandgo had scoped recently with congestion down in his lungs and that there were also one or two small spots of blood observed.
In addressing the Lasix situation for the Hambletonian, Butenschoen said, “Last week there was a major discussion between all of the partners and quite a few veterinarians as to get their opinions on the risks associated with racing a horse off Lasix after just having a horse on Lasix for a single start. The consensus was that it’s possible he may not perform as well without the aid of Lasix but that there shouldn’t be any residual or longer term effects, so we decided to go ahead and take the gamble.”
In reaching the Hambletonian, Giveitgasandgo will become the first horse owned by a public partnership group to be part of the historic race for 3-year-old trotters. It also marks a significant achievement for the VIP Stable group that came from humble beginnings when founded in 1999 by Ed O’Connor.
In his career, Giveitgasandgo has been ultra-consistent, winning 11 of his 19 career starts. In fact, he’s finished in the money in 16 of those races only missing the board three times. He’s won his most two recent starts between Pocono and the Meadowlands heading into the Hambletonian and a winner of nearly $360,000 in his career to date, Giveitgasandgo will have the opportunity to add to that bankroll substantially with a strong showing on Saturday.
Giveitgasandgo was a relative bargain, purchased for only $32,000 as a yearling at the sale in Lexington. Said Butenschoen, “I like the Yankee Glides. Erv Miller and myself go through and probably look at 80% of the horses at Lexington and Harrisburg and try to visit the farms as much as possible.” Not having the pockets to buy every possible best horse, Butenschoen rates out all of the horses he takes a look at, sets an acceptable price range for each horse and when all of the pieces came together for Giveitgasandgo the rest is history.
For the partners that comprise the VIP Stable ownership share of Giveitgasandgo, the Hambletonian presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that they likely wouldn’t be able to experience without the fractional ownership model of VIP.
As trainer Butenschoen puts it, “If I go to a sale and buy a horse for $50,000 and someone came to me and said they wanted to buy into 5% of it, realistically the chances are slim that would be able to happen. But if Tom (Janes) and Ed (O’Connor) of VIP take a quarter or half of the horse and then make those shares available to VIP partners it gives them an opportunity to own a horse that they never would have had a chance to.”
He continues, “So they’re (VIP) able to fill a great void. I don’t care if a person owns 1% or 5% or 10%; they’re invested into a horse and they have just as much enjoyment as a person that owns 90%.”
While VIP has and still does employ a diverse group of trainers, their relationship with Butenschoen in recent years has proven to be fruitful for both the partnership group and the trainer.
Since becoming acquainted with Butenschoen a few short years ago, VIP has produced countless winners of sire stake races including overall sire stake winners Duel In the Sun (KYSS), Allstar Partner (PASS) and now Giveitgasandgo (PASS).
The relationship has been beneficial for the trainer as well. Butenschoen has seen his own stock rise of late and he’s increased his place in the earnings standings for trainers every year over at least the last five. Today Butenschoen sits at 13th in the trainer standings for earnings in 2017 and while his success cannot be attributed solely to the many horses he trains for VIP, there’s no question that the rising trajectory of him and VIP bear resemblance.
In last fall’s Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands, Giveitgasandgo finished third to Walner in his elimination but then made an unfortunate break while well positioned around the first turn in the Breeders Crown final.
As for the chances of Giveitgasandgo (along with stablemates Bill's Man and Dover Dan) in the Hambletonian, Butenschoen simply wants the horses to be given a chance to flaunt what they have. “These two horses have the ability and a bunch of these are very evenly matched colts in terms of caliber, and their talent is good enough to give them a try. I want them to be able to show themselves, run their race and then whatever happens from there happens,” said Butenschoen.
No matter how things turn out in the Hambletonian for Giveitgasandgo he’s already earned his way onto the biggest stage in harness racing. That in itself is a dream come true for VIP Stable and all those involved.
By Brett Sturman