A 30-horse stable of horses, including a free for all pacer named Gold Dust Beach, were pressing for his attention back in central New Jersey.

Like most horsemen with a full plate of duties, respites from the pressures of a 24-7 job are rare and treasured. It was the third year that Harrison has made the pilgrimage to the Masters.

He returned in time to see Gold Dust Beach finish third in round three of the Levy Series on Saturday night at Yonkers.

The pacer, who was second twice in Levy prelims, next will head to the $100,000 Battle of Lake Erie on April 19 at Northfield Park. He finished second to Maltese Artist in the 2007 edition.

At the end of January, the six-year-old joined Harrison’s shedrow at Magical Acres in Chesterfield, NJ.

“He sold at the January Sale [the Tattersalls Select Mixed Sale at the Meadowlands] and Erv Miller bought him for $280,000,” explained Harrison, who more than three decades after settling in the United States still has a Kiwi accent.

“My man Clive [Palmer] bought him privately after that,” he said

“Clive was under bidder on Total Truth,” Harrison noted. “We bid $875,000 for Total Truth [who sold for $900,000].

“He [Clive] was very keen on the other horse [Gold Dust Beach] because he wants a son of Jenna's Beach Boy to stand at home [Queensland, Australia],” he continued. “Eventually that's what Gold Dust Beach will do. He gave [Erv Miller] a small profit over the sale price.

“He's a nice horse to be around,” said “Red” Harrison. “He's a great looker. He's been racing good. He won at the Meadowlands in 1:50.3 [on February 12 in his second start for Harrison], and he was second in the open there. He's done very well and earned about $70,000 back already.”

Lifetime, Gold Dust Beach has banked $691,069 with 21 wins, 18 seconds and 10 thirds from 84 starts. He has finished in-the-money in six of the eight starts since moving to Harrison’s barn.

The pacer's 2008 dance card will likely include the $200,000 estimated Levy Final on May 3 and the Ben Franklin at Chester Downs which has $50,000 eliminations on June 8 and a $500,000 final on June 15.

By mid-summer, a decision will have to be made whether Gold Dust Beach will continue racing in the States or head to Australia to start his breeding career.

“That's up to Clive,” said Harrison. “I'm not sure if he's going down to stud this year. That decision will have to be made by July because he'd have to go into quarantine if he was going to go.

“I've paid him up to [to the summer and fall stakes],” he added. “Hopefully, if he maintains his form, he'll keep racing. I think he's better on a smaller track, but he's a hard hitter.

“These aged horses now go for some good money,” he noted. “It's good to see some longevity in horses; they're not beat up and can race on and on.”

Not much is known about owner Clive Frederick Palmer, the owner of Gold Dust Beach, in the northern hemisphere.

The Brisbane businessman entered the standardbred industry in mid-2007 and by the end of the year he had more than 80 horses Down Under. He currently has 17 North American horses among his holdings.

Most of the standardbreds he has purchased – including Fox Valley Appeal and Spirit Of A Shark – were already proven performers in North America before they were shipped to Australia.

Palmer's finance director and harness racing manager, Derek Payne, told the Melbourne Herald Sun that Palmer would be building his broodmare band up to 100 or so.

“Clive is a hugely successful and innovative businessman who doesn't do things by half measures,” Payne told racing reporter Adam Hamilton of the Herald Sun. “The breeding side is a business because he will sell some stock, but he also aims to buy and breed high –class racehorses.”

Palmer, who made his wealth in iron ore mining with his company, Mineralogy, is a 53-year-old widower with two children. According to published reports, he is worth more than $1 billion.

One of his acquisitions earlier this year was the open pacing mare Free, a daughter of Armbro Macintosh, who had banked more than a half a million dollars.

In February, however, just before she was to make her first start for Palmer, Free's health was in a free-fall.

“It came on over a four-day period,” recalled Harrison, who has trained the mare since last May. “She started out that she didn't train good, but she was sound. The next day she was sore, the next day she was lame, the next day she was crippled. That's when we had to get her on a truck to New Bolton [at the University of Pennsylvania].”

Free was diagnosed with equine protozoal myeloencephalitis [EPM], a neurological condition caused by a single-celled protozoan parasite.

“Dr. Michael Ross, one of the best in the country, when he put her on the table to x-ray her said he thought she had either a dislocated hip or a fractured hip,” Harrison explained. “He didn’t expect to be bringing her back, and that he'd have to put her down. But there was no way it was a fracture.”

Free spent three weeks at New Bolton in a sling, receiving treatments. Her initial prognosis was quite guarded.

“I'm just glad she’s alive,” Harrison said. “She's probably 80 percent better already, and she has an excellent chance of returning to the races.”

A month ago, Harrison was not quite so optimistic.

“I think the prognosis is good now,” he noted. “I thought maybe her life [was over], definitely her career. But now she has an excellent chance to come back. I want to get her all the way back. There's a drug called Navigator. Once she is as strong as she can be, I want to put her on 30 days of Navigator and that should come close to totally eliminating [the EPM] it from her system.”

Harrison, who turned 58 on March 22, is coming off his most lucrative year in 2007, sending out 363 starters who finished-in-the money 146 times and banked $925,218.

Some of his past stakes stars have included Dare You To, Direct Flight, Frightening P, Falcons Icon, Sam Francisco Ben and Alanis M.

Thirty-six years after he traveled from Methuen, New Zealand for what was to be a six-month stay, Harrison is well established in the Garden State.

With his wife, Joan, a Long Islander, he resides in Clarksburg in New Jersey's horse country and has raised four children – 30-year-old Tom, 27-year-old Greg [who works for trainer Virgil Morgan], 22-year-old Jen and 20-year-old Bill [who works for his father].

Several years ago Harrison, who grew up in a racing family, threw himself into helping the industry in his adopted home of New Jersey.

He has been a vice president of the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey for five years. The SBOANJ represents the state’s owners, trainers, drivers, breeders and caretakers.

“I'm very proud and happy with the direction the SBOA has gone in the last few years,” he said. “It's done a lot for racing in New Jersey. It was a big contributor to our getting a new contract with the casinos [for a $90 million purse supplement].

“Lot of people [complain] and moan in this business and don't want to do anything about it,” he added. “I feel and I say this, even though I'm vice president, I don't contribute enough because I'm too busy [training].

“But I think the SBOA management is very strong,” he noted. “I think it will continue to be a major force. [SBOANJ President] Tom Luchento has done an outstanding job. I'm very impressed.”

Carol Hodes