If all goes well, Points North could be positioned toward a nice three-year-old campaign for Pinske Stables, but the gelding still has work to complete this season.
Points North is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line for Saturday’s (November 4) $150,000 Kindergarten Series championship for two-year-old male pacers at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J. He will start from Post 6 with Andy McCarthy driving for trainer Richard ‘Nifty’ Norman.
Grand Teton, from the stable of trainer Jimmy Takter, is the 3-1 early favourite from Post 9 with driver Yannick Gingras. Stakes-winner Im A Big Deal, trained by Chris Ryder, is 9-2 from Post 2 with Joe Bongiorno.
Saturday’s card at the ‘Big M,’ which will begin at 7:15 p.m. (EDT), also includes Kindergarten finals for two-year-old female pacers, two-year-old female trotters and two-year-old male trotters.
Points North heads to his Kindergarten championship off a win in the fifth-and-final preliminary round of the series on October 26 at Vernon Downs. Points North had a total of three wins in the series and was the points leader at the conclusion of the preliminary legs.
For the year, Points North has won six of 11 races and earned $82,930 for owner Pinske Stables, which bred the horse with John Carver. All of his victories, including a division of the Bluegrass Stakes, came in his past seven starts. He was discovered to be sick following his only loss during that span.
Points North, a June 2015 foal, needed time to mature physically. He was gelded after his first qualifier in mid-June this year and made his career debut a month later.
Points North, victorious at the Meadowlands Racetrack (Lisa Photo)
“He was a late foal, so we got started a little late,” said Karl Pinske, who is joined by his parents, Tim and Marlys, in making up Pinske Stables. “After we gelded him, he started to come around and has been pretty good ever since. He tries hard and is a high-speed horse. It just took a while to put it all together.
“I give a lot of credit to Nifty and his patience. Most people wouldn’t be that patient.”
Points North is a son of Somebeachsomewhere out of the mare Northwest Hanover. The Pinske family raced Northwest Hanover, who was a stakes-winner at age 3 in 2010 – a year when divisional honours went to millionaires Put On A Show (U.S.) and Western Silk (Canada).
“She was a good racehorse and that was a tough bunch,” Pinske said. “She had a really good attitude and that’s passing through (to her foals). I only keep two or three broodmares, so I’m pretty selective.
“She was on the small side, so that’s why we bred her to ‘Beach.’ It worked out. (Points North) is a big, good-looking horse.”
Points North, who was raised at Pinske’s farm in Plato, Minn., was named after a resort where Pinske and his son, Carter, stayed during a fishing trip in Saskatchewan.
“Carter has talked up this horse from the beginning,” Pinske said. “We didn’t over-stake him this year because he was late getting started and needed time. But we will stake him more next year. We really like his potential. He has some filling in to do yet. We think he will only get better.”
The Pinskes have enjoyed a strong year as owners. In addition to Points North, the family has campaigned a group that includes stakes-winners Overdraft Volo (a Kindergarten champ last year), Haveitalltogether, Hayden Hanover, Inverse Hanover and Lucky Rainbow.
“It’s been a good year,” Pinske said. “Hopefully we can finish it off well.”
Saturday’s card also includes the debut of the new Pick 10 Survivor wager at the Meadowlands.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.