$2,200 Horse Tackles Open Ranks

When Johnny Yoder bought Tuneariffic last summer, he had no idea they would be racing in Saturday night's opening round of the Presidential Series at Meadowlands Racetrack

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First, it might have been wishful thinking to imagine an unknown $2,200 purchase going up against the winter’s top older pacers.

Second, Yoder made Tuneariffic eligible to the series primarily because he planned to sell him at the Tattersalls January Select Mixed Sale at the Meadowlands and thought it would make the horse more attractive to prospective buyers. When he did so, he did not realize the first leg of the series would be contested prior to the sale, which is Monday (Jan. 16).

So the 30-year-old Yoder and the eight-year-old Tuneariffic will be together in the Presidential’s opening race. What happens afterward is up in the air.

“We’ll have to see how he races,” said Yoder, who trains Tuneariffic at his 25-acre farm in Ohio, about 25 miles southwest of Canton. “Maybe we shouldn’t (be in the series), but I’ve never had a good horse. He’s been racing well so I decided to bring him.”

Tuneariffic, a son of Tune Town out of the mare Dulcinea Esprit, has won 18 of 79 career races and earned $158,804. The bulk of his success came last year, when he won 10 of 23 starts and $81,732. Since he began racing for Yoder in August, Tuneariffic has won eight times and banked $66,707.

In October, he won in a career-best 1:51.2 at The Meadows with regular driver J.D. Wengerd in the sulky. Less than a month later, Tuneariffic won the preferred handicap in 1:51.4 and a week later he defeated 2009 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final winner Code Word by a nose in the same class.

Tuneariffic drew post No. 2 in the first of two nine-horse Presidential divisions Saturday. He will face a field that includes 2010 Presidential champion Blatantly Good, 2009 Berry’s Creek winner Annieswesterncard, 2009 Oliver Wendell Holmes winner Drop Red, and 2010 Hempt Memorial winner Fred And Ginger.

“People keep telling me that’s a completely different caliber of horses in there,” Yoder said, adding with a laugh, “Well, he can’t do worse than last. Somebody’s got to be last.”

The 25-year-old Wengerd, who has never driven at the Meadowlands in a race, will remain the horse’s driver despite Yoder being told by some people to make a change. Wengerd won a career-best 225 races last year and has 1,064 victories in his career.

“J.D.’s driven him every time and he’s done good for me,” Yoder said. “Why change something?”

Yoder, who trains part time when not busy with his concrete business, bought Tuneariffic at a summer sale because he liked the horse’s build.

“I just wondered why they quit with him, but I couldn’t find anything wrong with him,” Yoder said. “The first few times I trained him I was like, man, this is a nice horse.

“He’s a horse that doesn’t like to leave, but on a bigger track I think he’ll be good. He’s got a lot of brush coming home. He’s unbelievable to be around. He’s not a horse that grabs on or is crazy. He’s easy to get along with.”

Yoder grew up with horses and began getting interested in harness racing as a teenager. He would go to a nearby Standardbred farm and jog horses on weekends and also helped prep horses for auctions.

Now he is getting ready to race at the Meadowlands.

“It’s unbelievable,” Yoder said. “Hopefully everything will turn out good. We’ll just wait and see.”

To view entries for Saturday's card of harness racing at The Meadowlands Racetrack, click the following link: Saturday Meadowlands Entries.

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.