For the first time in recent years, the Dover Downs six-month long season was influenced by the weatherman. Three major 'Nor'easters,' plus wind, cold weather and more than usual rain, were prominent components of the 2009-2010 meet. One of the early winter storms forced cancellation of nearly a week of the regular racing schedule.
Corey Callahan emerged as a driving standout. He won the most races, including eight on one card. Josh Green won the Leading Trainer Award, his victory margin was only one (Joe Hundertpfund, fifth in the standings, was only eight wins behind). Three Of Spades turned in a strong season from start to finish, while several distaff pacers and top-class trotters exchanged victories all season long.
The 2009-2010 season's Horse of the Meet Award, chosen by member of the Delaware Valley chapter U.S. Harness Writers Association, was presented on the final Monday (April 12) of the meet to Three Of Spades, a winner of six feature races during the 129-day season. Other leading candidates for the award were pacers Delivered From Zin and distaff standouts Shady Sabrina, Apache Dame and Boots Place. The leading trotters were Chosen Voyager and JM Vangogh.
The Leading Driver and Trainer Awards were also presented on the meet-closing program. Corey Callahan dominated the win column among drivers earning his first Leading Driver title at the track with 267 trips to the winner's circle. During the last two weeks, Ross Wolfenden moved into second place in the standings with 208 wins. Ron Pierce was third with 202 wins. Defending track champion Tony Morgan will finish fourth with 173 wins. Jim Morand had 109 wins.
The track's leading UDR percentage drivers are as follows: 1. Ron Pierce (.375); 2. Tim Tetrick (.364); 3. Daryl Bier (.356); 4. Corey Callahan (.327) and 5. Bret Brittingham (.291).
The most competitive Leading Trainer contest in recent times came down to the last two days of the meet. Only nine wins separated the top five conditioners. Defending four-time champion Josh Green made it number five with a meet-leading 68 wins. It was the lowest number of wins for a leader since 2000-01 when Bobby Clark conditioned 45 winners. Dylan Davis was only one win behind in second place with 67 wins. Tim Crissman finished third with 62 winners. Wayne Givens has 60, good for fourth place. Completing the top five, Joe Hundertpfund had 59 winners.
The leading percentage trainers were: 1. Brit Evans (.466) (20 wins in 61 starts); 2. Dylan Davis (.418); 3. Joe Hunterpfund (.364); 4. George Teague (.347) and 5. Trish Foulk (.344).
Delivered From Zin, stepped up from the claiming ranks to the Delaware Special and became the winning horse of the meet with his 10th victory. Other multiple winning horses were pacers Shady Sabrina, Be Bad Bill, Miami Diva N, Harlingen Hanover and Hello Magic, all six-race winners. Bud, Leonard Place, Pacific Pleasure, Missed Tide and Im Outtahair have won five times along with two trotters, Up Down N Around and Rollaway Zak. Four race winners this meet are pacers; Little Amos, Gabrielles Girl, Matties Character, Cyclone Cully N, Oaks Hanover, Donttellmewhattodo, Perfect Swing, McCabe Hall, Artistic Wonder, Winordietrying, Kaiapol Lil N, None Can Compare and one trotter Mac Atack Mac.
The 2009 major stakes highlighted opening month racing in November. Vertical Horizon pulled a surprise to win the 14th Progress Pace with a purse of $350,000 and on the same card, the Matron sophomore titles were won by Showherthemoney, both were owned by Bulletproof Enterprises, trained by Tracy Brainard and driven by Jim Morrill, Jr. Showherthemoney won in World Record time of 1:49.2, Bulletproof breaking the record held by Rainbow Blue in 2004, to take the $153,537 filly pace. The $214,153 filly trot was won by Yursa Hanover in 1:53.4 track record time and Swan For All, in his last race before becoming a stallion, won the $253,537 colt trot. There were three Matron Two-Year-Old Finals one day later, Nov. 4, followed by three Matron Three-Year-Old titles. All Heart Gal (driven by Jim Morand) won the $199,275 filly pace; the $157,800 filly trot was won by Costa Rica (Ron Pierce) while the $166,800 colt trot went to Lucky Chucky (John Campbell). Two Sundays later, Bulletproof closed out the Matrons with a three-colt entry. Schoolkids won the $259,484 Three-Year-Old Colt pace in 1:50.1. Bulletproof's Ideal Race finished second and Straight Shooting, the fifth place colt in the sophomore final. Shooting, the fifth place colt in the sophomore final.
Four $100,000 Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund finals for three-year-olds to close out the Dover Downs meet on Thursday, April 15. The winners were colt pacer - Golden Gladiator, filly pacer - No Bad Luck, trotting colt - Par Done My Putt and Miss Snazz, trotting filly.
Claiming of horses was up during the meet. Five-year-old pacer Big Heart was claimed in March for $15,000. After a 1:52.2 win in a Delaware $15,000 Claiming pace, Buddy Bell, a longtime Delmarva horseman, won the 'shake' from among 11 claims for the horse. It was the third time since Feb. 1 that Big Heart changed hands. During the race, the pacer was owned by Baron Racing Stable, who had claimed him only a week ago. The 11 claims entered on one horse is not a track record. There were 15 claims for pacer Xlb Joker in the 2008-2009 meet.
Just before two of the 2010 winter storms arrived, Corey Callahan became the fifth driver in track history to equal the all-time record for wins on one program piloting eight winners on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Callahan ties Luc Ouellette, who did it twice, in 1998 and 1999. Brad Hanners eight wins came in 2005, while Tony Morgan and Tim Tetrick, each with eight wins in 2006. On his eight-win night, Callahan also had five seconds to give him 13-times 1st or 2nd in 15 drives.
The biggest longshot of the meet was 97-1 shot Hancock on Dec. 14, 2009 in a Delaware $10,000 Claiming Allowance pace with Brad Hanners driving. The upset winner paid $197.00 for a $2 win ticket. Hancock had raced for a $20,000 tag on opening day, Nov. 1, 2009, then was dropped down to $15,000 and the week before raced in a $12,500 claiming pace. Eddie Dennis drove Olive to a 95-1 victory in a DSBF preliminary in late March.
Four-time track leading driver Tony Morgan advanced over the $100,000,000 mark in money won by horses he has driven. Morgan is also the all-time fourth winningest driver in the sport with nearly 13,000 career wins. On four occasions, Morgan won the coveted Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year Award.
Popular Dover Downs horseman Ken Wood received another major honour in early 2010. Wood, who sponsors a personal 'good will' mission to Ghana in west Africa has made 19 trips over the last three years to dig wells for the inhabitants of Ghana, with his time, equipment and all expenses his own. His efforts have now reached 450 wells and 25-miles of underground pipes to provide for the first time fresh water to around 300,000 in that part of Ghana. On March 3, Wood received the Harness Horse International (HHI) prestigious Dominic Frinzi 'Person of the Year' award. Wood was previously honoured with the 2009 Humanitarian award presented by U.S. Harness Writers Association.
For the first time in the Delaware Standardbred Breeders Fund (DSBF), two horses that are still racing in top class events and have been registered as a DSBF stallion. Both are million dollar winners and both continued to win feature races during the meet. Art Director, boasting a $1.1-million bankroll raced in the Monday feature paces and at the same time is breeding mares at Safe Haven Farm. JM Vangogh, racing in top class events, is the richest trotter ever to stand in the First State and is still racing in the Wednesday Open Trot feature. Near the two-million mark in career earnings, he also stands the 2010-breeding season at Linda MacDonald's Merrie Medo Farm.
Montrell Teague joined the active driver ranks during the meet. The 19-year-old seemingly improved each day. Late in the meet, on a busy Wednesday, he drove six winners, but only one win counted for in the driver standings. Driving in 12 races, Montrell won five in the morning's non-wagering qualifying races. Then that evening, he drove a winner in the DSBF filly pace prelims on the regular racing card. The young Teague capped off his Dover Downs meet with a perfectly executed drive behind
The George Teague Stable set a record of sorts with five horses he trains being named in the 2010 top 25 Experimental Ratings compiled by HTA Executive Stan Bergstein in the February issue of USTA's Hoof Beats magazine. The ratings list the top three-year-olds based on projected best win times for the upcoming season. Teague's Fancy Filly is rated No. 10 overall, tops for a female. She won the Dan Patch as the best two-year-old filly pacer of 2009. Others from the Teague stable are Dr. Dreamy (# 13), Windfall Blue Chip (#14), I'm Gorgeous (#16) and Delmarvalous (#17). No other trainer in the country has more than two horses in this season's rankings. In addition, Teague returned million dollar winning stakes champions Badlands Nitro and Southwind Lynx back to the track after missing their four-year-old seasons when they bred mares. The twosome joined standout 2009 three-year-old Mr. Wiggles in the elite class of Free-For-All, Invitational, Preferred and Open pacers Chasin Racin, Johnny Z and Zee Barber, all stakes winners the previous season and a promising three-year-old trotter, The Kentuckian.
A visiting delegation from Russia arrived on Dec. 14, 2009 and had the group's photo taken in the winner's circle after the $27,000 feature race. The visiting contingent was Russian Justice Of the Peace Court Judges sponsored by The Open World Program comprised of six Judges, two interpreters and a facilitator. The group was hosted by Kent County Justice of the Peace, James Murray of Dover.
The Delaware Standardbred Owners Association has renamed its prestigious Horizon Award to honour its longtime president, Jim Case. The award is presented annually at its early January awards-dinner to a horseman making noticeable strides during the Delaware racing year. The first 'James T. Case Jr. Horizon Award' honouring the retired first president of The First State's horsemen's association, will be presented in early 2011.
(Dover Downs)