November 2013 | Pennsylvania Standardbreds Succeed at Kentucky’s Red Mile
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Pennsylvania Standardbreds Succeed at Kentucky’s Red Mile

November 2013 - Kimberly French

Carol’s DesireCarol’s Desire, the three-year-old daughter of Real Desire and Carolache, has more than decupled her yearling purchase price of $25,000 and has collected just under $345,000 in 30 starts.

Fresh off her triumph in the $260,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Final for 2-year-old trotting fillies on September 15, Designed To Be travelled to the Bluegrass State for an engagement in a $96,200 division of the International Stallion Stakes at The Red Mile on September 26. The filly certainly showed no signs of bouncing off her Sire Stakes victory when she stopped the teletimer in a 1:52.2 world record and defeated her Keystone State rivals Shake It Cerry and fellow world record holder Cooler Schooner.

Conditioned by Julie Miller and piloted by her husband Andy, Designed To Be competes as a homebred for Al Libfield of Pickering, Ontario, and Marvin Katz of Toronto, Ontario. The daughter of Donato Hanover and the Yankee Glide mare Sheer Soul is the second foal from her dam and came into this world on April 6, 2011 in Mechanicsville, PA.

Prior to her journey to Lexington, all of Designed To Be’s seven races were within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She now boasts a career slate of 8-4-3 and has earned $286,186.

The filly debuted on July 5 at Pocono Downs with a victory in a $30,000 Pennsylvania All Stars contest. She was then second to Shake It Cerry, who went on to win the $371,700 Merrie Annabelle on August 3 at the Meadowlands on July 17, in a $51,716 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes race, before hitting the winners’ circle again on August 6 in a $84,728 Sire Stakes race.

Designed To Be was then defeated by a head on August 21 at Pocono Downs by Perfect Gem and was second to Cooler Schooner in a track record performance on August 30 at Harrah’s Philadelphia. Both races were in Sire Stakes company.

“She’s been well in hand every race she’s had,” Andy Miller said after her world record performance. “I didn’t know if she would go this fast, but I knew it was going to set up for a big mile and I just hoped I was the one crossing the wire first. I just wanted to rate my own mile and not use her up too much early and save a little for late. She is very versatile. We have been taking our time with her all along and it seems to be paying off.”

Burke Puts on a Show
Ron Burke of Canonsburg, PA, the nation’s leading trainer with 866 wins and more than $17.1 in purse money, served notice his stable is as loaded with talent as ever as his charges put on quite a show down in Kentucky.

Outsourced, who was purchased for $27,000 at last year’s Lexington Select Sale by Burke, Howard Taylor of Philadelphia, and Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, picked up the third victory of her career on October 3, in an $88,000 division of the International Stallion Stake. The daughter of Donato Hanover and the Mr. Lavec mare Oaklea Opal crossed the wire in 1:54.4 which was a new lifetime mark.

A half-sister to Oakiedokie Hanover (Credit Winner, t, 3, 1:58.1, $103,822), Outsourced has started 12 times with three wins, one second and a third. To date, she has collected just shy of $90,000 but has consistently been right there, while maybe just a notch below the heavyweight tandem of Designed To Be, Shake It Cerry and Cooler Schooner while competing against those rivals on the Pennsylvania circuit.

“She raced good, a little bit green finishing, but she felt really good going to the half,” Yannnick Gingras, the filly’s driver, said after her victory. “Ronnie (Burke) told me to race her for a check, and I don’t really drive a lot to get checks, I like to drive to win. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but this time it did.”

Burke was also very pleased with how the race unfolded.

“It was a very good effort, I looked it (the race) over and didn’t see how we would win, then Andy (Miller) ran behind the gate and Yannick put her in a great spot,” he said in the winners’ circle. “It worked out perfect. (Her break in the Kindergarten) was a one-time thing, I think Brett (Miller) had her wound up tight that night. That was the only reason we kept her here. She had two breaks, but a lot of trot.”

Burke and Gingras were in the winners’ circle again with the 2-year-old pacer Somestarsomewhere on October 5 in a $67,750 division of the International Stallion Stake. The colt paced his mile in 1:49.2 which happens to be a new track record. The son of Somebeachsomewhere and the Art Major mare Lovely Assistant was a $110,000 yearling and is owned by Burke, Weaver Bruscemi, Michelle Yanak of McDonald, PA and Lawrence Carr of Randolph, NJ.

From nine trips to the post, the colt has four victories, two seconds and a third with a $77,137 bankroll. Somestarsomewhere had been competing primarily in Sire Stakes company, but Burke did drop him into two $8,000 non-winners races at the Meadows (both triumphs) prior to bringing him to Kentucky in September. He was third in his $77,750 Bluegrass Stake division the week before.

“I tried to get a breather in the third quarter, which I had gotten and when David (Miller) came after me in the third quarter, I thought it would take a pretty good last quarter to beat me,” Gingras said after the race. “I talked to Ronnie (Burke) and last week he said he thought the horse would step up. He didn’t really get around the turns at The Meadows. He thought the great surface and the mile track would help him and it really did.”

Carol’s Desire
Burke and Gingras teamed up again to take a $122,500 division of the Glenn Garnsey Memorial on October 5 with Carol’s Desire. The 3-year-old daughter of Real Desire and Carolache is owned by Burke, Weaver Bruscemi, Phillip Collura of Mountaintop, PA and Randy Ringer of Washington, PA. Her dam earned more than $500,000 during her racing career while competing primarily in opens and overnights.

This filly was a $25,000 yearling purchase and has collected just under $345,000 from 30 career starts. Her record stands at 8-3-8 and her time of 1:49.4 was the fastest she has ever paced a mile. Carol’s Desire is a half-sister to Winfromheretohere (Grinfromeartoear, p, 3, 1:52.1, $143,615), Dr. Zip (Western Ideal, p, 3, 1:51.2, $187,797), Idealist, (Western Ideal, p, 10, 1:51 $299,913) and a full sister to Sheer Desire (p, 1:49.2, $782,718).

Consistent, but not spectacular all year long, Carol’s Desire was a very nice second to world champion I Luv The Nitelife in the Jugette at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on September 18 as the longest shot on the board at 57-1 and a triumph in a $12,200 non-winners contest at The Meadows on September 28.

“She's really a trip filly," Gingras said after the race. "One time I put her on the front end at Chester and she really didn't like it. It was against higher quality fillies but it just wasn't her cup of tea. Then I raced her the week before the Jug and Ronnie said go easy on her because the Jugette is coming up in a week. Then in the Jugette she was just loaded. She was really, really sharp and she still is. But she does need the trip. You need to come first up or stay close and hopefully you will get lucky in the stretch and that's how things were today."

The filly’s trainer and co-owner were thrilled with the way she paced to the wire.

"We got the easier division," added Burke, "but that's what you are supposed to do when you have the easier division. You are supposed to win. She gets better every week and she's a hot horse going into the Breeders Crown. We weren't going to go with her but she punched her ticket today. She likes the track and it's home for us. She is really good right now. If you watch what we do a lot of horses get like this as 3-year-olds. They get better as the year goes on and are good at the end of the year."

Allstar Rating
Allstar Rating provided Burke and Gingras with yet another Lexington victory on October 4 in a $74,300 division of the International Stallion Stake. The daughter of Four Starzzz Shark and the Western Hanover mare Credit Rating is the first foal out of her dam and was highly regarded shortly after she was purchased privately by Burke, Weaver Bruscemi, and JJK Stables of Fort Lauderdale, FL, last May.

Unfortunately, this filly had a setback after her first start, which was a victory, on June 6 at The Meadows. It limited her to only two pari-mutual engagements prior to this mile with one being a second place finish by a head to her stablemate, Southwind Silence, in the $139,550 division of Kentuckiana at Hoosier Park on September 21 and another second in an $86,900 division of the Bluegrass Stake at The Red Mile on September 27 after being shuffled back at the start. To date, Allstar Rating has earned $110,012 during her brief career.

“She’s learning,” Gingras said after the race. “She was a little bit green on the front today, but I was happy with the way she raced. If they were moving along faster (early in the mile) I would have been content to sit there, but you can’t get away with easy fractions. I thought on paper it was a two-horse race, so I thought if I could steal it, I might as well take it.”