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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Hammer & Miller Partner on Breeders Crown Hopeful Up Up And Out


By JAY BERGMAN for Breeders Crown

In 2005 Erv Miller and Roger Hammer were on completely  different sides of the racing spectrum. Miller sent out the 1-2 Hambletonian  favorite that year in Classic Photo and Hammer piloted the upset race winner  Vivid Photo to victory in the $1.5 million event one spot ahead of Classic  Photo.

Flash forward a few years and the two have partnered on a  Breeders Crown juvenile colt pace contender named Up And Out, one of two prime  candidates that Miller and Hammer have in Crown action this  weekend.

“Roger sent me Apogee Hanover last year (2011) to race in  Ontario and she did very well so we decided to go in on a couple of horses,”  said Erv Miller in regard to the recent association.

Apogee  Hanover, entered in Saturday’s Breeders Crown elimination races for  three-year-old fillies, has earned more than $540,000 racing north of the border  for Miller and sole owner Hammer. The daughter of 2005 Breeders Crown champ  Jereme’s Jet was a $27,000 yearling purchase at the Harrisburg auction in  2010.

For $40,000 Hammer and Miller took home Up And Out at  Harrisburg this past fall and again it was a yearling by Jereme’s Jet. “He was  just a good looking colt. He had great conformation,” said Miller. 

“The Jereme's Jets were well received the first year but didn’t  really click. I think that’s why this colt went a little  unnoticed.”

Actually those watching Up And Out for much of this  season could have said the same thing about him, as the colt that was virtually  invisible on the Ontario stakes scene until the last four to five  weeks.

“He’s needed time to mature,” said Miller about the progress  the gelding has made over the course of the campaign which included just one win  (a Dream Maker preliminary) in his first seven starts and three impressive  scores in his last four races. The most recent effort, an awesome  eighth-to-first launch in the $130,000 Ontario Sire Stakes Gold final at Mohawk  on September 28, was confirmation that Up And Out was a real player in this  division.

His final quarter of :26 2/5 was paced coming wide off the final turn.  He completed the mile in a personal best 1:52 3/5.

“I don’t know if  he could put four quarters together like that in a race just yet, but he has a  really high burst of speed,” said Miller.

Up And Out drew the pole  position for Friday’s first elimination race at Woodbine (race 2) but at the  same time landed in the same field with division leader  Captaintreacherous.

Miller has been quite happy with the way young Doug  McNair has handled the horse thus far.

“Doug’s done a great  job with him and he seems to know how to get the most out of the horse,” said  Miller.

Though this will be the first open test for Up And Out the  circumstances could be ideal.

“I think he’s heading into this  race really sharp,” said Miller alluding to the fact that some of the others in  the field have been through some tougher races along the way and may have more  wear and tear.

“We took it easy on him earlier in the year with an  eye towards the late season.”

Up And Out has a unique pedigree  being from the Cambest-sired mare Mellow Out. She’s a half-sister to one of the  toughest Ontario-breds of alltime, Duke Of Abby, a near $1 million winner during  his illustrious career that included a third place finish in the 1996 North  America Cup contested at Woodbine. Another close relative to Up And Out is Road  Machine, a $900,000-plus winner primarily in Ontario that finished third in the  1990 North America Cup.

With that kind of pedigree it’s easy to see  why Miller has his sights set down the road and is in his words “cautiously  optimistic” about his chances over the next two weekends. Should Up And Out  remain strong he could go in the $300,000 Ontario Sire Stakes Super Final slated  for November 10 at Woodbine.

With 14 entered in the 2-year-old colt  pace two seven horse elims will go postward with the first five finishers in  each elim advancing to the final.

All eliminations are US $25,000. Elimination  winners may pick their post position, drawn on Saturday night at Woodbine 

Friday, October 19, 2012 – 7:30 p.m. Post

$600,000  Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Colt Pace 1st $25,000 Elim – Race  2
1- Up And Out-D McNair
2-Vegas Vacation-Scott  Zeron
3-Emeritus Maximus-Andy Miller
4-Captaintreacherous-Tim  Tetrick
5-Twilight Bonfire-John Campbell
6-Dress The Part-John  Campbell
7-Rockin Amadeus-Yannick Gingras

2nd $25,000 Elim –  Race 4
1-Urbanite  Hanover               Ron Pierce
2-Good Day  Mate                  Dave Palone
3-Wake Up  Peter                  Scott Zeron
4-Fool Me  Once                    Ron Pierce
5-Apprentice  Hanover           Jody  Jamieson
6- Dewey  Beach                   Sylvain Filion
7-Captive  Audience               Brian Sears