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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Wdb7/8 - Hurrikane Kingcole Feels The Need For Speed

By JAY BERGMAN for Breeders Crown

It’s been a  rocky road for the connections of Hurrikane Kingcole this year. The brilliantly  fast three-year-old pacer has at times looked like a world beater. Then there  were the times when he would simply beat himself.

Trainer John  McDermott planned out a three-year-old season for his $10,000 bargain basement  purchase with a mindset to race the colt from off the pace. With as much speed  as the Cam’s Card Shark-sired colt possessed, McDermott was well aware that  “Kingcole” was virtually impossible to slow down or rate once he got fired up.

McDermott had his drivers stick to the plan for much of the  early campaign. His decision led to some impressive victories and some  disappointing defeats. An impressive 1:48 1/5 winner in a Max Hempt elimination  at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in June was followed by disappointment when the  odds-on favorite finished sixth a week later, the victim of an overland trip.

The commitment to race from off the pace left Hurrikane  Kingcole at the mercy of the post draw for the Meadowlands Pace. The trainer  took it safe, racing from behind again despite landing post eight. The decision  left the colt a hair short in finishing sixth, and earned a trip for the  consolation instead of the rich final.

McDermott put up Yannick  Gingras to guide his colt in the Meadowlands Pace consolation. The reinsman had  a commitment to A Rocknroll Dance but with that colt in the final there would be  no conflict on this evening. With an inside draw Hurrikane Kingcole was able to  relax from off the pace without losing much ground to the speed. The opening  half was briskly paced in :53

4/5 with Gingras waiting patiently. Once the  driver called on the horse the move was quick and devastating. Hurrikane  Kingcole was airborne sprinting around his rivals and opening up to a personal  best 1:47 3/5 mile.

With another bad draw in the Del Miller Adios  at The Meadows, Hurrikane Kingcole barely qualified for the final, but his  connections elected to pass and bring the colt back to the Meadowlands for the  SBOA New Jersey Classic, theoretically an easier race.

The colt won his  elimination with Gingras guiding him in almost identical fashion to the victory  in the Meadowlands Pace consolation.

Hurrikane Kingcole landed  post five for the final and that’s where the driver and trainer had a  discussion.

“Yannick thought he could float out with the horse to  get early position without hurting him,” said McDermott.

In the  $275,000 final of the Classic held on Hambletonian Day, Gingras did attempt to  float out to the lead. The :26 3/5 opening quarter seemed to unfold under a  legitimate hold, but after getting the lead Gingras and the horse appeared to  have nothing in common.

Hurrikane Kingcole was a virtual runaway,  pacing the fastest three-quarter mile clocking in the sport’s history. The 1:18  2/5 on the teletimer didn’

t give the colt much separation from pocket-sitting  Panther Hanover and in the deep stretch that colt wore down the speedster to win  in 1:47 2/5.

McDermott and company were then faced with another  dilemma a few weeks later when Hurrikane Kingcole drew post two in the $500,000  Battle of the Brandywine at Harrah’s Philadelphia. Gingras was committed to  drive A Rocknroll Dance and McDermott selected Dan Dube to guide his  horse.

“I spoke with Yannick before the race and he told me he  thought maybe the horse would be better if Danny kept him a half-length off the  gate at the start,” recalled McDermott.

“There’s one place I didn’t want to  be in that race and that was the three-hole. There was no way he could win from  that spot,” he continued.

While Dube tried to leave with patience  there were outside leavers in Sweet Lou and A Rocknroll Dance that made it  impossible for him to not turn his horse loose. The result was predictable in  that Hurrikane Kingcole set fractions of :25 3/5, :52 3/5 and 1:20 1/5 on his  way to setting the table for the rest of the field. The colt tired and finished  sixth, with A Rocknroll Dance claiming first prize in 1:48 1/5.

“Dave Palone (driver of Sweet Lou) knew if my colt got started  up he would be tough to slow down so he pushed the pace,” said McDermott about  the Battle of the Brandywine debacle.

The trainer had planned to give his  horse some time off after the Battle, and that’s what happened, although a high  white-blood count put the colt’s remaining races in question for some time. “He  actually had a high red count and a high white count,” said McDermott. “The red  count returned to normal, but the white count lingered and it didn’t come down  until right before he qualified at Freehold (September  27).”

McDermott and Hurrikane Kingcole appear to be on the same  page at this stage of the campaign. The colt was most impressive in his final  tune-up for the Crown with a 1:49 smoker on a cold and unusually windy night at  Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs this past Saturday.

“I really believe this horse  is going to be different and better at four and five,” said McDermott. “Right  now you can’t slow him down after you start him up, but I think over time he’ll  learn to go fast and be able to relax.”

As far as the Breeders  Crown is concerned the trainer knows his fortunes lay in the hands of the post  position Gods, but he’s not stressing about that. “He’s got the Crown and the  Monument Circle (Indiana Downs Nov. 3), the American National and the Windy  City,” McDermott said.

Despite the disappointment of having a colt earn just  over $200,000 when there was so much money available, McDermott still knows he  has a horse that is capable of earning plenty of money for a long time to come.

“People ask me if it’s frustrating to have a horse like  this,” said McDermott, “What’s frustrating is to have a horse that can’t break  2:40 no matter how hard you try to make him go. This colt is a pleasure to be  around and I can’t tell you how many people came up to me in Lexington to talk  about him. Carter Duer told me the only horse he’d ever seen that had a gait to match Hurrikane Kingcole’s was Jenna’s Beach Boy. That meant a lot to me,” said McDermott.

While the trainer is somewhat realistic about his  chances in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine, no one should lose sight that the  colt did finish third in last year’s final event at Woodbine and also closed  impressively from the back of the pack in his elimination over the same  “speed-favoring” surface.

With the talent and depth expected in this year’s $555,000 Breeders Crown sophomore colt pace entrant should beware of Hurrikane Kingcole.

With 15 colts entered in the $550,000  3-Year-Old Colt Pace, Hurrikane Kingcole drew post eight in the first  elimination this Saturday, Oct. 20. Pet Rock, who drew post five, has the gate  speed in the field, but also unrolled a :25.4 last quarter in his 1:50 win last week at Woodbine. 

Announcer Ken Middleton better have his superlatives ready. 

All eliminations are US $25,000, with the first  five finishers in each elim advancing to the final. Elimination winners may pick their post positions in a draw that will occur the same night. 

$550,000 Three-Year-Old Colt Pace –Elim 1, Race 6
1 Thinking Out Loud (J. Campbell)
2 Bettor's Edge (D. Miller)
3  Hillbilly Hanover (J. Morrill Jr.)
4 Escape The News (Y. Gingras)
5 Pet Rock (B. Sears)
6 Warrawee Needy (J. Jamieson)
7 Panther Hanover (S.  Filion)
8 Hurrikane Kingcole (D. Dube)
 
$555,000 Three-Year-Old  Colt Pace – Elim 2,  Race 10
1 Michael's Power (Supplement) (S.  Zeron)
2 Dapper Dude (J. Campbell)
3 Mel Mara (R. Pierce)
4 A Rocknroll  Dance (Y. Gingras)
5 Sweet Lou (D. Palone)
6 Speed Again (J.  Jamieson)
7 Heston Blue Chip (T. Tetrick)

Panther Hanover and HHK on the turn is a Witten Photo Meadowlands Pace consolation photo and winner circle photo with trainer John McDermott & Heather Moffet are Deuce photos.