The
$1.2 million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack is on Saturday, August
3.
The
colt by Majestic Son was a major force in the Ontario Sires Stakes program in
2012 for Mario and Benoit Baillargeon. He won two OSS Gold Finals,
finished second to the top-rated Wheeling N Dealin in the $475,860 William
Wellwood Memorial at Mohawk, and was third from post nine in the $600,000
Breeders Crown at Woodbine.
Murmur
Hanover hit the board in nine of 14 starts, took a mark of 1:55.2, and earned
$418,955, while racing exclusively in Canada for owner Richard Berthiaume of
Point-Aux-Trembles, Quebec.
Berthaiume,
who also owns millionaire pacing mare Voelz Hanover, Upfront Hoosierboy
[$565,780] and Odysseus Blue Chip [$300,730], decided to make a stable change
for 2013.
In 2000,
Yankee Paco became the first Canadian-sired Hambletonian winner, being a son of
the late Balanced Image. Balanced Image would strike again in 2003 when
Amigo Hall paid $57.00 as the longest shot in Hambletonian history.
Now a colt
from the first crop of another Ontario stallion, Majestic Son, has his sights
set on the first Saturday in August.
“He’ll
qualify soon, probably in two weeks,” said Claude Bardier. “He’s with us
on our farm in Sainte-Anne-Des-Plaines, Quebec, about half an hour north of
Montreal. The horse spent his entire Winter here and it went well.”
As a
freshman, Murmur Hanover was an aggressive colt who needed to leave the gate
his way before settling down. The $70,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase
made breaks in three of his last four starts last year.
“After
he made a break in the OSS Super Final [on November 10, 2012], he was given
lots of time off over the Winter, two months, and we started back with him in
February,” noted Bardier. “He’s had no physical nor sickness issues, and
just had the needed time to mature.
“He’s still
not an easy horse to train and deal with,” admitted Bardier. “He’s a bit,
how you say, studdy, but we’ve been in 2:05 with him. After qualifying, he’ll
go in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold elimination at Mohawk on June 28.
Hopefully, after that, if things go right, we’ll ship to the Meadowlands for
the Stanley Dancer and Hambletonian.”
Understandably,
the Bardiers have been keeping tabs on the competition, such as the undefeated
Wheeling N Dealin, and Smilin Eli, who recently swept the three-week New Jersey
Sires Stakes series at the Meadowlands.
“Yes,
we’re a brother act just like the Minors, Deshawn and Dewayne, who have that
good one, Smilin Eli. I’ve seen how impressive he is. Our good
friend, Dustin Jones, trains Wheeling N Dealin, and he’ll be tough to deal
with. My brother, Normand, myself, and the owner have had horses together
for 30 years, and this is a dream horse for us.”
The
Bardiers experienced some top level excitement with Quebec sensation Val
Taurus, who went undefeated in 15 Quebec starts spread over two years in 2006
and 2007, and was crowned that province’s Horse of the Year at two and three.
“We had that
very good Quebec-bred trotter by Taurus Dream, Val Taurus [1:53.2,
$362,444]. He won a Canadian Trotting Classic elimination in 2007, yet
unfortunately broke in the final.
“We’re
going on five years there’s been no harness racing in Montreal, but we’re
surviving. There is some racing now at Hippodrome Trois-Rivieres
conducted by the Quebec Jockey Club for horses sired in Quebec. They have
about 50 dates this year, and it’s about an hour and half from where we are.
We break and train young horses we buy at sales like Harrisburg, two and
three-year-olds, and ship them to the Toronto area to race.”
