By Carol Hodes for the SBOANJ
MANALAPAN, NJ – July 16, 2015
– Kelvin Harrison was in the right place at the right time when the opportunity
to train Meadowlands Pace finalist In The Arsenal was presented to him.
He was at the Harrisburg Sale
with money enough to buy one yearling – this would be the filly Sweetwithoutsugar,
who cost $20,000.
“I happened to buy one of [the
White Birch Farm] yearlings,” recalled Harrison, who is stabled at the White
Birch Farm Training Center in Allentown, NJ. “I talked to the farm
manager, Steve Williams, and he thanked me for buying one of theirs.
We’ve been friends for many, many years. He asked me if I would be
interested in taking one that they had bought back. I had actually looked
at the colt. He was small but was a nice colt. Absolutely nothing [wrong
with him]. He was very, very correct and just a beautiful looking colt
with a smart head on him, great body, just small.”
That colt was In The Arsenal,
whom White Birch’s owner, Michael Parisi, bought back when the bidding stopped
at $7,500. Coming into the $706,000 Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace Final
on Saturday night at the Meadowlands, the son of American Ideal – LadyOTRA has
banked $751,663.
The Meadowlands Pace is the
tenth race on the stakes-laden 14-event card.
In The Arsenal, paired with
driver Brian Sears, has been installed as the 3-1 second choice [to 4-5 Wiggle
It Jiggleit], leaving from post six.
In The Arsenal might be small
in size, but there has been little question that he has a big engine.
“This colt was great from Day
1,” said Harrison, who has 12 horses in training. “As soon as we put the
hobbles on him, he was incredible. He wasn’t one of those you had to
teach to go fast; he was one of those you had to throttle back his speed to
keep him from going too fast. He was a natural. He is a smart
colt.”
Harrison, who was born in
Methuen, New Zealand and came to the United States in 1972, has had a long and
successful career. For the last 10 years, he has been a member of the
Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey’s Board of Directors.
“This is my 50th
year in the business,” said Harrison, a Bordentown NJ resident known by his
friends as Red. “I got out of school when I was 15 years old, and I am
now 65.
“Fifth years I’ve been doing
this,” he repeated. “If I could win the Meadowlands Pace 50 years down
the line, it would be amazing. Training horses is not work for me.
It’s not a job; it’s a life. You are all in, or you’re not in at
all. It’s a full commitment.”
For many years, Harrison
campaigned 30-horse stables, racing at the tracks in New Jersey, New York and
Pennsylvania. In 1989, he won the premier Meadowlands race for
two-year-old pacers, the Woodrow Wilson Pace, with Sam Francisco Ben. A
mare he trained, Frightening P, became the first female to break the 1:49
barrier with a 1:48.4 clocking at the Meadowlands.
His stable star in 1992 was
Direct Flight, who competed in the Meadowlands Pace, the showcase event for
three-year-old pacers, and finished third. In The Arsenal will mark his
return to the Meadowlands Pace for the first time in 23 years.
“Hollywood [Meadowlands
interviewer Bob “Hollywood” Heyden] asked me why it took me so long [to get
back in the Meadowlands Pace],” Harrison mused. “Well maybe it’s because
I broke two yearlings last year, maybe it’s because I broke two the year before
and maybe the year before that I had none.
“This game is still a matter
of opportunity,” he noted. “I had a good year this year – I broke three
colts. The odds are just amazing. The odds are ridiculous. I
had two in the Breeders Crown last year, Beach Story [who finished sixth] and
In The Arsenal [who was second by half a length]. This weekend we have
[four-year-old pacing mare] Beach Story in the $213,450 Golden Girls and In The
Arsenal in the Meadowlands Pace.”
At two, In The Arsenal posted
six wins, one second and one third from 11 starts, earning $396,318. His
victories included the $125,000 Sheppard Stakes at Yonkers, a pair of stakes at
Lexington’s Red Mile and the $193,200 Matron at Dover Downs.
In December, White Birch Farm
sold a 40 percent interest in the bay to In The Arsenal Racing of Long Beach,
NY which includes Edwin Gold, Lorraine Muscara, Mark Muscara, Robert Muscara,
Cheryl Rondinelli, Howard Taylor, and Jerry and Teresa Silva’s J&T Silva
Stables.
This year the colt [he was a
ridgling at two], has five wins, one second and one third in eight starts,
adding $255,345 to his bankroll. He won the $300,000 Rooney Final at
Yonkers on May 30.
After winning his North
America Cup elimination, he was fourth in the $810,000 final. In the
$500,000 Hempt on July 4 at Pocono Downs, he was third, behind Wiggle It
Jiggleit and Artspeak.
He paced a lifetime best of
1:49.1, taking his Meadowlands Pace elimination on July 11.
“The only thing with him is
that he’s a little aggressive,” said Harrison. “He’s not the complete
package yet. He has a tendency to over-race. He has a tendency to
get fired up. When he’s on the front end, he’s nice and relaxed, and if
he’s first up, he’s nice and relaxed. But when he’s following cover, he
doesn’t relax like he should. He’s vastly improved from what he
was. Each week he gets better and better.”
After the Meadowlands Pace, In
The Arsenal will get a few weeks off and return to the Meadowlands for the Cane
Pace before traveling to Northfield Park for the Millstein, Pocono for the
Battle of Brandywine, Yonkers for the Messenger and Delaware, OH for the Little
Brown Jug.
On Saturday night, as he has
all year, Harrison will turn the lines over to Brian Sears to drive In The
Arsenal.
Victory would be a sweet way
to celebrate 50 years in the industry for Harrison, who has no plans to retire.
“That’s what we’re here for,”
he said. “It’s great [to have a top horse]. I’m very appreciative.”
