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.
