MANALAPAN,
NJ – December 21, 2013 -- I Luv The Nitelife, one of the top pacers of the
year, has been named 2013 Secretary of Agriculture’s Trophy winner as New
Jersey Standardbred of the Year as selected by the New Jersey Department of
Agriculture.
I
Luv The Nitelife will be among the honorees at the 57th Annual New Jersey
Breeders Awards Luncheon at 1 p.m. on January 26, 2014 at Charley’s Other
Brother in Eastampton Township, NJ.
The
daughter of the late New Jersey super stallion Rocknroll Hanover out of Lisjune
had a nearly flawless campaign in 2013 on the back of a stellar two-year-old
season in 2012.
I
Luv The Nitelife, trained by Chris Ryder and driven in most of her starts by
Tim Tetrick, has already won national divisional honors as Three-Year-Old
Pacing Filly of the Year for 2013. And she is a contender for Pacer of
the Year and Horse of the Year, both of which will be announced in late
February.
In
2013, I Luv The Nitelife compiled a record of 13 wins, one second and one third
from 15 starts, banking $1,253,757. Added to her two-year-old season, she
possesses a lifetime record of 17 wins, five seconds and two thirds from 25
starts. Her career earnings sit at $1,943,287.
The
bay mare, foaled on April 23, 2010, was bred by Mike Gulotta’s MJG Racing
Stables of Annadale, NJ and Louis A. Willinger of Louisville, KY. She
carried the name Hard Rock Deo when Floridians Richard and Joanne Young paid
$60,000 for Hip No. 39 at the Lexington Selected Sale.
“I
recently have been naming my horses from songs from the 1960s and 1970s,”
explained Richard Young of Boca Raton, FL. “Nitelife’s brother was named
I’m the Pied Piper. I guess I just like the song.”
Young
was drawn to the filly because he had owned her Western Ideal half-brother, a
foal of 2009.
“He
had shown talent and was injured before he made it to the races,” Young
noted. “I Luv The Nitelife was a bigger, stronger individual than her
brother and so it made sense to try the family again.”
The
Youngs have a small stable, not more than five most years. They will be
going into 2014 with three yearlings, one three-year-old and I Luv The
Nitelife, who fractured her right knee and had surgery.
“The
operation was a success, and, with luck, she should be back in training May 1,”
Young said. “She will recuperate at Deo Volente Farms, where she was
foaled. As long as she recovers as expected, we will attempt to race her
in 2014. If things don't work out, we will breed her.”
Young
and Ryder have been an owner-trainer team for several years. Among their
success stories was Put On A Show, another daughter of Rocknroll Hanover, who
won multiple stakes and banked more than $2.4 million.
“One
could say I'm quite involved or more involved than most,” Young noted. “I
don't believe in getting into any business with knowing what you are getting
into, and so I've made a point of learning as much about it as I can.
[After] conferring with Chris, I generally map out their schedules and decide
which races I’d like to race in, always, of course, asking Chris if they are up
to the task.
“Nitelife
trained down nicely, [and] Chris had evaluated her as stakes caliber,” he
recalled. “He did not say she was another Put On A Show, but then again
how could he say that? Put On A Show trained down like the best filly on
the planet.
“I
was a little disappointed in her first race [at two] as I guess I was expecting
something more,” he noted. “In retrospect, she did all she was supposed
to do. When the half goes in a minute and then comes home in 55, and it’s
your first start against others who had been racing, I shouldn't have expected
any more [she finished fourth]. She never missed the board again.
“She
continued to improve, and it was her third start that showed us she belonged as
a stakes filly,” he added. “She finished third, but she showed she was
tough. She started winning then and broke the world record in her fifth
start [1:50.1 in a prelim leg of the She’s A Great Lady at Mohawk].”
On
May 4, 2013, I Luv The Nitelife won her season’s debut in a New Jersey Sire
Stakes leg at the Meadowlands, finished third two weeks later in the New Jersey
Sire Stakes Final and then reeled off 12 straight victories, including the
finals of the Fan Hanover, Lynch, Mistletoe Shalee, Thomas D’Altrui Miss New
Jersey, Valley Forge, Simcoe, Jugette and Breeders Crown.
Her
1:48.4 mile in the Valley Forge at Pocono was a world record clocking.
Two
weeks after finishing second by a head in the American National at Balmoral
Park on November 9, she turned in a sharp qualifier in preparation for the
Nadia Lobell at the Meadowlands on November 23, 2013. The Tuesday before
that anticipated start, the knee fracture was discovered.
Besides
racing, the Youngs are involved with a charity called A Spring of Hope.
“My
daughter Brittany just graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, suma cum
laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and hopes to attend either Stanford or Berkeley for
her PhD in cultural anthropology,” he explained. “She founded A Spring of
Hope [www.aspringofhope.org] when she was 14, and I'm confident it will forever
be a part of her life.
“The
charity is involved in providing water to schools in South Africa and follows
that up with education on how to grow crops and be self-sustaining,” he
noted. “Joanne and Brittany spend a great deal of their time supporting
the charity, and I help when I can.”
For
tickets to the awards luncheon [$35 per person], contact the New Jersey
Department of Agriculture, Division of Markets & Development, Horse
Industry, PO Box 330, Trenton, NJ 08625 or call at 609-984-4389.
I Luv The Nitelife
Rocknroll
Hanover – Lisjune by Camluck
Breeder:
MJG Racing Stables, Annandale, NJ & Louis A. WIllinger, Louisville, KY
Owners:
Richard P. Young, Boca Raton, FL & Joanne Young, Coconut Creek, FL
Trainer:
Chris Ryder Driver: Tim Tetrick
[among others]
2013
Races: 15 13-1-1 Purses: $1,253,757 [Lifetime:
$1,943,287] Mark: 1:48.4 at Pocono
2013
Stakes Wins: Breeders Crown, Jugette, Simcoe, Valley Forge, Miss New Jersey,
Mistletoe Shalee, Lynch & Fan Hanover
-Submitted
by Carol Hodes for SBOANJ
