YONKERS, NY,
Thursday, December 12, 2019—Peter Tritton, that fairly competent Down Under
imported trainer, was asked about Bit of a Legend N, that fairly competent Down
Under imported pacer.
“We were coming
off after a race one night and Jordan (Stratton) said to me, ‘Every driver
should have a chance to sit behind a horse like this.’ ”
Bit of a Legend N,
who rarely ran out of real estate on the racetrack, has nonetheless run out of
daylight as a racehorse. The 10-year-old double-millionaire is set to retire
after a Yonkers Raceway winner’s circle send-off Saturday night (Dec. 14th).
The son of Bettor’s Delight is off to Midland Acres in Bloomingburg, OH, to
begin a stallion career.
“I’m going to have
to plan a road trip to go see him,” Stratton said.
Bit of a Legend N
and Stratton have gone down the road together, the number of memorable miles
too numerous to mention.
“He’s my favorite
horse. No question,” Stratton said.
Bit of a Legend N
came over as advertised, having won Australian Breeders Crowns at ages 3 and 4.
“Peter (Tritton)
told me he was a getting a pretty nice horse,” Stratton said of the then
7-year-old who the late Harry Von Knoblauch purchased for $103,000. “I went to
the farm to see him. He just looked good running in the paddock and in his
first qualifier (Yonkers, January of 2016), I knew.
“He didn’t go much
(third, timed in 1:57.1), but the way he drove, the way he carried himself.”
Rising through the
overnight ranks with two wins and two seconds in four tries, it was time to
wear the big-boy pants and the ’16 George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series.
Sweep.
Bit of a Legend N
won all five of his preliminary legs starts, including a stirring, track-record
1:51.2 dead-heat with Wiggle It Jiggleit. In the $609,000 final a week later,
he drew well, took control early and won in a facile 1:51 (see accompanying
photo). He was (and remains) the only Free-For-Aller to run the Levy table.
The 2016 season
saw Bit of a Legend N win 13-of-28 starts (with six seconds and one third),
socking away $723,850.
Proving he was no
one-hit wonder, Bit of a Legend N threw down consecutive half-million-dollar
seasons in 2017 and ’18.
The 2017 Levy saw
Bit of a Legend N win twice (with two seconds) during preliminary-round
competition before a no-chance-trip fourth (to Keystone Velocity) in the final.
He then hit the road, winning the $109,600 Molson (Western Fair, 1:51.3),
$260,000 Gerrity Memorial (Saratoga, 1:50.3…at 15-1) and Quillen Memorial
(Harrington, 1:52.1).
The next season saw another standout Levy-leg log (two wins, two seconds, one
third) and yet another less-than-no-shot trip in the final. From post position
No. 7, Bit of a Legend N charged home for second, again to Keystone Velocity.
Bit of a Legend N
eventually returned to Londontown, looking to defend his Molson (renamed to
Camluck Classic) title.
He wound up a
flat, never-in-it fifth and “the only time he ever disappointed me,” Stratton
said.
“He’s had some EPM
(parasite) issues throughout his career,” Tritton said. “We’ve been able to
stay on top of it, usually, but I think that, and the ship up to Canada, was
too much for him. His blood was no good, but he bounced back.”
Indeed. A week
later at Northfield, it was a first-up, life-best 1:49.4 effort in the $200,000
Battle of Lake Erie, putting away the same horse—Rockin’ Ron—who had dusted his
rivals in the Camluck.
“Everyone was
excited for him,” Stratton said. “There were people, wherever we went, who said
he was their favorite horse.”
Bit of a Legend
N’s 2019 season was hampered by some poorly-timed quarter cracks, essentially
costing him any shot of doing damage in the Levy.
“It’s never a good
time to get them, but this was a bad time for him, and us,” Tritton said. “It
took about six or seven weeks to completely heal and the series doesn’t allow
for any time off.”
“It not that
he’s even slowed down that much, but the competition is just better,” Stratton
said. “Before, you could win a race in 1:52. Now, it’s no better than third.”
Stratton offered
some of the same platitudes about Bit of a Legend N that were bestowed upon
Foiled Again by his primary driver, Yannick Gingras.
“He can relax and
go a quarter in 30 (seconds), then sprint in :27. He won’t do more than what’s
necessary. It’s just his way of taking care of himself. Look at his races. The
margins are never that much. He knows what he has to do. That’s why he’s lasted
so long.”
The plan was for
Bit of a Legend N to be racing Saturday nights through the end of the season,
but after a second-place finish in late November, Tritton detected a bit of a
problem with an ankle (“There was nothing to gain by having him go a couple of
more weeks”), so the North American racing career ended with 33 wins in 99
starts and earnings of $1,909,935 (more than $2.5 million including foreign
take-home).
“I’ve had good
horses before,” Tritton said, “but he’s different. To have the longevity he’s
had and to produce in the big races the way he did, that’s what stands out.”
…and they named him right, too.
