With the Breeders Crown standardbred stakes championship this Saturday 29NOV08, many racing fans will be watching Deweycheatumnhowe, Muscle Hill and other 2008 trotting and pacing stars, but folks from the Canadian Maritimes provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island will be focused on Shadow Play (incl. Habs great Serge Savard along with PEI and NB owners) and "Beach" (owned by NS and NB people), the fastest pacer ever and a truly exciting athlete for the ages.
Here's an excerpt from the excellent UStrotting.com article on Maritime horses in the 2008 Breeders Crown:
East Rutherford, NJ --- A thousand miles away from the bright lights of Broadway and the incandescent oval that is the Meadowlands Racetrack sit the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, collectively known as The Maritimes.
The region's 1.8 million residents are blessed with abundant natural resources, including skilled horsemen and passionate harness racing fans who will have rooting interests in the nearly $6 million in purses distributed in eight Breeders Crown races that highlight the program on Saturday night, November 29, at the Meadowlands.
Some portion of those millions could well be returning to the Maritimes thanks to the pride of Nova Scotia and Horse of the Year contender Somebeachsomewhere and his prime competition, Shadow Play, who carries the hopes of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Additionally, Maritime-born trainers Greg Peck, Carl Jamieson, Jeffrey Gillis, and Angus MacDonald, as well as Hall of Fame driver Bill O'Donnell, will be among those seeking Breeders Crown trophies.
"Somebeachsomewhere has become a folk hero in the Maritimes," noted Doug Harkness, a journalist who has been chronicling the story for the paper he publishes, the Atlantic Post Calls, and other newspapers in the region, including The Guardian, Truro Daily News, New Glasgow News and the Summerside Journal Pioneer.
Somebeachsomewhere, who comes into the $500,000 Breeders Crown 3-year-old colt pace with 19 wins in 20 lifetime starts, will wrap up his racing career on Saturday night. He is trained by Brent MacGrath, who is also a member of the ownership, the Schooner Stables of Westchester Station, Nova Scotia.
"His connections are Nova Scotians, but the horse has a great following throughout the Maritime Provinces," said Harkness. "Brent MacGrath, a car salesman from Truro, has been a hobby horseman for years -- he once had a small stable at the old Greenwood Raceway in Truro, where he met and became great friends with Paul MacDonell, who has driven Somebeachsomewhere in all of his races."
Somebeachsomewhere is closing in on the $3 million mark in career earnings.
It was MacGrath who put together the partnership of six, each of whom invested $10,000, to head to the fall 2006 sales to buy a yearling. At the Lexington Selected Sale, he spotted Somebeachsomewhere, the son of Mach Three-Wheres The Beach, and paid $40,000. The 3-year-old has a bankroll of $2,971,299, thanks to his string of stakes victories, including the North America Cup.
"Brent and Reg Petitpas of Shediac Bridge, New Brunswick, are the only two members of the stable with a racing background," explained Harkness. "Petitpas has owned horses for about 30 years and co-owns the good invitational horse Silent Swing, a winner of more than $1 million and a solid third-place finisher in this year's William R. Haughton. He also co-owns the 3-year-old Giddy Up Lucky, who was fifth in the Little Brown Jug.
Full article on Somebeachsomewhere and Shadow Play in 2008 Breeders Crown pacing final
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