Well Said versus Somebeachsomewhere; getting interesting

When Well Said stormed home alone in 1.47.3 to win the Meadowlands Pace, my only wish was to see Art Official and Beach in the stretch with him, the 3 pushing each other to see who could prevail. Even though Somebeachsomewhere was nipped at the wire by Art Official in 2008, their times of 1.47 flat were a world record and in my mind Beach's only "loss" was his greatest race ever. It's difficult to criticize the driver, because even if you can watch the video a thousand times you will always wish there was an opportunity for Beach to get to the rail but there was no way for Paul to have tucked in and stayed behind Art Official and then killed him in the stretch. In any case, Artie was spent after that race and took months to recover, while Somebeachsomewhere went on to dominate the 3 year old pacing ranks in a very tough year that also included Shadow Play, Badlands Nitro, Santana Blue Chip and Dali.

It seemed it would be years before a colt as quick as Beach came along, and decades before Maritimes harness racing fans would ever experience another year like Somebeachsomewhere and Shadow Play provided, if ever. He may not be from PEI, but Well Said is well bred and looking like a true champion. After finishing 2008 with an impressive Breeders Crown win, this year he has been close to invincible and his Adios elim in an all ages track record of 1.49 last night shows this baby can really fly, and Pierce says the pacer wants to go faster...

As the season goes on, we will compare the race times and earnings of Well Said and Somebeachsomewhere. 2008 was a record-deep field for three year old pacing colts, so Well Said is well positioned to become the single season earnings champion, Inshallah. Considering that, we'll be keeping a close eye on the progress of his times, and at this early juncture it is definitely possible that either Somebeachsomewhere's race record (1.46.4) or Cambest's time trial record (1.46.1) may fall by September.

August 14th UPDATE: Muscle Hill is becoming the Beach of this year!!!