Harness: Disciplinary action against Takter?

Trainer Jimmy Takter may hold all the aces in this year’s Hambletonian, but whether he’ll be able to remain the regular driver on Trixton could be in some doubt. The Hall of Fame conditioner is expected to come under some fire for his drive aboard Scream And Shout in the Del Miller Memorial this past Saturday (July 12) at the Meadowlands.

Takter, who trained three uncoupled horses (Scream And Shout, Shake It Cerry and Lifetime Pursuit) in the Del Miller, left away from the gate with Scream And Shout and watched as Shake It Cerry marched to the front. Once Shake It Cerry assumed command, Takter appeared to idle on the rim with 102-1 shot Scream And Shout just to the outside of the heavily favored Designed To Be. Whether intentional or not, Takter successfully kept the even-money favorite pinned to the cones while his Shake It Cerry got away with a very soft 30 1/5 second quarter and eventually won the race. It is also worth noting that by not advancing with Scream And Shout, Lifetime Pursuit was also placed in a bad position behind that one's dull cover.

According to high ranking sources at the Meadowlands, Takter will be called in for a meeting with state racing officials (Judges) on Friday to discuss his drive.

Gural, who called the drive “problematical,” said he was looking into the possibility of banning a driver from driving in a race in which he has ownership of another horse. If Gural is successful, Takter could potentially be prohibited from driving Trixton in the Hambletonian against Father Patrick, who is co-owned by his wife Christina.

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