Harness Racing: Millionaire Celebrity Secret back in training after five year absence

A quick glance at the list of nominees for the John Cashman Jr. Memorial at the Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day reveals star performers like Bee A Magician, Market Share, Maven and Sebastian K. Perhaps hidden among the 44 who made the February 15 payment is a 9-year-old stallion named Celebrity Secret. Yes, the same horse that has not raced since 2008 and chased Deweycheatumnhowe during his spectacular 3-year-old season.

“[Celebrity Secret] returned from Sweden in November and Sam (Stathis) bought him back,” said Dan Taylor, who is preparing the horse for his return to the races. “He is coming back phenomenally and hasn’t lost a step.”

[DRF HARNESS: LIKE us on Facebook and get timely updates on the latest harness news]

Celebrity Secret earned $1,099,663 while racing as a 2- and 3-year-old in 2007 and 2008. After winning the New Jersey Sire Stakes final at the Meadowlands early in his sophomore campaign, he chased the great Deweycheatumnhowe for much of the year, finishing second to him in the Stanley Dancer, World Trotting Derby and Kentucky Futurity, plus fourth in the Hambletonian. Celebrity Secret won the second elimination of the Kentucky Futurity while setting his lifetime mark of 1:52 3/5 and took home a leg of the Bluegrass.

More than five years since he last pulled a sulky, Celebrity Secret, who is performing double duty as a stallion (2014 Stud Fee of $5,000 at Celebrity Farms), is on target to qualify sometime in May at the Meadowlands.

“I trained him this morning (Tuesday) at 8:30 in (2):25 when it was five-degrees outside and he wasn’t breathing as hard when I took him off the track as when I took him out,” said Taylor, who is stabled at Celebrity Farms in Middletown, NY. “He’s a freak of nature. He is just as athletic now as if he had been on the Grand Circuit last year.”

Celebrity Secret

Taylor credited former trainer Staffan Lind, who accumulated a record of 28-6-10-1 with Celebrity Secret, as one of the main reasons why the horse is still in such good shape for his age.

Assuming everything continues to go as planned, Celebrity Secret will return to the races in June. Whether he will be able to start and be competitive in the August 2 Cashman Memorial remains to be seen, but Taylor is confident that the son of Yankee Glide-Aimee’s Promide will return to form this year.

“The Cutler could be a reach. We might not have enough time to get enough starts into him. But by the end of the year, he will be a Free-For-Aller,” concluded Taylor.

If by some chance Celebrity Secret hits a roadblock in his quest to return, he can always sit back and watch his U.S. foals. Taylor says they have a quartet of Celebrity Secret 2-year-olds in training and one 3-year-old under the care of Ron Gurfein that could be a “real nice” colt. The stallion also has several mares already booked to him this year.