Harness: Combining opportunity and luck produces positive results

They say it's better to be lucky than good. Over the last weekend I'd say it was good to be lucky but better to be good as well. That's the conclusion I had to draw for the winner of this year's Elitlopp, Etonnant. This was a horse that had two brilliant performances within two hours and, if not for a shred of luck, likely would not be getting any mention this week.

Etonnant drew outside in what figured to be the tougher of the two Elitlopp eliminations and prior to the race his trainer Richard Westerink made two rather poignant remarks. First, he said that he believed Etonnant may be a better horse than his sire Timoko. Second, he was very concerned about the horse lacking the instant acceleration necessary to be forwardly-placed in the race and thus might likely become compromised with a poor trip.

Westerink was spot-on in his assessment of the first heat as rival Don Fanucci Zet, the winner of the 2021 Elitlopp, was able to work out a better trip from post eight than Etonnant was able to get from post seven. Don Fanucci Zet left well enough to get away fifth on the outside in the first turn and then made a three-wide bid to secure the first-over trip his driver - world champion Orjan Kihlstrom - was clearly in search of that day. Etonnant would have no chance of winning or reaching the final sitting eighth around the track and obviously, despite handicapping himself at the start for lack of sufficient early foot, his driver Anthony Barrier sent him three-wide with five-eighths of a mile remaining and kept him out there for the remainder. It was incredible to watch the horse battle to get into the picture and no surprise when the leaders sprinted off at head-stretch. Still, Barrier was able to keep his poise and conveyed it impressively to Etonnant down the stretch to stay clear of the trailing horses and finish fourth.

Going into the final one would have thought the hard trip was only one of the negatives pointing against Etonnant winning this year's Elitlopp. Certainly, another outside draw was more damning this time around considering that Don Fanucci Zet landed the pole position and would go off a deserving heavy favorite.

Etonnant was already sitting on a day's worth of bad luck when the Elitlopp final went to the gate. With the favorite on the pole position and no quick speed in his arsenal, Barrier wasn't left many choices at the start except take his medicine like he was forced to do in the elimination.

Luck changed at the start of the final, not just for Etonnant, but for every other horse in the race not named Don Fanucci Zet. The favorite never got the chance to repeat his victory of a year earlier for he went into a gallop right before the wings of the gate were set to fold. Don Fanucci Zet's break caused instant chaos, the result of seven drivers suddenly seizing an opportunity to capture this classic.

Barrier was probably as enthusiastic as the rest of the drivers, but he would still be compromised with another overland trip that saw him three-wide much of the mile. Then again, there was a break in stride Etonnant made shortly after the half-mile marker that could have extinguished his chances if not for a quick reaction by Barrier and perhaps a quicker correction by a horse that knows what to do on a racetrack.

Clearly, luck was on his side when it counted for Etonnant and his connections as it arrived at the exact moment in time it was necessary to turn what looked like an also-ran day into a festive celebration.

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On this side of the Atlantic on Sunday afternoon (May 29), the Commodore Barry Invitational at Harrah's Philadelphia was the featured event. With $100,000 on the line, Nicholas Beach was the deserved 1-2 favorite to win the race for the second straight year with the same ease many had thought Don Fanucci Zet would hours earlier in Sweden.

Still, Joe Bongiorno, who drove Nicholas Beach for his sister Jenn's stable, was ready for battle when the gate opened, and his horse was clearly on stride at the outset. Tim Tetrick gave rival Workin Ona Mystery a running start to the gate from the pole position right inside of the favorite and made it clear he wasn't going to give his position away easily. Outside the pair was Mike Wilder with Wild Wild Western, coming to eastern Pennsylvania to tackle the big boys after dominating horses at The Meadows this spring. Wilder wasn't intimidated by his post or competition, and in leaving hard, forced Bongiorno to take back briefly through a scorching opening eighth-mile. While Bongiorno made grabbing his horse look easy, he did have to take hold of a horse going maximum speed to settle in third, a position he would only stay in momentarily, while Tetrick seated Wild Wild Western and Wilder with Workin Ona Mystery.

When Nicholas Beach came with authority, Tetrick was more than willing to yield for the pocket given the odds board, as well as the reputation Nicholas Beach had earned over the last two years, but more specifically eight days earlier in his 1:47 romp at the Meadowlands.

An opening quarter of 25 4/5, followed by a first half of 54 seconds made Nicholas Beach look pretty invincible as he sprinted a third quarter of 27 flat, stalling the outer flow.

As easy as everything appeared to be at the three-quarter pole, things looked rather different an eighth of a mile later as Bongiorno started to go to work on Nicholas Beach late on the final turn, and Tetrick appeared to be getting the worst of it, jamming up his horse while in wait of the passing lane.

Tetrick and Workin Ona Mystery were the beneficiaries of some good luck, as not only did they catch Nicholas Beach not at his best in the Commodore Barry, but they were fortunate to find racing room in time to get the jump on Nandolo N, who blistered the final quarter but would come up a neck short on the wire.

The 1:49 1/5 mile was likely the outcome of Workin Ona Mystery getting jammed on the final turn, as well as Nicholas Beach slowing down noticeably in the last quarter. In hindsight some may say the horse bounced from his 1:47 win, but that's hard to believe given how unstressed Nicholas Beach was during that mile.

In the cases of Etonnant and Workin Ona Mystery last Sunday, luck was on their side, but they had the fortitude to take advantage of it.