Harness: FanDuel Championships provided good theater

No matter where you stood on the outcome of this past Saturday's (November 25) FanDuel championships at the Meadowlands, you had to feel good that the anticipation of sophomores racing against older rivals revealed some unexpected twists to a landscape that tends to be all too predictable at times. Though form held in most of the races, the wicked closing efforts of Jiggy Jog S and Twin B Joe Fresh in the filly and mare divisions were aesthetically pleasing given that both came at the expense of short fields heading into the contests.

Tactical Approach and Scott Zeron took the tactical approach in trying to defeat older rivals, and that unfortunately played into the hands of Ake Svanstedt, who captured what will be the last of his multiple stakes races in 2023 with Southwind Tyrion. Svanstedt's stable had its best year since arriving permanently in the states, and the breadth of its success story was expansive, with dominance in the freshman, sophomore and aged classes through a multitude of stars. In addition to his two FanDuel wins, Svanstedt also sent out the sophomore Bond, who finished second behind stablemate Jiggy Jog S.

Tactical Approach still ended his campaign as the richest trotter of 2023 with his second-place finish in the FanDuel and will now go on to try to extend the stallion line of his budding superstar sire Tactical Landing another generation. In a sport/business always looking to get ahead of the curve, it's no surprise that demand for Tactical Approach off the racetrack far exceeded what racing fans could gain from his services on the track as a 4-year-old.

Like Tactical Approach, Confederate joined the ranks of the beaten-by-older-foes sophomores on Saturday when stablemate Allywag Hanover captured the FanDuel Open Pace championship after out-sprinting favored Bythemissal in the final strides. Confederate too will become the first prominent Sweet Lou-sired colt heading into the stallion barn, and regardless of Saturday's outcome will have a large following of breeders booking mares to him in 2024. His dominance over the sophomore class was undeniable and his disappointing finish in his last career start is hardly likely to soften that stance on his fan base. When Horse of the Year ballots are tabulated, Confederate is still likely to be a near unanimous choice since getting all to agree on one thing is virtually impossible in 2023.

I've never been a fan of separating common interests in betting races – something that has now been normalized by a multitude of racetracks, allowing trainer entries to go uncoupled in overnights and stakes events. The appearance that horses from the same stable could be working together towards a common good is the major downside to the separation, as are the results when the longer shot of two or three trainer entrants wins a race unexpectedly. Allywag Hanover certainly fits the profile given his 17-1 payout in a race that included the heavily-bet Confederate.

While there were many that reacted in disbelief when Confederate failed to capture the FanDuel, a closer examination of the actual race revealed that the Sweet Lou-sired sophomore encountered a trip that he's never had to endure before, making the outcome completely understandable, if not acceptable to some. It was the start of Confederate's journey versus older foes that complicated matters and changed the course of the usually happy journeys he and driver Tim Tetrick had enjoyed during 2023. Tetrick had gone public in advance of the race and gave full indication that he expected to get away from the gate in good order and find a position close to the pace as his preferred option with Confederate. Perhaps making the news in advance led to rivals imposing a strategy to prevent the easy passage in the opening quarter. That's what it looked like from this corner as David Miller and Lou's Pearlman, starting from post eight next to Confederate and one of three Ron Burke-trained horses in the 10-horse field, pushed out at the start somewhat unexpectedly. While all horses have the right to leave it was hard to figure what Miller could have gained, knowing full well that Allywag Hanover was starting from post six inside of him and was pretty much a guaranteed early-speed horse. Nevertheless, Lou's Pearlman leaving the gate was an instant impediment to Tetrick's plan and Confederate, a colt that never in his entire career was forced to race at full speed or travel extremely wide while doing so, was suddenly in a mini-battle for valuable early position. That battle found Tetrick forcing the issue or risk having to settle in the back somewhere while allowing the favorite to control the pace.

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Confederate was at least five-wide (according to track announcer Ken Warkentin, who let it be known) heading into that first turn and needed an extreme turn of speed to clear not just Lou's Pearlman but others in his path as he moved on the opening turn. That Tetrick was able to get Confederate wedged into a four-hole before the quarter may have looked to be the perfect spot, but it didn't come without an extreme cost. Over the years I've commented on the toll taken by all Standardbreds that go full-out in the first quarter of a race and how vulnerable it leaves them the rest of the way. In Confederate's case the demand was extreme, and the results took just a little off his fastball when Tetrick made the expected uncovered challenge through the third quarter.

Those that watched the race closely had to know just how fast Confederate and Bythemissal were moving on the final turn, despite what the fractional timer said. That Southwind Gendry couldn't keep contact with Confederate during the third quarter sprint is all you need to know to confirm what was happening. In the end there would be no 26-second quarter in Confederate's closing kick, but there would be from stablemate Allywag Hanover, the beneficiary of the battle his non-entrymate had waged against the favored Bythemissal.

For Bythemissal, like Confederate, he had to deal with an extreme quarter-mile under duress, and that was just enough to soften him up for a fresh threat.

In the end the outcome of the expected two-horse race may not have answered all the questions, but it did provide an incredibly thrilling performance and an epic race that just didn't turn out as expected.

The Meadowlands is to be congratulated for carding these contests during the fall months and working diligently to bring some of the best sophomores in the sport to race older rivals. The trainers and owners that took the chance when sitting on the sidelines may have proven a safer bet also deserve much of the credit.

It's a risk-reward business, and we should all be thankful that horsemen and racetracks can collectively work together to provide these moments to racing fans that need a boost after the summer wars have concluded.