Harness: A lifetime of ‘Lightning’ strikes for owner/trainer Shaun Vallee

Not all horses are born for greatness. Some are born to be racehorses, but all too often find themselves caught up in the grueling aspect of hard training and hard races. It comes as no surprise that many careers are cut short by injuries suffered on and off the track and the inability to recover from them. This is no different in other sports where even the most gifted and talented succumb regularly to the wear and tear of competition.

It’s rare that horses can go the distance without pause through a racing career and that’s why it’s rather special when you see a horse step on the track in January, under the toughest conditions, and do what’s necessary to compete. In the case of Midnight Lightning, a 14-year-old by Camluck, the attraction has more to do with a life on the racetrack that has spanned more than a dozen years, specifically in one stable. Trainer-owner Shaun Vallee purchased him as a yearling at the Harrisburg Sale in 2013 and has had him for every start but one since.

“When I bought him, I was looking for a horse that would last,” said Vallee in a bit of an understatement. “I thought being by Camluck would help that.”

Midnight Lightning has done more than last. He was scheduled to make his 353rd career appearance on January 30 with co-owner Darran Cassar getting the drive in the fourth race at The Meadowlands, a division of the Meadowlands Amateur Drivers Club, but that plan disappeared when the track canceled live racing for the weekend on Thursday (Jan. 29) afternoon. He is now in-to-go from post one in race nine on February 4 at Yonkers Raceway with Vallee driving.

“I sold a 10 percent interest to Darran so that he could get preference into these races,” said Vallee of the direction he’s taken over time to give Midnight Lightning the opportunity to race with more regularity.

Now with more than $480K banked it’s within reason that the veteran could exceed a half-million through his career, but money seems to be the last thing on Shaun Vallee’s mind, at least when it comes to one specific horse.

“Sure, he could be eligible to race in the Amateur class next year but that’s not likely to happen,” said Vallee. “My daughter Sarah in Sarasota (Florida) wants him as a riding horse.”

Obviously, Midnight Lightning has made an impression on Vallee and the stable, and despite his lack of being a star horse on the track, is more than special around the barn. “He’s a horse that loves people. He’s got nice eyes,” said Vallee.

What’s interesting looking back at Midnight Lightning’s career is just where he was in 2015 as a sophomore and the different directions horses take along the way.

Raced only once as a freshman in late 2014, the inexperienced Midnight Lightning started his career at The Meadowlands in earnest as a sophomore the next year and won for the first time on Valentine’s Day, posting a 26 1/5 final quarter in a maiden-breaker.

With early spring late-closers still on the menu at the East Rutherford mile oval, Vallee entered Midnight Landing in the William (Buddy) Gilmour series hoping to gain some experience while racing against other inexperienced sophomores. Unknown before those contests was how deep the competition would be, but the world would get an early taste of a soon-to-be superstar in the Gilmour series. The soon-to-be superstar Wiggle It Jiggleit was also just getting his feet wet at the time and he showcased his enormous talent first during his sophomore campaign at The Meadowlands. That Midnight Lightning would be a solid third on two occasions in that series behind Wiggle It Jiggleit could have given the impression that he too was ready for the spotlight.

Vallee though never got too high on his horse. “I thought he was a nice horse then, but I didn’t see him as a stakes horse. Well after those races we found out how good Wiggle It Jiggleit was,” said Vallee.

Thusly, Vallee went back to doing what he had expected with Midnight Lightning and raced him through the classes while never quite reaching the top.

Vallee sees it quite clearly why Midnight Lightning has been able to withstand the test of time and certainly the downsides of competitive racing.

“He’s a horse that can take care of himself,” said Vallee. “When I say that, I mean that he can go out there and race and only give 70 percent. He knows what he’s got and won’t overdo it.”

That attribute has kept Midnight Lightning back in the entry box on a near-weekly basis while not exactly vaulted him into the winner’s circle with any kind of regularity. Going into Friday’s contest he’s won just 32 times, or less than 10 percent of his races.

Having good genes also benefits when looking at the career of Midnight Lightning and though Vallee would not know it at the time, Midnight Lightning’s older brother Genesee, the first foal from his dam Twin B Intimate, would also race at the age of 14, amassing 45 career wins.

While interesting, going back through Midnight Lightning’s maternal line it’s hard to draw comparisons between his career and a pair of brothers that were among the sport’s titans of the aged pacing ranks in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Way back in time but somewhere within Midnight Lightning’s genetic makeup we found Super Wave and Springfield, multiple Open Pacing stars that were fixtures at the top level for many years at Roosevelt and Yonkers Raceways.

While clearly lacking the talent of some of his ancestors, it was of note that despite not having the speed of his earlier years, Midnight Lightning did something extraordinary last year on Hambletonian Day eve, August 1 at The Meadowlands.

Racing in a lower Trackmaster class, Dexter Dunn was put down to drive the then 13-year-old in the Friday night opener raced during daylight. He sent Midnight Lightning to the top and got down to the half in 54 2/5, leaving his trainer and co-owner miffed. “He’s never a horse that liked being on the front end,” said Vallee. “I wondered what Dexter was doing.”

What Dunn was doing was guiding Midnight Lightning to his first and likely only sub-1:50 mile with a 15-plus lengths victory in 1:49 4/5.

Asked to explain the final time, Vallee said, “You’ll have to ask Dexter,” while conceding Dunn’s stature as a driver when compared with his.

Now among the 14 horses Vallee is training at his Jackson, New Jersey farm, he has a few others he’s looking forward to that trainer Roland Mallar is working with at Pinehurst this winter.

“I’ve got a colt from my mare Jungle Genie N that Rollie is training,” said Vallee.

The dam is a perfect four-for-four that includes last year’s 2-year-old New York Sire Stakes-winning filly Miss Genie Mae. Jungle Genie N’s second and third foals were both colts, with Vallee naming them Midnight Thunder and Half Past Midnight. Her 2024 foal and current 2-year-old in training is named Lord Of Thunder, and he’s by Captaintrecherous. Given the names Vallee has chosen it’s quite obvious that Midnight Lightning will forever hold a special place with him and his family.