Harness: Norman in with a chance in Adios, Hambletonian & Oaks

What's predictable can prove boring over time. We've seen far too many races line up by the first turn and finish in the exact order over the years, and while cashing a ticket may be the ultimate prize, excitement and enthusiasm tend to be lost in the process. Yet for any racing fan there are always those moments where you can see glimpses of a time when races weren't set in stone and outcomes weren't accepted at the outset.

Such was the case on Saturday (July 20) when Wish You Well made a sharp right hand turn at the head of the stretch and paced over a solid field in the first of two Adios eliminations at The Meadows. The Nifty Norman-trained, New Jersey-bred son of Bettor's Wish had gone silent on the local and national scene for about a year but woke up in a big way on a major stage with an epic closing performance that somehow earned a charted line with an impossible 25 2/5 final quarter.

"I'm not sure it was quite that fast," said Norman when asked about his horse on Tuesday. "You could see heading into the turn that David (Miller) had a lot of horse but even when he tipped him out, I was just hoping he'd hit the board and make it into the final. I didn't expect him to pass everyone."

For it to truly be a 25 2/5 final quarter, Wish You Well would have needed to be more than eight lengths off the leader at the three-quarter pole. My guess is had the chart-caller had the benefit of replay there may have been a revision putting Wish You Well far closer to five lengths off the leader with a quarter-mile to go. Nevertheless, whether it be 26 seconds or a few ticks faster, Wish You Well made his mark with an epic close for just his second win as a sophomore in nine starts and a 1:49 1/5 mark that wasn't in need of confirmation.

"I was as surprised as everyone," said Norman of the drastic change in Wish You Well's outcome on Saturday, if not his effort. "He was a little better in his last start (a 1:50 4/5 win in an overnight race six days earlier at Harrah's Philadelphia) but I didn't see this coming. He's a small horse and likes to close. The only thing that I can look to is that he got really good around this time last year."

Given Wish You Well was a New Jersey-bred and didn't gain much traction in the New Jersey Sire Stakes this year, it was somewhat puzzling to see him actually entered in the Adios, especially given his previous miles included a fifth-place finish in the MGM Grand Messenger Stakes final in late June at Yonkers against what would have to be considered "B-Level" talent in a race fitted between the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace on the schedule.

Norman got some inspiration from ownership before the entry was due for the Adios.

"His two races after the Messenger were an improvement, and the owner called me up and said: 'We made him eligible for the Adios. Are we going to enter him?' I thought we had to give him the chance," said Norman.

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The decision may have been questionable if looking at the tote-board prior to the race as well, as Wish You Well was 29-1 and the second-largest price in the race. That said, the competition was clearly softer than what he would face if entered in the Meadowlands Pace.

"That was part of the calculation," said Norman. "I didn't think a lot of the Meadowlands Pace horses would enter, and that's the way it worked out."

Still, Norman, as happy as he was for the owners and those that backed Wish You Well in the eliminations, had not gained enough confidence from Wish You Well's performance to predict that the homebred gelding of the Kovach Stables could duplicate that race and win Saturday's (July 27) finale.

"I think Noel (Daley) has the best horse," said Norman, referring to the other elimination winner Captain Albano, a 1:49 2/5 winner in his elimination captured in the front-end style referred to earlier in this column.

"Given that he's going to have a good spot in the final, I'm hoping that he can get away close to the pace, and I'm hoping that they cut some fast fractions up front. That's what he needs to happen," said Norman. "He's a small horse and he's at his best when he's chasing down horses."

It will be a tall order indeed and one can expect significantly lower odds in the Adios final for Wish You Well than the payout provided in the elimination.

For Norman, Saturday will be a doubleheader for his stable with the afternoon at The Meadows and evening at the Meadowlands for the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks elimination races. In the big dance, Bella's Musclehill (post one) will line up against Karl (post six) and eight others in the first $100,000 elimination heat, scheduled as race nine on the program, for the $1 million final on August 3.

"We were on the fence with him after last week," said Norman, referring to the break in stride by Bella's Musclehill in the Tompkins Geers at the Meadowlands. "He shouldn't have been on the front end; that's not where he's at his best."

Unraced as a freshman, Bella's Musclehill had been developing his résumé over the East Rutherford, New Jersey, mile with a series of efforts that showed improvement and gave indication he could race with the best if given the opportunity.

Saturday will provide Bella's Musclehill a chance to prove himself, as not only will he meet Karl but Goodtimes winner Highland Kismet (post three), along with the 1:50 performer Sig Sauer (post eight).

Norman was encouraged enough by Sambuca Hanover's second-place finish in the Tompkins Geers (July 20) to give the Bar Hopping-sired filly a shot in the Hambletonian Oaks for sophomore filly trotters.

"The division is wide-open and I think she deserved a chance," said Norman, who three years ago captured the Hambletonian Oaks with another daughter by Bar Hopping, the brilliant Bella Bellini.