Harness: Previewing the Matchmaker and Borgata series

The Blue Chip Matchmaker and MGM Borgata Series are just under a week away from first-round action. Nominations were announced earlier this week and the Blue Chip Matchmaker that opens with $40,000 legs on March 13 has but 27 nominees while the Borgata drew a healthy supply of older pacers with 46 owners willing to part with $5,000 in order to be guaranteed to race in $50,000 elimination races.

What stands out initially when looking at the numbers is a pretty clear statement by those who manage the career of pacing mares-stay away from Horses of the Year. With Shartin N, the 2019 Horse of the Year, already off a sharp win at Dover, and this year joined by Breeders Crown winner Caviart Ally for the first time in her career, the stage is not for the meek at heart. There’s only so much speed that can be generated over a half-mile track. Both Shartin N and Caviart Ally have speed to spare but each has the distinct ability to gut it out when necessary and fight to the wire. There were 25 other mares including a pair of 4-year-olds from the Ron Burke stable in Ideation Hanover and Snobbytown entered for the Blue Chip Matchmaker. It will be interesting to see how those two fare when pitted against mares with an abundance of seasoning.

While Shartin N enters the 2020 Blue Chip Matchmaker looking for her third straight title, Caviart Ally has not raced on a half-mile track since her sophomore season in 2017. She finished third in the elimination and final for the Lismore in her lone Yonkers appearances. Later as a 3-year-old she won the Jugette in straight heats over the Delaware County Fairgrounds half-miler.

Over half the Blue Chip Matchmaker nominees have roots either in Australia or New Zealand. We’ve seen two of those mares look exceptional when coming from off the pace in races in North America but wonder just how they will match up when the going gets tough and mares go eye-to-eye. Imprincessgemma A flashed impressive talent for trainer Jenn Bongiorno late last year and has come back strongly in 2020 at the Open level. Trainer Nifty Norman has brought along the Art Major-sired Major Occasion A conservatively in 2020. With Dexter Dunn doing his best to keep her in check early, Major Occasion A took a 1:49 4/5 mark at the beginning of February at Dover Downs and then closed out the month with a game 1:50 2/5 score overtaking last year’s Blue Chip Matchmaker final runner-up Bettor Joy N on the wire with a 26 4/5 kicker. Where Major Occasion A fits over the half-mile track is still to be determined but her stock appears on the rise.

While there may be a limited number of mares that can wear the Blue Chip Matchmaker 2020 crown, the same can’t be said about the boys in the newly christened Borgata Pacing Series. What’s fascinating about the 46 nominees in general is the number of imports that have yet to test the Yonkers half-mile track while having limited time in the “States” to begin with. It would seem on the surface that owners paid for horses to bring up at this time of year and expected that they would fit this class on paper at least. Given the overall difficulty in racing five or perhaps six consecutive weeks, it will be interesting not just to see how many show up for the first round, but more importantly how many wish to continue once the competition sorts itself out.

Five of last year’s eight finalists for the then Levy series have made the payments to return, with champion Western Fame heading that list. Runner-up Rodeo Rock did some of his best racing of 2019 in the Levy legs and was solid with no real chance in the final. While Rodeo Rock’s racing style is more of a closer, he’s managed to kick into high gear around the turns and persevere in the stretch.

Trainer Ron Burke always shows up with plenty of talent for this series and it’s clear from his nominees that he anticipates there will be ample divisions to give all of his horses an equal chance. New to the Burke brigade this year is Sintra, who arrived in New Jersey for qualifiers last weekend and showed the class we’ve seen for a number of years now. The now 7-year-old Sintra has very limited half-mile track credentials, though he did show up in 2017 on International Trot Day to race in the Dan Rooney invite only to finish fifth from the pole position. Backstreet Shadow arrived in the Burke stable midway during the 2019 campaign and took a 1:47 3/5 mark on Hambletonian Day. Now a 5-year-old, Backstreet Shadow has come back in imposing form thus far at Dover Downs and appears primed for a return to Yonkers where he began the 2019 season for trainer Lance Hudson.

The imports None Bettor A and Micky Gee N are likely to be major players in this year’s Borgata. The former arrived a little too late on these shores to start in the 2019 Levy but showed freaky speed winning the Battle Of Lake Erie at Northfield Park. As for Micky Gee N, who tried the Levy last year but for only two legs, the season ended far better than it began. Trainer Lance Hudson steered clear of the Levy and Micky Gee N would be sharp later in the year with his best effort coming in the $250,000 Dan Rooney where he flew home and missed division champion McWicked by a nose on the wire.

In 2016 trainer Peter Tritton captured the Levy final with the now-retired Bit Of A Legend N. He’s back in 2020 with another imported son of Bettor’s Delight that can get around a half-mile track and close with abandon. Raukapuka Ruler N could be this year’s sleeper.

It was also in 2016 that Wiggle It Jiggleit finished in a dead-heat with the aforementioned Bit Of A Legend N in a Levy preliminary leg. In alphabetical order, Wiggle It Jiggleit was last of the 2020 nominees to this series. With but one victory in nine starts this year, Wiggle It Jiggleit was a respectable third behind Borgata nominees Backstreet Shadow and San Domino A two starts back. While we’re not likely to ever see the Wiggle It Jiggleit that won the 2015 Little Brown Jug, here’s hoping the 2020 version can come back to the winner’s circle at Yonkers in the weeks ahead.