Harness: Recognizing some performances from 2022 that were of epic proportion

The 2022 stakes racing season has long passed and now that voting for the top horses in each division has been recorded it seems the proper time to recognize some performers and their performances that were of epic proportion. At times you might think there are other ways to give proper attention to horses that either don't race enough or aren't eligible to every big dance. On other occasions the lack of opportunity has to do with physical issues that keep them stall-bound while their rivals are on the track.

The year 2022 brought to the States perhaps one of the best horses we've ever seen with an "IT" attached to its name. Alrajah One was his name and he arrived without much fanfare but made an impact in dramatic fashion on our sport's biggest stage, The Meadowlands. Maybe we should have known of the horse when he debuted for trainer Ake Svanstedt and driver Dexter Dunn in the Crawford Farms at the Big M on July 2. He had raced notably in the Lotteria and won his elimination only to finish second behind champion Face Time Bourbon in the final, but those efforts didn't carry much weight when he made his debut looking like a space filler in a short field that happened to include 2021 Breeders Crown champion, his stablemate Ecurie D, with Svanstedt in the bike. Ecurie D would go off at odds of 1-10 and not because he was overbet but because the field appeared to lack any of the talent necessary to be in the same race with him. The bettors were quite unaware of the type of wicked speed Alrajah One was capable of. Ecurie D set what can only be regarded as qualifier-like fractions hitting three quarters in 1:24 4/5 and looking rather poised to finish off the mile. Few, including this writer, imagined that anyone coming on the outside or with cover had a chance to win the race. Speed domination has been the name of this game for some time and with fractions so soft most Meadowlands races come down to a battle between leader and pocket-sitter in the final eighth. That wasn’t to be the case on this occasion as Alrajah One not only tracked cover well but hit a gear I've never seen in the final eighth and just blew past good horses as if they were standing stationary. A :25 3/5 final quarter is pacing speed and it was clear this horse had it.

Though Alrajah One would make only three starts in 2022 due to injury he did in fact win all three stakes events including the Spirit of Massachusetts at Plainridge and The Cashman on Hambletonian Day. His stablemate Ecurie D would recover from the loss, lose again in the International Trot but recover in time to close out his season on top with a second Breeders Crown championship to capture the division. From the July visual it's hard to conclude Alrajah One wasn't the better of the two.

In an era dominated by speed it's always refreshing to see horses win from off the pace and do so in major races while sent off at long odds. Such was the case early in the Spring of 2022 when the unsung Funatthebeach N came to life on a few occasions in the Borgata Series at Yonkers and rallied from behind to get the job done. An imported son of Somebeachsomewhere, Funatthebeach N raised eyebrows in the third leg of the series when he rallied to win at odds of 29-1 for driver Jordan Stratton. The following week he again rallied from last in a six-horse field to capture a division in fourth round action. With two preliminary victories and a good draw in the $549,000 final on April 25 Funatthebeach N was still an outsider at post time going off at 15-1 with Tattoo Artist and Leonidas A getting the most wagering support. Stratton once again remained cool and collected while others battled for the lead. Favored Leonidas A appeared to have the race won when driver Austin Siegelman vaulted him to the front entering the final turn after the leaders had exhausted themselves. Funatthebeach N had been reserved as well and he tailed the chalk into the stretch and overpowered him for a 1:50 1/5 victory. Half-mile tracks proved to be to his liking as Funatthebeach N would return in June in what was almost a carbon-copy of his Borgata victory sweeping the field to capture Northfield's $200,000 Battle Of Lake Erie at 24-1. The result came again as favorites Ocean Rock and Tattoo Artist battled through a :52 3/5 opening half only to succumb to the winner and others in the 1:49 2/5 mile.

There were plenty of fast miles in 2022 for sure and Bulldog Hanover, the likely Horse of the Year, was responsible for many of them. On the trotting side one of the year's best efforts had to come in the rich Hambletonian Maturity on July 16 at The Meadowlands where 4-year-old trotters went to battle at the added distance of one and one-eighths mile. Unlike the 3-year-old filly class of 2022 where Joviality S and Jiggy Jog S raced against the boys in the Hambletonian, Bella Bellini, the 2021 filly champion, had not crossed paths with the fellas in her division and would tackle them for the first time in the Hambletonian Maturity at The Meadowlands. Bella Bellini entered the contest in great form having exhibited numerous sub :26 final quarters while overtaking older mares but the Maturity represented a new challenge for the daughter of the late sire Bar Hopping. Dexter Dunn would have to navigate the race from the second tier in the field of 11 and cede position to those able to sprint the first straight. As North American fans have become quite accustomed to seeing Dunn didn't appear that concerned with the action going on early and just put Bella Bellini on the outside and without cover worked their way up through the middle part of the race. With favorite Rattle My Cage and third choice Cuatro De Julio battling it out for the first half mile Bella Bellini took air and waited for her chance. Still once the field hit the homestretch it appeared as if the trip was going to work against Bella Bellini and in favor of Cuatro De Julio. That wasn't the case as Bella Bellini rallied determinedly to capture the event in a world-record 2:04 1/5 clocking.

The likelihood is that Bella Bellini, already a divisional champion again in 2022, will get her due when the announcement comes in February on Trotter and Horse of the Year. We already know that Funatthebeach N has gone on to be the high-level overnight campaigner he looked to be before his 2022 heroics. Alrajah One IT we can only hope will be healthy enough to be back at the top of the trotting class upon his return to the races.

We enjoyed their brilliance in 2022.

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