Harness: Remembering the best moments of 2022

Another season of top-level Grand Circuit harness racing has come and gone, and as has become an annual tradition, it's my pleasure to take a look back at some of the best events of the year.

Bulldog Hanover: A campaign and a horse for the ages

With all due respect to the other contests that will be mentioned in this space, the best race of 2022 was any one that Bulldog Hanover was in. Not since Somebeachsomewhere had a horse captured the harness racing spotlight with such fervor that would result in uncommon occurrences like getting folks to stick around until almost midnight on a chilly night just to see him perform, as was the case for the Dayton Pacing Derby at Hollywood Dayton, or the clamor that ensued for a mug or a Bulldog Hanover stuffed horse like at The Meadowlands on TVG night. If 2022 was in the Chinese calendar for just harness racing, it would have been the Year of the Bulldog.

We all know the highlights, from his early-season blowout over Allywag Hanover in a Free-For-All at Woodbine Mohawk Park to the incredible summer run of fast miles that culminated in his 1:45 4/5 world record triumph at the Meadowlands. There were also his jaunts through the Midwest of the United States, the Canadian Pacing Derby and Breeders Crown north of the border, and finally back to The Meadowlands for the TVG Open Pace final. Every time he was on the track it became a must-see event, and then even after the race was over, you had to watch as Dexter Dunn struggled to get the mighty Bulldog to pull up and turn around for another trip to victory lane.

Even in his two defeats this year he put forth outstanding efforts. First, finishing fourth in the Charles Juravinski Memorial at Flamboro Downs despite being parked all the way on a half-mile oval that perhaps was not his ideal track size. Then later in the year, blazing through hot fractions in the Allerage Farms Open at The Red Mile to try and lower his own world record, only to run into a pumped-up Allywag Hanover who took a record instead, becoming the all-time fastest gelding in harness racing history.

Dunn said it best after Bulldog Hanover's final race, and I think echoes the sentiment many of us feel, when he remarked, "I'll remember this season with him for the rest of my life. It's hard to come by horses like this and it's an amazing ride once you do it. Thanks to Brad and Jack and [caretaker] Johnny [Mallia] for letting me sit behind him. It's been great."

Indeed, it truly was great.

With all that said, here are some additional top races from 2022, whether it was for a big performance, a close finish, or something else noteworthy.

Funatthebeach N pulls off Borgata & Battle of Lake Erie upsets

Horses winning major races from well off-the-pace is a rare occurrence in harness racing these days, even less so on half-mile ovals. Funatthebeach N, an 8-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding, apparently didn't get that memo, as he took advantage of fast paces up front and cover trips behind the favorite (Leonidas A in the MGM Borgata Pacing Series final at Yonkers and Jimmy Freight in the Battle Of Lake Erie at Northfield), to score dramatic victories, taking the former in 1:50 1/5 and the latter in 1:49 2/5. Driver Jordan Stratton engineered both wins for owner Mark Ford, with Jeff Gillis training Funatthebeach N in the MGM Borgata Pacing Series and Ford sending out the horse himself in the Battle of Lake Erie.

Carbine brave in Graduate Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park

An early-season star in the 4-year-old ranks was another son of Somebeachsomewhere named Carbine, and he demonstrated his top form in a division of the Graduate Series at Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 4, turning away Linedrive Hanover in a cutthroat middle-half duel and then holding off a phalanx of closers in the stretch to score in 1:49 for driver Todd McCarthy, trainer Tony Alagna, and owners Let It Ride Stables, Bottom Line Racing, and Howard Taylor. The top six horses in the event were separated by less than three lengths on the wire.

Jimmy Freight holds on in Mohawk Gold Cup Invitational

Another thrilling race that occurred at Woodbine Mohawk Park in June was the Mohawk Gold Cup Invitational for free-for-all pacers. In that showdown, Jimmy Freight stormed by Allywag Hanover from first-up on the way to the 1:20 1/5 three-quarters and turned into the lane first, but Linedrive Hanover angled off the pylons and had dead-aim at Jimmy Freight in the last eighth.

Jimmy Freight was unwavering and simply refused to let Linedrive Hanover get by him, keeping a nose in front at the wire in a 1:48 mile and giving driver Louis-Philippe Roy, trainer Richard Moreau, and owner Adriano Sorella another triumph with the Iowa-bred son of Sportswriter.

Alarajah One's dazzling U.S. debut

Italian-bred Alarajah One came to the United States with some level of expectation given he was a Group 1 winner overseas and was in the powerful Ake Svanstedt barn, but after a pair of qualifiers in June where he didn't really catch the eye, he was dismissed at 16-1 in his first pari-mutuel try in the United States, which was in the Crawford Farms Open Trot on July 2 at the Meadowlands. Well, Alarjah One put it all together and showed what he was capable of when there were dollars and a trophy on the line, blazing home in an astounding 25 3/5 to score in 1:50 4/5 with Dunn at the lines for owner Scuderia My Horse Inc.

Alrajah One won two more stakes races in the summer but then was injured and had to be shut down. Hopefully we'll see him back on the racetrack in 2023.

Bella Bellini rallies to Hambletonian Maturity Title

Top trotting mare Bella Bellini won two Grand Circuit finals this year from trailing posts for Dunn, trainer Nifty Norman, and owner/breeder David McDuffee, with the first one of those coming in the rich Hambletonian Maturity final on Meadowlands Pace night at the East Rutherford, New Jersey oval. From the 11-hole, she advanced into contention on the rim in the third quarter, flushed out cover from Cuatro De Julio, and then rallied past that rival in a stirring stretch sprint, getting up for a 2:04 1/5 tally over the distance of 1 1/8 miles

Max Contract inks a big deal in Shady Daisy

Max Contract, a lightly-raced 3-year-old daughter of Huntsville, went on a tear during the summer at The Meadowlands, winning three stakes races by half-a-length, a nose, and a nose. The second triumph by a nostril came in the Shady Daisy on Hambletonian Day as she managed to find room on the inside from the pocket in the final eighth and then chased down Sweet Treasure, who had gotten the jump on her. The 1:49 3/5 victory was delivered by co-owner/driver Andy Miller for trainer Julie Miller and co-owners Steve Heimbecker and Jean Goehlen.

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An afternoon to never forget for Jim Campbell

August 6, 2022 at The Meadowlands is likely to be a day that trainer Jim Campbell never forgets. First, his filly Fashion Schooner made front from post 10 in the Hambletonian Oaks and wound up winning in 1:51 2/5 for driver Tim Tetrick and owner/breeder Fashion Farms LLC., and then Cool Papa Bell, a gelding driven by Todd McCarthy, pulled off the biggest upset in Hambletonian history (52-1) a few races later, rallying after a ground-saving trip to prevail in 1:51 3/5 for owner Scott Farber's Runthetable Stables.

In addition to Campbell's achievement, McCarthy also won the Hambletonian in his debut and joined his brother Andy as a champion in harness racing's most prestigious race.

Campbell became just the third trainer to win both the Hambletonian and Oaks on the same day, joining Jan Johnson (1988) and Jimmy Takter, who did it twice in 2014 and 2015.

Treacherous Dragon breathes fire in Breeders Crown

The most thrilling race of Breeders Crown weekend came in the 3-Year-Old Filly Pace as Treacherous Dragon, owned by Hot Lead Farm, angled out of the pocket in the lane, hit top gear in the closing strides, and won in a driving finish over Niki Hill and Boudoir Hanover in 1:49 1/5. From first to sixth was only 2 1/2 lengths.

"I wasn't sure that Treacherous Dragon was really going to be ‘race-fit enough' since she hadn't had a real race since winning the Jugette," recalled trainer Nancy Takter. "I had Scott Zeron train her in Lexington on the Saturday morning of the last weekend of Grand Circuit, so she had that mile in 1.52, and the qualifier which she was brilliant in the week before the Breeders Crown final, but still those miles aren't like races. She looked amazing scoring down and had her game face on all day.

"She left the gate hard and cleared the lead in a hot pace. Scott kept Dex [Dunn and Niki Hill] out a bit making both fillies work. Then the outer flow started when Niki Hill cleared and Dragon was locked in. I could see she had plenty of pace but she needed room. When Scott finally had clearance she exploded on a very short distance. It's difficult for a horse to make up as much ground as she did in such a short distance, and I know she wants to be first and win. She confirmed in that race that she has a heart of a winner."

This race also put Scott Zeron, who had been injured in late July and been out of action until early October, back in the spotlight.

"I was happy for Scott too to be able to win a Breeders Crown after being sidelined. The Breeders Crown was the first race that he drove her in, and it was a bit of gamble picking Scott to drive her because he hadn't driven most the season and had never driven the filly," Takter added. "When I had to make a decision in a driver, knowing that Dex would be committed to Niki Hill, I chose Scott because he's a good money driver, has quiet hands and can make a horse go without being rough or with force."

A second world record for Allywag Hanover

While Allywag Hanover, trained by Brett Pelling for owner Allywag Stable, spent most of 2022 in the shadow of Bulldog Hanover, he did end up with a pair of world records to his credit. After becoming the sport's fastest gelding in defeating Bulldog Hanover at The Red Mile, Allywag Hanover and Tattoo Artist wound up in a virtual match race in the Potomac Pace at Rosecroft Raceway on November 10, with Tattoo Artist doing the pace-making [25 4/5, 53 1/5, and 1:20] and Allywag Hanover waiting in the pocket.

Coming off the last turn, Todd McCarthy brought Allywag Hanover to the outside, and after a battle in the stretch, Allywag Hanover kicked past Tattoo Artist to tally in 1:46 4/5, the quickest mile ever on a five-eighths mile track.

Farewell to Atlanta

On the same night Bulldog Hanover made his final career start at the Meadowlands, we also said goodbye to one of the greatest trotting mares of all-time in Atlanta. A Hambletonian champion and the co-fastest female trotter of all-time with her great rival Manchego, Atlanta wrapped up her career with over $3.5 million in earnings, including the more than $432,000 she put in the bank in 2022. Best of luck to her in her new career as a broodmare at Crawford Farms.

Those are just 11 events that stood out this year in another fantastic season of harness racing. I'd like to wish everybody a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year, and I look forward to another edition of this piece in December of 2023.