Harness: Senna looks for breakthrough season in 2022

Qualifiers are underway throughout North America with some of last year's top performers going behind the gate for the first time in preparation for the coming stakes season. For those who spend their time trying to evaluate the differences between the 2-year-olds we watched in 2021 and the same 3-year-olds this season, there's always an interest in an unknown flying below the radar.

Such a horse emerged in front of these eyes this past Saturday, a trotting colt by Trixton named Senna. A stakes horse to some degree last year, Senna started 11 times as a freshman and came away with exactly one victory.

"He just wasn't strong enough," said his trainer and co-owner Per Engblom about the lack of victories and the $29,671 banked.

On April 9 at The Meadowlands, David Miller guided Senna from the pole position and found himself in a short field of four with stakes-caliber talent that included Justice, a winner in three of four of his starts on the New York circuit last year for Ake Svanstedt that went off as the 3-5 favorite in the $200,000 final last September but was not victorious. Also in the field was Grand Circuit-winning Stride The Hill, a 1:53 1/5 winner at The Red Mile for trainer Jim Campbell.

I watched Senna score down before the race and he looked powerful with a solid gait as David Miller got a feel for the $25,000 Lexington Selected yearling purchase from 2020.

Once the gate opened, Senna rushed to the front and cut a 29 second opening quarter putting the field in line. Following a half rated in 58 4/5, Miller let Senna trot through the final turn and the pace accelerated dramatically with the colt hitting three quarters in 1:26 4/5 and appearing to be under wraps.

Late on the final turn Ake Svanstedt called on Justice to march up towards the leader and his Chapter Seven-sired colt cut into the margin. On the other hand, David Miller appeared to be offering minimal urging to Senna to complete the mile. It wasn't surprising to see Justice get by in the stretch. What was surprising was the amount of effort Svanstedt needed to urge his horse to victory. When the final time of 1:54 2/5 came up on the board it revealed why Justice needed to work hard. At the same time, the final clocking gave strong indication that Senna's days of being an also-ran may be coming to end as he prepares for his 3-year-old campaign.

"I was very happy with the effort," said Engblom, who remained quite guarded about the prospects of his own horse. "He's been this fast before."

While it may be factually accurate that Senna went that fast as a 2-year-old chasing horses in the Kentucky Commonwealth divisions of the Sire Stakes program last year, the horse we witnessed this past Saturday cut all of the fractions and was within himself completing the course in 1:54 3/5. That's a major improvement over a "suck along" 1:54 1/5 clocking last September in Kentucky.

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Though fairly inexpensive as a $25,000 yearling purchase, Senna is a colt Engblom has liked from the start and has continued making stakes payments.

"He has plenty of opportunities this year to make money," said Engblom. "He's eligible to the New Jersey Sire Stakes as well as the Kentucky program and we may end up going to Kentucky for those races at Oak Grove."

With the New Jersey Sire Stakes commencing in a few weeks, Engblom had to plot out his immediate schedule first before looking too far down the line. "I could have qualified him twice," said Engblom, "But they are going to card a prep race for New Jersey Sire Stakes eligibles a week before, so I'll enter him there."

Senna is owned by Engblom in partnership with Douglas Sipple and the trainer explained the situation.

"I bought the colt for an owner and because of the price he didn't want multiple partners," Engblom said. "I've been doing this on my own for three years now and I want to own parts of the horses I race."

In Senna, Engblom found a horse with a pedigree that you need to go back a few generations to understand where the potential talent comes from. Looking deeper into his bloodlines you see the core of the late Charlie Keller's Yankeeland Farm broodmare line. A pair of Hambletonian champions in the expected 1998 winner Muscles Yankee and the unexpected 2000 champion Yankee Paco. Further back down the line was the champion 2-year-old Defiant Yankee from 1980.

The interesting part of the pedigree is that Muscles Yankee appears in the dam's side, somewhat removed mind you, and that his most famous son Muscles Yankee is the sire of Senna's sire Trixton.

Senna's dam Conwayslassie campaigned on the New York Sire Stakes circuit in 2010-11. The daughter of Conway Hall managed to reach the championship final both years and finished fourth on both occasions.

An also-ran in stakes finals, the broodmare career of Conwayslassie was hardly inspiring at first. Her first foal, a filly by Credit Winner, died. A second Credit Winner filly took a mark of 1:58 4/5 as a 3-year-old (a time that would be impressive if it were taken in 1980). Her third foal, moving to Chapter Seven this time, was again a filly that earned less than $10K. Back to Credit Winner for her fourth foal Conwayslassie and finally had a colt, that became a gelding and is currently racing at Freehold.

In Senna, the dam was mated for the first time with a Muscle Hill-line stallion and the results seem to confirm that a good deal of speed has been added to the equation.

Engblom confessed that the owners stopped making payments for the Hambletonian for Senna but there will be many other Grand Circuit stops should he live up to at least our early expectations.

"We've got him eligible to the Goodtimes [Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 18] and we did keep him eligible for the Breeders Crown," Engblom said.

To date Senna has but one 3-year-old qualifier to his credit in 2022 and that is hardly enough information to make rash conclusions about how far he'll go this year. In a sport where two of last year's 3-year-old champions -- Jujubee and Bella Bellini -- graduated from virtual anonymity to capture Dan Patch awards, it's never too early to look for a would-be stakes star.

Time will tell. It always does.