Harness: Time reveals a diamond in the rough

Trainer Chuck Connor Jr. didn’t mince any words when speaking of Lily Hammer, who this past Friday won for the fourth straight time in five 2020 starts. “She can be a handful.”

The 4-year-old mare by So Surreal spent her first two years plodding through the lower levels of the New York Sire Stakes program but suddenly and without warning has emerged this year as a mare with extreme speed and desire to match.

“The owner (North Creek Racing LLC-Michael Landi) named her after his daughter and wanted to race her close to home at Batavia this winter,” said Connor. “Gerry Sarama tried to get her around the half mile track but she wasn’t any good and he told the owner to send her down to me to try her on the big track.”

Connor had Lily Hammer off and on during her 3-year-old campaign and did what was necessary to get as much out of her as possible.

“It was kind of difficult,” said Connor. “She raced well at Vernon Downs and Tioga but there are so many half-mile tracks and she could be dangerous on those turns.”

Dangerous in a way that some drivers didn’t want to accept the catch drive even in stakes races. “I had to sit behind her a couple of times just to show these guys she was OK to sit behind, and I’m 65 years old.”

Connor sees similarities between Lily Hammer and other offspring from the Somebeachsomewhere line. “She can get kind of difficult to keep a hold of. Corey (Callahan) told me has was having trouble holding her together through the turn last Friday night,” said Connor.

Considering the circumstances, Lily Hammer was able to find room and then push herself across the wire in a 1:52 clocking while defeating a mid-to-upper class mare in the process. It wasn’t the fastest of her four consecutive scores but it was likely the one that showed the most grit and determination.

Clearly speed is not the issue and as often is the case when putting horses on half-mile tracks, something can be lost. “You work to pull the hobbles in to keep them safer,” said Connor of what was necessary last year. Yet now given the freedom to race on surfaces more to her liking, Lily Hammer is beginning to show her true potential.

“I don’t think it’s anything I’m doing special,” said Connor modestly of the recent success. “I think a lot has to do with the classes she was eligible to.” Yet Friday’s field that she beat gives the feeling that she’s been unchained from the demands of the small track and may still have a few more levels to climb before reaching her peak.

Perhaps it’s not at all surprising she’s achieving her greatest success during the winter considering her name is a homophone for the site of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway.

That Lily Hammer has already paced in 1:51 2/5 in one of her three Meadowlands victories suggests she could go much faster once the weather warms up. “I wouldn’t be surprised to set her pace in 1:50 or better,” said Connor, though he wasn’t necessarily predicting the record would happen against the top mares in training.

Lily Hammer has been one of two bright spots in the Connor stable this winter. Based at Goshen, New York and numbering around a dozen at the moment, Connor has also seen the aged pacing mare Sandy Win emerge since arriving from The Meadows over the last six weeks. “She’s been a pleasant surprise,” said Connor of the daughter of Sand Shooter. “It was difficult with the classes at The Meadows to get her raced there regularly so Jason (Robinson) sent her to me.”

Connor entered Sandy Win at Yonkers for a few races in November-December at Yonkers, but when the mare got out of control and made a break on Jason Bartlett in a race she was expected to win, he moved her to The Meadowlands.

The move paid instant dividends at Sandy Win scored back-to-back wins to close out a 43-race season in style.

Sandy Win has picked up her game even higher this year with a win and three seconds in her five outings.

Connor returned Sandy Win to Yonkers and the results have been more than encouraging. Now racing against the Open Handicap mares, Sandy Win was a solid closing second in her first trip back in Westchester on February 7 then cut the pace in last Friday’s Open Handicap only to be tracked down nearing the wire by the explosive rally of Imprincessgemma A in the late stages.

Sandy Win has earned more than $67K for owner Robert Main since teaming with Connor and the trainer hopes that can continue, but he understands the rough road likely ahead. “With the Blue Chip Matchmaker at Yonkers you’re in a position where you probably have to nominate,” Connor said. “With all of the top mares likely to be racing in it, there probably aren’t going to be any Opens to race for that will fill.” Connor knows that there will be an influx of quality to Yonkers in the weeks to come but still holds out hope that Sandy Win can continue to earn well for her for her connections.

While some in the profession have gone south for the winter, Connor has stayed north and watched his fortunes rise. Through the first month and a half of the year Connor’s stable has won nine times and finished second on nine occasions while sending 45 horses to the races. The numbers are extremely impressive given the limited horses in his stable at this time. Obviously his two pacing mares have been a large part of the more than $120K the stable has banked thus far. It speaks loudly of Connor’s ability and the difference it can make when owners recognize it and entrust him with horses with some quality.

In the case of Lily Hammer, it was a matter of finding the right trainer and locating the best track to unearth talent that may have been hidden for the last two years.