Harness: What will Santa bring to the Harness industry?

Ho, Ho, Ho!

No, No, No!

It’s that time of year again and as the children sit around the tree opening presents, it’s time to reflect on the kind we’d like to see delivered to our sport. Of course there are always those who are naughty and nice in this sport.

Some are both.

That’s what makes it so difficult at this time of year. How does Santa know who is worthy and who isn’t during this festive time of year?

At the top of this Santa’s wish list is for a brief retirement for Jimmy Takter. Though the Hall of Famer bowed out gracefully just weeks ago, handing over his stable to others, it would be a joy to find out in 2019 that after some soul searching he really does miss the horses, the people, the owners and drivers, and can’t give it up. There have been many before him that believed retirement was the end, and found all too soon that it was just a time to rest and recover before getting back in the driver’s seat somewhere down the line.

Second on Santa’s list is for him to make a stop at Yonkers Raceway as the track enters its post-Rooney era. Long suffering for holding on to a condition sheet that has yellowed over time, the track and its horsemen need to have some fairy dust sprinkled into the race office with the hope that a new sheet appears. Perhaps the dust will inspire those with a pulse to take an active look at the races on a nightly basis to ensure competitive fields are drawn. Rumor around the North Pole was the track is considering “radical” moves that would see eight-horse fields with five horses in the first tier and three in the second. Much as shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic, this move seems headed for an iceberg in very short time. It seems as if Santa has overshot the chimney, with this one certain to create havoc initially among horsemen and an aging pool of bettors. Even reindeer know the only real way to encourage more effort in overnight action at Yonkers would be greater field size with only five cashing or better yet, significantly fewer racing days that force drivers and trainers to race hard every time they enter regardless of class or draw.

If Santa is passing over East Rutherford and is within stateliness, I hope he can place a sports bet or two. The newest fad to hit the Garden State has been an instant success, but it’s hard to know what the long-term outcome will be. Unlike racing and slot machines, sports wagers are not guaranteed to produce steady income flow, though as we all know, the house generally wins.

On the racing side, there’s hope that Trenton will be a spot that enjoys Santa’s best wishes and gifts a five-year package that can help rejuvenate a racing product that once was the pinnacle of the sport.

Santa always likes to know that the children are playing nicely together and you have to wonder what will happen when he looks down on East Rutherford and wonders why there can’t be peace and harmony. Before the gifts are even opened, some children are already talking about exactly how they are going to spend all of the money. Santa would love to see the gifts shared with horsemen that worked so hard.

Since winter is Santa’s favorite time of year, I’m sure he’d love to see the return of significant mile-track racing to the Meadowlands in the future. While that may not be possible in 2019, Santa can wait until late in the year to bring out the goodies, so that many horsemen that now consider January, February and March too cold to participate will see good reason once again to get up off their easy chairs and put on a show. The winter months historically established The Meadowlands as the best betting option standardbred or thoroughbred. Even Santa knows that when horses are short of supply, wasting purse money during the spring and summer won’t produce larger and more competitive fields, it will only give existing stables more options for the same horses.

Santa may fly over Florida this season but it’s doubtful he’s going to need to leave anything special for trainer-driver-owner Verlin Yoder. Yoder’s gift came nicely packaged last year and Woodside Charm only needs to come back at full strength in 2019 for it to be a memorable year on the trotting side. No, she will not be the second straight filly to win the Hambletonian, but if she improves half as much as Atlanta did from 2017to 2018, she will be a remarkable sight.

While not all trades are equal, Santa is indeed delighted to see the arrival of Dexter Dunn on the local scene this winter. While fellow compatriot Andrew McCarthy heads south for a vacation in his homeland, Dunn should pick up the slack quite well. It’s difficult to compare the two as yet, but both seem to have a keen sense of pace and the ability to get the most out of horses when it matters.

With Jimmy Takter out of the picture, we think Santa should have plenty in store for young Marcus Melander in the coming year. While the undefeated Gimpanzee was the stable star by years end, here’s hoping that Melander will effectively educate the fast but fractious Greenshoe for his sophomore campaign. The trainer already believes that Green Manalishi S will mature into a star if Santa is listening.

If you believe in Santa, anything is possible.