Meadowlands: One last Hambo Day before Takter rides off into sunset

“The Hambletonian is excitement. I get pumped up for it.”

The words are Jimmy Takter’s and 31 years into his connection to the sport’s premier race in North America, Takter’s pulse still seems to race a bit as the days shorten and the next Hambletonian is upon us.

This year is likely to be the last of Takter’s brilliant Hambletonian training experience. “I’m going to step back,” Takter said. “I will still own horses and work behind the scenes with Nancy (daughter Johansson).”

That’s 2019 and still a year away. For now Takter is extremely focused as always on the task at hand and that is winning this year’s edition of the Hambletonian at The Meadowlands.

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“I’m very happy with the way my four are coming into the race,” said Takter on Wednesday. “I think it’s a wide open race.”

While others are looking at the filly Atlanta and recent world champion Six Pack, Takter is concerned only about a single mission.

“We’ve got to get to the second heat,” Takter said. “Then we’ll see what happens.”

It was 1987 that Takter’s Hambletonian experience began as a conditioner sending Sir Taurus to battle eventual Triple Crown champion Mack Lobell. “It was very exciting,” said Takter, recalling the first time. “Benny Webster drove him for me.”

At the time Takter was a rising star in the sport and his talents would soon be recognized as he opened his own stable and gained traction with owners worldwide.

It was 1997 when Takter sent out Malabar Man for owner-driver Mal Burroughs to his first Hambletonian victory. His greatest achievement has been an impressive array of talent sent forth in this decade, with victories in 2010 with Muscle Massive, 2014 (Trixton) and Pinkman in 2015. None of the three were post time favorites in the finals, which might explain Takter’s confidence in just getting to the second heat.

As for this year’s quartet that Takter sends out, it appears as if the unbeaten sophomore Wolfgang would be in the lead. “He’s a very professional horse. He’s always had ability,” said Takter. The son of My MVP has captured the Goodtimes and a division of the Stanley Dancer this year and appears to be the most accomplished of the group.

Yet people would be wise to recognize Takter’s uncanny knack for bringing the unproven horse into the race and having them peak at the most opportune time. Though the draw was not beneficial to either Zephyr Kronos (post nine in the first Hambo elimination) or Tactical Landing (post seven in the second) both projects enter the Hambletonian in much better shape than they were at the start of the year.

“There are certain horses I need to drive,” said Takter in regard to his semi-retired driving career. “A horse like Zephyr Kronos just couldn’t do very much in the first quarter in those early races and I had to work with him. Now he’s much better at it.”

As for Tactical Landing, the $800,000 full brother to Mission Brief, the runner-up to Pinkman in the 2015 Hambletonian, the timing of this race may not be ideal. “I wish I had about three more weeks with him,” said Takter.

Despite the accomplishment of Six Pack and Atlanta in 2018, Takter didn’t appear to think his horses were far behind the likely favorites or for that matter behind at all. In regard to the 1:50 world record mile posted by Six Pack in the Dancer, the time didn’t faze Takter. “I don’t think it means that much,” said Takter. “I think a lot of them can go that speed.”

One that has already gone that fast is Takter’s entrant in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks, Manchego. “I’m very happy with the way she has progressed,” said Takter of Manchego. “I thought she stepped up nicely following the 1:50 mile.” The daughter of Muscle Hill was relaxed on the front end and scored decisively in her Oaks elimination for driver Yannick Gingras.

“I’m very happy with the draw,” said Takter of post four inside fellow elimination winner Phaetosive (post 5). “I like that we’re inside of Trond’s horse. It will make it harder for him to leave.”

After going unbeaten as a 2-year-old, Manchego bounced back from consecutive defeats with her Oaks victory. Losing to the boys in the Beal and by a nose in a 1:49 4/5 in those two prior races did little to alter Takter’s belief in the filly.

“There’s a lot of nice fillies out there but I like my chances,” said Takter, who seeks his fifth consecutive training win in the Oaks.

Last year’s Hambletonian Oaks winner Ariana G will again be on display for Takter in the $154,800 Dr. John Steele Memorial, carded as race 14 among the 16 on Hambletonian Day.

“I don’t think she’s ever been better,” said Takter of the 4-year-old $2.2 million career earner who has captured the Graduate and Hambletonian Maturity decisively in her last two races.

Though theoretically old enough for retirement, Takter, perhaps like the great NFL star Jim Brown, continues to be at the top of his game. Along with his obvious trotting stars, his stable has morphed into the go-to location for some of the sport’s leading pacers including world champion Always B Miki and most recently the Down Under sensation Lazurus.

Yet perhaps as Brown did many years ago, Takter sees life as more than racing. His competitiveness is unmatched but at the same time he feels there is a need to separate himself from the rigors of the sport on a daily basis.

“I love winning,” Takter said. “But I hate losing even more.”

With that attitude there’s no wonder why his stable has been at the top of this sport for such a long time.

Saturday’s races may be the last time we see Takter center stage on the sport’s biggest day. There’s good reason to believe he’ll find his way into the winner’s circle on more than a couple of occasions. As someone that has worked with precision to bring out the best in the standardbred sport, it’s going to be a bittersweet moment.

For Takter it will only be sweet if it’s in the winner’s circle.