Meadowlands: Rock Of Cashel looks to roll for Harder

Trainer Mark Harder will send out three horses this weekend at The Meadowlands with a pair of veterans on the trotting and the pacing side looking to regain winning form and a lightly-raced pacer with talent looking to prove himself.

Harder has had Rock Of Cashel since he was a 4-year-old in 2014 and the two have combined for some impressive numbers, with the son of Majestic Son earning some $550K for the Harder stable. “He’s just a great horse to have around. He’s an old stud and he has his ways,” said Harder. Rock Of Cashel ships in after making breaks at Freehold last Saturday afternoon. “Nothing went right that day but I think he’ll be fine coming back to The Meadowlands,” said Harder.

Rock Of Cashel drew post five in the $12,000 non-winners of $8,500 class carded as race 12 on Friday night. Corey Callahan will guide him in quest of his first victory in 2019.

“He was a good horse when we got him,” said Harder of Rock Of Cashel. “He’s definitely overachieved.”

A career earner of $611,568, Rock Of Cashel banked $91,580 last year and gave some indication to his trainer that he is closing in on the down side of his racing career. “He’s still a pretty good horse but they keep going faster and it’s a bit harder for him,” said Harder. “We’re going to break his routine a bit this spring. Both owners are going to breed one mare to him. Maybe that will help his attitude.”

Harder would like nothing better than to keep the horse happy and certainly the drop in class on Friday night will give him an edge. While Rock Of Cashel may no longer be an Open horse, he’s probably a notch better than the class he’ll face on Friday.

Going forward Harder would like to ship Rock Of Cashel around, but perhaps Yonkers won’t be in the mix. “It’s not like he can’t get around a half-mile track because he can,” said Harder. “It’s just something at Yonkers that doesn’t agree with him. I can’t say if it’s the turns or the surface or what, but he’s just never been any good there.”

Harder had Art Dancer in Monday’s Meadowlands Mixed sale with an intent to sell him but when the money didn’t show up the trainer elected to take him home. Now the 4-year-old gelding by A Rocknroll Dance is entered in Saturday’s second race looking to get back on the winning trail.

“He was immature last year and he’s still a bit immature,” said Harder of Art Dancer. “Still for that money ($20,000) I think we can do better racing him.”

Art Dancer showed talent as a freshman and again last year during his sophomore campaign but was hampered some by his immaturity as well as soreness.

“We have him sound now,” said Harder, who agreed that Art Dancer was within himself in both recent qualifiers.

“He did miss three days because of the sale,” Harder said, “But I trained him back today (Wednesday) and he was good.”

Art Dancer landed post eight and may be up against it with a solid field that includes Rebel Rouser (post 1) in search of his fifth straight victory this winter at The Meadowlands.

Bullet Bob has been the pacing equivalent of the old warhorse for Harder as the now 10-year-old gelding returns to the Meadowlands looking to add to his $550K lifetime bankroll. The son of Tell All drew post five in the ninth race on Saturday, a non-winners of $11,500 in last five starts conditioned event.

“The owner (Robert Tambur’s Fox Hollow Farm) just loves this horse and as long as he’s good enough to race, he’ll race him,” said Harder. “We’re probably getting closer to the end of his racing career but he’ll have a great home afterwards.”

With 30-head, Harder is looking forward to some others in his stable later this season. “I like Moneyshot Hanover. She won the NYSS Final last year,” said Harder of the Art Major-sired filly that is now a 3-years-old. “I tried to race her in the Breeders Crown and she didn’t miss qualifying by much, but she was sick after that and even if she had qualified for the final I doubt I would have raced her.”

Harder has a dozen babies prepping for action and doesn’t have any he’s ruled out just yet. “I like the Trixton sister to Lily Stride,” said Harder of Violet Stride, a $280,000 purchase at the Lexington Selected sale in 2018.

Lily Stride was a major upset winner over Atlanta and Manchego in last year’s Breeders Crown sophomore filly trot. She’s now in quarantine in the Southern Hemisphere where she will race this year.