Northfield: Format change helps draw top horses to Milstein Memorial

If something is not working change becomes necessary. From a breeding perspective, sometimes change takes three to four years to implement. On the racing side, where the demand for stakes horses has made the landscape more challenging, innovation is sometimes mandatory otherwise races get lost.

At Northfield Park, where they will race the Carl Milstein Memorial on Saturday (8/10), Executive Vice President of Racing and Simulcasting Dave Bianconi found himself with the funds to put on top-quality racing but the parameters that lacked the draw to find the top horses.

“I think the first year we had this race (originally the Cleveland Classic) we wound up with 12 horses that were eligible,” said Bianconi. Given that Northfield is a half-mile track in an era where there are numerous five-eighths mile and mile oval options despite a lucrative purse ($400,000 this Saturday), trainers and owners nominated and sustained to other events but not Northfield’s richest race.

For the novice, many of our sport’s major contests are funded in a large part by owner nomination and sustaining payments with significant money added on top from the track’s purse account.

“We have a certain percentage of the purses that are allotted to stakes races,” said Bianconi, who noted when only 12 nominated to the race a significant amount of the total purse came from that fund.

So essentially, with a race that wasn’t luring the nominations or the quality, Bianconi decided change was needed. “I didn’t think there was much else we could do,” said Bianconi. “We decided to make our three key races all Invitationals and that has helped bring the top horses and top drivers to the track.”

When a large part of the purse fund for any track goes to a stakes race it can lead to drawback from local horsemen. Quite often these races are made up of horses that are owned and trained by those who don’t compete locally and that can be a sore spot for hometown horsemen who believe they should share in the pie.

“I’ve tried to invite horses every year that have some form of Ohio connection,” said Bianconi. “This year Yankee Boots is bred, trained and owned in Ohio. Bettor’s Wish is part-owned in Ohio and Workin Ona Mystery is trained and part-owned in Ohio.”

So in the 8-horse field there’s significant Ohio power that gets to play on the biggest stage.

To Bianconi’s credit he’s been working hard for a long time to cultivate this race and understands that the work doesn’t start a week before the race. “Because it’s an Invitational, I try to reach out to the horsemen with top horses early just to remind them when the race is scheduled. Most of the time horsemen know the schedule of the races they’ve paid into,” Bianconi said.

What has played well for the track since the conversation is the location of the race on the stakes schedule. “It’s something I work on at the racing secretaries meeting. There’s only one race that conflicts with it and that’s eliminations for the Empire Breeders in New York,” Bianconi said. “I was fortunate to get Chris Oakes to send American Mercury.” Bianconi had also tried to lure New York-bred and Hempt Memorial champion Shake That House for the race but Oakes is sending that one to Tioga for Sunday’s Empire Breeders elimination races.

There will be a few other top players missing in action for Saturday’s Milstein, but it wasn’t for lack of effort on Bianconi’s part.

“I invited Captain Crunch and Best In Show,” said Bianconi of the North America Cup and recent Cane Champion, along with the Meadowlands Pace upsetter, “But their connections declined.”

The half-mile track tends to be the great equalizer for some and perhaps those not in the Milstein on Saturday at Northfield have good reason.

Needless to say, the eight that accepted invitations have the star power required to boost attendance and handle figures and Bianconi is looking to do both. “We’re offering a $20,000 guaranteed Pick 4 with the Milstein as the final leg,” said Bianconi. That will be races 7 through 10 on a 16-race program with first post slated for 6:00 p.m.

The horses are always the stars and Bianconi feels fortunate that he’s been able to lure top quality from states and provinces in close proximity to the Northfield track. “I was able to get top horses from Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, New York and Pennsylvania,” said Bianconi.

This year’s Milstein could prove to be the best on record with the quality and depth of the field headed by race favorite Bettor’s Wish (post 3), who captured the Rooney earlier this year over the Yonkers half-mile track. Bettor’s Wish is actually 3 for 3 on small tracks this season and enters the race off runner-up performances in the Cane and Meadowlands Pace, where he was nipped in 1:48 miles.

Workin Ona Mystery (post 5) gives trainer Brian Brown another chance at a major race victory. The son of Captaintreacherous has had some tough trips to date in the major races and was third in both the North America Cup and Meadowlands Pace finals. Though he’s not raced on a half-mile track this year, Workin Ona Mystery scored as a juvenile in 1:50 3/5 over the Delaware Fair half-mile track.

Southwind Ozzi joined the 1:48 club with his powerful victory in the $400,000 Adios two weeks ago. His trainer Bill MacKenzie was confident he could handle the half-mile oval before he accepted Bianconi’s invitation. Following the draw, Southwind Ozzi will need to overcome post eight and perhaps the best field he’s ever raced in the Milstein.

Century Farroh has arguably been the best horse in Ontario this year with eight wins in nine starts including a victory over Meadowlands Pace champion Best In Show on August 2 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Dr. Ian Moore brings the son of Mach Three to Northfield and he drew well with post two.

Adios and Hempt elimination winner Captain Victorious (post 1) may benefit from going right to the final here. Yankee Boots (post 4), Indiana’s Rockie Got Framed (post 6) and American Mercury (post 7) round out the sensational field.

“I’m more than happy with the field we have this year,” said Bianconi, “I’ll be especially happy if the top drivers that are listed all show up. We’ve got (Yannick) Gingras, David Miller, Dexter Dunn, Tim Tetrick and Brian Sears. Those are the top drivers in North America.”

Northfield’s export signal is up double digits and on-track handle has been solid recently under Bianconi’s watchful eye. Saturday’s Milstein is assured to bring even more eyeballs to the Northfield signal.