Tioga: Fastest-ever mare Shartin back in action

Fans of the sport of Harness Racing will have another opportunity to view the current leader in the race for Horse of the Year when Shartin tackles four foes in the $137,000 Artiscape for mare pacers on Sunday afternoon at Tioga Downs.

The Artiscape is one of four stakes on the card and trainer Jim King Jr. will not only send out Shartin in the fifth race but also Donttellmeagain in the seventh, the $170,000 Roll With Joe for older male pacers. The afternoon also features two rich Empire Breeders Classic finals for 3-year-olds males and females on the pace.

Fifteen days removed from becoming the fastest female pacer in history when she won the Lady Liberty in 1:46 4/5 at The Meadowlands, Shartin will look to build on her impressive 2019 record in the Artiscape. The 6-year-old mare has won 12 of 13 starts and hasn’t been defeated since March 22 at Yonkers Raceway when a bad trip did her in.

“Not really,” said King when asked if anything concerned him going into Sunday’s race. “Not that she is racing a bunch of slouches. She’s just a freak and she is in good form. She’s given me no indication that she needs any time off.”

Each of Shartin’s competitors on Sunday raced against her in the Lady Liberty, with Caviart Ally finishing closest to her on that day, 3 ½ lengths behind the likely heavy favorite. Caviart Ally starts from post one in the Artiscape with regular driver Andrew McCarthy listed to drive while Shartin goes postward from the three-hole with co-owner Tim Tetrick in the bike.

As Shartin enjoys another monster year (she was 19 for 24 in 2018), King is looking forward to the future and it doesn’t necessarily include a date against Lather Up, McWicked or any of the other top male pacers.

“I’m getting invitations from all over the place and turning them down,” said King, who said he received a call from Woodbine officials about the Canadian Pacing Derby. “They called me this morning and asked if I would consider it. I won’t even take it to my partner and ask him to consider it. She’s all set to have another $1 million year, which is unprecedented. I’m more concerned about her mindset and having her able to come back next year and do it again. It’s not like she is going to stand stud somewhere. If she has a baby, she can have one a year.

“She wouldn’t have to miss any time,” continued King about breeding Shartin. “I can embryo transfer her every year for as long as she races.”

While Shartin has proven to be almost a sure thing on the track, Donttellmeagain, who earned over $400,000 and won a race in 1:47 2/5 last year, has missed the mark in 2019. The 5-year-old son of Dragon Again was set to have a big season but was derailed by throat surgery.

“He qualified back really good, but when he started racing, even winning in (1):49 at The Meadowlands, I thought something was missing. He had a problem but I couldn’t quite figure it out. We started one more time at Chester (Commodore Barry) and he was getting in the way. That horse hasn’t been in the way in his life,” said King. “So finally we got to the bottom of it and had a tie-forward procedure done on him by Patty Hogan.”

Donttellmeagain won his lone qualifier on July 30 at Harrah’s Philadelphia after two months on the sidelines and finished a good third on August 11 over the same surface timed in 1:50.

“He’s as close as I can get him to being ready without racing,” said King. “He trained fine with Shartin this morning (Wednesday), which is really pleasing. She’s a good trainer and he was right with her.”

Donttellmeagain starts from post five with Tetrick in the bike against a solid field of six in the Roll With Joe. The likely favorite is McWicked (post six, Brian Sears), who finished a good second in the Dan Patch at Hoosier Park last weekend behind divisional leader Lather Up.

The 13-race program at Tioga on Sunday starts at 1 PM and also includes the $232,700 Empire Breeders Classic for 3-year-old filly pacers and $238,200 EBC for their male counterparts. The filly race is a wide-open affair with many of the nine entrants having been off for a couple of weeks since elimination weren’t needed. The boys split should continue to build the rivalry between Hickfromfrenchlick and Shake That House, with elimination winner Artie’s Ideal perhaps having a say in the outcome.