Take All Comers ready to work in Spirit of Massachusetts

Plainville, MA — To be successful in harness racing, a horse must be consistent throughout his career. One great example of that is Take All Comers (Creatine-Nantab), who will be competing in the $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot at Plainridge Park on Sunday (July 21) afternoon.

Take All Comers is a 6-year-old gelding who in just over four years of racing, has earned $822,561 in very workman-like fashion. He has won 30% of his races and has been in the money 62% of the time and a win in the Spirit of Massachusetts Trot would push him very close to becoming the next millionaire in the sport.

Jim Campbell, who was just inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame on July 7, trains the home-bred and said his horse is smart, likeable and full of heart.

“Scott (Farber) bred Take All Comers and he’s just been a really nice horse for us from day one. He’s very consistent every year and has always given us his best effort in all the years we’ve raced him. He’s nice to be around, he’s a cool horse to jog and train. He’s a little feisty at times but he’s a real smart horse. When I train him, he knows where I want him to go so I just steer him,” said Campbell.

As a 2-year-old, Take All Comers was a solid performer in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, won the Bluegrass Stake in Kentucky and finished fourth in the Breeders Crown, beaten only 1-1/2 lengths. His sophomore campaign looked very similar with solid earnings in the PASS and a start in the Hambletonian where he finished fifth, beaten only four lengths.

As he transitioned to facing older foes at four, he became a top Open trotter in the northeast. In his stake engagements, he finished second in the $250,000 Graduate final and followed that up with a fourth place finish in the $432,000 Hambletonian Maturity. Then he ended his year with three straight upper level condition wins at Yonkers and Harrah’s Philadelphia, giving him a total of eight victories for the year.

Last year Take All Comers rattled off three quick Open class wins – including a lifetime mark of 1:50.4 at Harrah’s Philly – to start his summer before his stake calendar kicked in. He finished third in the $250,000 Bob Miecuna Invitational, second in the $222,500 Caesar’s Trotting Classic and then fifth, beaten only three lengths in the $600,000 Breeders Crown.

Take All Comers started 2024 with an Invitational win at Yonkers in May. Then in the $100,000 Maxi Lee, he got away second with a perfect trip to the half. But that soon turned into a nightmare as the outer flow locked him in behind a fading leader and basically ended his chances. Then in his last three races at Yonkers leading up to the Spirit, he was assigned the outside in each Invitational, finishing a narrowly beaten second in all three.

“When you compete against these older trotters, the going gets very tough. One might look like he’s off his game one week, but he bounces right back the next and throws a big mile. But Take All Comers is an honest horse who gives his best effort every week and that’s what you want to see. I wasn’t really paying attention to that $1 million mark creeping up, but like I said, he’s very consistent,” said Campbell.

“This Spirit race has a very competitive field, and it should be a really good race. I was very happy with the post position we drew but as the old saying goes, post position is just a starting point. But he’s the type of horse that can be driven anyway the driver wants him to go. Front end, from behind, first-over, it doesn’t bother him. So he’s pretty versatile and that is an asset for him. He’s had a really good week of preparation coming into this race and hopefully with a little racing luck, he’ll be there at the finish.”

This will be Campbell’s second trip to Massachusetts. He raced Crystal Fashion at Plainridge in the 2021 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot, finishing third behind Manchego in 1:50

Campbell also reflected on his Hall of Fame induction just under two weeks ago.

“Being inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame goes under one of those things I’ll never forget for as long as I live. It was just an unbelievable weekend and I’m honored to have been part of the class I went in with. It’s something that we’ll all never forget,” said Campbell.

“And going through the museum and all the things they have in there was just amazing. I want to go back and go through it again because I didn’t see everything. I think one of the best kept secrets in harness racing is that museum.”

The Spirit of Massachusetts Trot is carded as race nine on Sunday with an estimated post time of 4:40 p.m. Post time for the first race on Spirit Day is 2 p.m.

by Tim Bojarski, for Plainridge Park