Desperate Man, second tier, $200,000 Battle, no problem

This Saturday night (June 8) the big guns of harness racing, the heavy hitters, come out to do battle at MGM Northfield Park in Cleveland, Ohio in the $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie Free For All by Invitation Pace.

It will be a Grand Circuit slugfest for big money as there are nine starters in the 11^th race feature and every horse in the field has the credentials to be the winner. And, that winner walks away with $100,000 in purse money.

But only one horse in the race will not have his nose on the starting gate. That’s Desperate Man (Shadow Play) and driver Matt Kakaley. They drew post nine, which on a half mile track, which Northfield Park is, means you have to start behind one of the horses that has its nose on the mobile starting gate.

This can be a good thing for Desperate Man and Kakaley as the lone horse in the second tier they get to start behind any horse they want in the race.

And for a $200,000 purse on a half mile track there will be some horses firing out of the starting gate to get good position up front.

Dan Patch award winner Bythemissal (post two) is the 2-1 race favorite for driver Chris Page, and his lines show some leaving ability. Linedrive Hanover (post one) with driver Aaron Merriman shows plenty of early gate speed. Coaches Corner (post three) with Jason Bartlett driving has shown super-fast early speed off the gate.

Then there is Carbine (post four) for driver Austin Hanners. He has been on the lead in six of his last seven starts by the first quarter, the fastest in :25.4. They were all on big tracks and it’s not known how Carbine will handle the tighter half-mile first turn. Hellabalou (post five) for Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. is coming off wiring the field in the $150,000 Camluck Classic and he always gets good position after the start.

And then there is Desperate Man from the second tier. The six-year-old gelding has made 62 career starts and never did not have his nose on the gate. This year he already has five wins in just seven starts, good for $180,340 in earnings for owner Kathy Cecchin of Arthur, Ontario.

At one point during his earlier four-race winning streak this year, he never lost on the front end and was either on the lead or on the move to take the lead by the opening quarter in each of those starts for trainer Travis Alexander.

Does it worry Alexander starting from the second tier Saturday?

“Doesn’t bother me,” Alexander said. “It’s better than the 5-8 posts the way it drew out.

How about any driving strategy to talk over?

“I leave all the driving to Matt (Kakaley),” Alexander stated.

“Carbine will be interesting,” Alexander added. “When has he raced on a half? Will that first turn hurt him going that kind of speed?

“It’s going to be interesting with that first turn. The nice part about trailing is we get to watch it unfold and then make our move.”

In his last start at Harrah’s Philadelphia in the $100,000 Auger Memorial, Desperate Man was fourth after getting parked out first-over from the half mile.

“My horse has been good all year,” Alexander said. “He has had two brutal trips that just didn’t work out. But we are confident going into Saturday’s race.”

As for statistics, there have been 997 horses at Northfield Park that have started from post nine this year, yielding 88 winners for a percentage of 8.8%. Post 9 has a higher win rate at Northfield then posts 7 (5.3%) and post 8 (3.0%).

Currently Matt Kakaley and Travis Alexander are the #1 driver and trainer on the Grand Circuit.

Also, on Saturday at Northfield Park, the 13^th race is the $75,000 MGM Buckeye Distaff Pace with nine starters.

Racing For Three (Western Terror) is the morning line favorite from post two for driver Trevor Smith. She sports five wins already this season and can leave or come from off the pace.

Return winners in the field include Tarapasta (post three) with driver Dan Noble, Fear Our Fayth (post four) for driver Aaron Merriman and Hangon Cowgirl (post nine) for driver Billy Davis, Jr.

by Steve Wolf, for Harnesslink