Gulotta has faith in Up Your Deo in Hambo

Up Your Deo (Walner) comes into Saturday’s $1 million Hambletonian as a 15-1 morning line longshot, carrying the hopes of harness racing breeder/owner Michael Gulotta and partners upon his bay shoulders.

Bred by Gulotta’s Deo Volente Farms of Flemington, NJ, Up Your Deo is the first of three foals, born April 4, 2020, out of the Cantab Hall mare Grand Stand, 3, 1:58.2f ($14,060).

“Fidencio (Cervantez), our farm manager and pedigree genius, gets all the credit for Up Your Deo,” Michael stressed. “He recommended that we bred her to Walner and gets all the credit for that union. He’s the best farm manager in the world.”

“Up Your Deo was a smart colt, and easy to get along with from day one,” recalled Michael. “He wasn’t super big, but Fedencio really liked him. We sell all of our colts every year and keep one filly for bloodline purposes and that gives everyone the opportunity to bring a Deo horse home.”

Up Your Deo sold as Hip No. 69 in the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale on Oct. 5, 2021, for $100,000 to the initial partnership of Suleyman Yuksel Stables of Delray Beach, FL; Van Camp Trotting Corp of Port Perry, ON; and Wrightstown, NJ-based trainers Ake and Sarah Svanstedt.

“I was surprised that he only went for $100,000 given his breeding,” Michael said reflectively. “He’s got a great pedigree, with Cantab Hall as the broodmare sire, and Cantab Hall blood on the dam’s side as well. Then you have Walner—the super sire.”

Up Your Deo’s maternal granddam is Grand Cameron (by Yankee Glide) 3, 1:57.2f ($52,818), and his great granddam is Cameron Hall (by Garland Lobell) 4, 1:53.4s ($1,816,236), who is a full sister to Canland Hall 3, 1:57s ($339,143), the dam of Cantab Hall (by Self Possessed) 3, 1:54 ($1,442,303).

“We bought Grand Stand out of the Mixed Sale on Oct. 7, 2018,” Michael remembered.

Both Cameron Hall and Canland Hall are out of the mare Canne Angus 5, 2:03h ($36,045), by the stallion Magna Force, an unraced son of Florida Pro 3, 1:55 ($349,229).

“After Up Your Deo sold, I went to congratulate Sarah at the sale and she said, ‘I still have 20 percent of him, do you want in?’ and I said sure,” Gulotta noted.

Up Your Deo earned $67,687 at two but failed to reach the winner’s circle in eight tries. He did, however, collect three second-place checks, and one check each for a third, fourth and fifth-place finish.

“He had a lot of bad luck at two,” Michael explained. “A lot of outside posts and things just didn’t go his way. But he blossomed this year at three and has only been off the board once. He was fifth in his Hambletonian elim but had not raced in 29 days. If you saw his effort in the Yonkers Trot, he was awesome, he was out the whole mile and still pulled away at the end.”

Up Your Deo qualified on May 5 at the Meadowlands in 1:55.1, then won a $30,000 NJSS in 1:52 by a head over Oh Well on May 20. In his next start he finished third in the $240,000 NJSS Final in 1:51, to Air Power and Oh Well, beaten just a 1¼ lengths. He then cruised to victory in his $40,000 Yonkers Trot elimination on June 23, setting a new track record of 1:53.1 in the process, before capturing the $300,000 Final on June 30 in 1:53.3, and thus establishing himself as the leader in contention for this year’s Triple Crown honors.

In last Saturday’s Hambletonian elimination, Up Your Deo was fifth, timed in 1:51.4 in the dash won by Celebrity Bambino. The bay colt trotted his final panel in a swift :27.2.

“That was a nice tightener for him to have under his belt,” Michael said. “He drew the six-hole for tomorrow’s final, which I love, because this horse loves to run horses down. He does his best working coming from behind.”

This is Michael’s first partnership with the Svanstedts and he gives them all the credit for Up Your Deo’s success.

“We partnered up with the Svanstedts the day we bought our share of Up Your Deo,” Michael confirmed. “I give them all the kudos in the world—they are a great team, a great training-driving combination and I appreciate our relationship with them.”

Michael is also quick to praise Deo Volente’s stallion and breeding administrator, Linda Petrenko, for giving their Hambo contender his unique name.

“Linda came up with his name, which you can look at two ways,” Michael laughed. “I prefer to look at it the good way, as if to say, ‘up your day-o,’ in other words, have a great day.

“When you have a horse, you own that’s racing in the Hambletonian, it creates a great amount of excitement,” Michael acknowledged. “Having one that you bred in the Hambletonian is simply nerve wracking, it’s like your baby has grown up and is graduating.”

Up Your Deo also races without an overcheck and should he win the Hambletonian, would be the first horse to win without that piece of equipment. As well, he wears only bell boots up front, and hind trotting boots with a speedy cut attachment, a crescendo-bit, and a set of pull-out ear plugs.

“I leave those things to the genius of Ake and Sarah,” Michael replied when asked about racing Up Your Deo sans overcheck. “Ultimately, as a breeder, being in the Hambletonian is what you’re in business for. Watching a youngster that you bred and raised being in a race like this, it’s a myriad of emotions—you’re nervous but you’re also extremely proud. It’s just being a parent—whether it’s a horse or a human being—all you want is to see them grow up and do well for themselves.”

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink