Total Stranger has the perfect credentials

Total Stranger (Bettor’s Delight) has the perfect credentials to be a super pacer in North American harness racing circles and may have just come into his own.

The bay colt, who hails from the Art Major broodmare Precocious Beauty has earned $88,085 to date and most recently recorded a mark of 1:49f as a 3-year-old.

Bred by James Avritt, Sr. of Lebanon, KY, Total Stranger was a $425,000 yearling purchase at Lexington on Oct. 3, 2022, for owners Judith Taylor of Bala Cynwyd, PA, Caviart Farms, Vienna, VA & Chuck Pompey of Archbald, PA.

Trained by Nancy Takter, he was second by a neck four times as a freshman with 11 starts and two thirds—earning $76,835 for his connections.

This season he qualified twice at The Meadowlands—on April 27 and 30—winning in 1:55 and 1:52.2 with Yannick Gingras at the controls. In his debut on May 9, he stormed to an 8½ length triumph at Harrah’s Philadelphia with Gingras in the bike, before posting his 1:49 clocking on May 19 at Philly for driver Tim Tetrick.

Nancy says she thinks the sophomore just simply didn’t know what he was supposed to do as a freshman.

“I’ve always had high hopes for him and that’s why I put him in those high-end races,” she explained. “He never missed any of those big races and is a super great gaited horse and nice to drive. We always kind of raced him off the pace last year and in these last two starts he’s been the big favorite and he’s gotten to the front easily and I that has given him the confidence to win a race.

“I don’t think he really understood last year like that he was supposed to win,” Takter explained. “Last year it didn’t matter if they went in 1:55 or 1:50, he just didn’t seem to understand that he was supposed to go by his friends. I think he was just a little mentally immature and wanted to hang out with the gang he was racing with instead of knowing he was supposed to be passing them.

The son of Bettor’s Delight p, 3, 1:49.4 ($2,581,461) is the fifth foal out of Precocious Beauty p, 4, 1:50.1s ($838,004) and is a full brother to Tall Dark Stranger p, 3, 1:47.1 ($2,020,195) & the 2-year-old mare Tall Dark Lady. He also has half-siblings in Beautyonthebeach 3, 1:49.2 ($540,428) and Beach Party 3, 1:50.4 ($137,127)—both by Somebeachsomewhere; and to Tall Dark Beauty (by American Ideal) p, 3, 1:55.2 ($27,517).

“From two to three, he’s really filled out a lot and muscled up,” Nancy added. “Physically, he’s just added a lot more muscle to his frame which I think has helped him.”

Nancy said that while he is a little bit “nippy,” for the most part, Total Stranger is easy to get along with both on and off the track.

“He’s a lot nicer to get along with than his brother was,” she laughed. “His brother would walk you where he wanted to go, and Total Stranger just does what you ask in that regard. What’s great is that he’s a very sound horse and a great gaited horse who has never really had any physical issues. He just was mentally pretty immature—we had to spell it out for him as far as what we wanted him to do on the racetrack, and I think this year it’s just clicked for him.”

Harness aficionados will recall that Precocious Beauty, Total Stranger’s dam, won numerous stakes at two and three, including the $105,453 Eternal Camnation, $428,450 She’s A Great Lady, $116,919 Champlain, $85,900 Bluegrass Stakes, $75,300 Int Stallion Stakes, $173,500 American National, and the $244,875 Empire Breeders Classic, etc., taking a mark at 2 of 1:50.1 at Lexington.

Delving deeper into Total Stranger’s pedigree one finds that Precocious Beauty is out of Precious Beauty p, 2, 1:53.3 ($112,842), making her a full sister to Prescient Beauty (Art Major) p, 2, 1:50.4 ($464,250) and a half-sister to Sportswriter (Artsplace) p, 3, 1:48.3s ($1,566,460) and American Sportsman (Somebeachsomewhere) p, 4, 1:52.1f ($138,898).

Plans call for Total Stranger to make his next start in the June 8 North America Cup eliminations at Woodbine Mohawk.

“He’ll have a bit of a breather until those elims, as he’s raced hard the past couple of weeks and I want him to go into that race with a bit of confidence,” Nancy stated. “I condition my horses a lot—we definitely have athletes here at our farm, but each one is different, and so I train them accordingly. I’ll train him pretty strong going into that race.”

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink