Karl heads stars in Big M qualifiers

Hightstown, NJ — Dan Patch Award winner Karl (Tactical Landing), the No. 1-ranked harness racing horse in Meadowlands announcer/analyst Ken Warkentin’s Hambletonian Winter Book Top 10, will be among the stars making their first appearances of 2024 when The Meadowlands hosts 18 qualifiers Saturday morning.

Two older male pacers with Dan Patch honors to their credit, Bythemissal and Allywag Hanover, also will be stepping out for the first time as will older male trotter Venerate (also a past Dan Patch Award recipient), millionaire female pacer Twin B Joe Fresh, Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Colt Pace champ Gem Quality, and Three Diamonds winner Caviart Belle.

Karl won nine of 10 races last year, with his setback coming by a nose to T C I, and earned $1.04 million. His earnings ranked second in history for a 2-year-old male trotter, behind only T C I, who banked $1.23 million last season. His victories included the Breeders Crown, Valley Victory, Kindergarten Classic Series final, and Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series final.

His mark of 1:51.2 was the second fastest in history for a 2-year-old male trotter and he captured the Breeders Crown in a stakes- and track-record 1:51.4 at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. He also won the Valley Victory with a stakes-record 1:52.1 performance.

“He had a good winter,” said Nancy Takter, who trains and co-owns Karl with her mother Christina, Black Horse Racing, Crawford Farms Racing, and Bender Sweden. “He’s special. No matter what you do with him, he wants to please you, and he’s very smart. I think that is what sets him aside and makes him a little different. He’s smarter than a lot of horses I’ve been around.

“I think he knows he’s special. He just has that aura around him.”

Takter will send out seven other horses in the qualifiers, including Caviart Belle (Captaintreacherous-Eloquent Grace). She closed out her 2023 season with wins in the Three Diamonds and Kindergarten Classic Series final. She won a division of the Eternal Camnation in a stakes-record 1:50.1, erasing the mark of 1:50.2 established by Precocious Beauty in 2013, and earned $459,031 for the year.

Bythemissal (Downbytheseaside-Dismissal) won 11 of 16 races last season at age 4 and was named the sport’s best older male pacer by the U.S. Harness Writers Association. The Ron Burke trainee earned just shy of $1 million last year and has banked $2.15 million lifetime.

Allywag Hanover (Captaintreacherous-Anderosa Hanover), who was the Dan Patch Award winner for best older male pacer in 2021, counted the FanDuel Open Pace championship, Harrah’s Hoosier Park Pacing Derby, and a division of the Sam McKee Memorial among his wins last year. Trained by Brett Pelling, the 7-year-old has earned $2.25 million in his career.

Venerate, a Dan Patch Award winner at age 2, won the Cutler Memorial last year for trainer Marcus Melander. The 6-year-old son of Love You-Peaceful Kemp has $1.11 million in career purses.

Trainer Chris Ryder will send out seven horses Saturday, including Twin B Joe Fresh and Gem Quality.

Twin B Joe Fresh (Roll With Joe-Fresh Breeze) won 11 of 17 races last season, when she capped her campaign by becoming the first 3-year-old filly to defeat older female pacers in the FanDuel Mares Pace championship. Other victories for her included the Lynch Memorial, Matron, and Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series final. She has hit the board in 25 of 27 career starts, winning 19, and earned $1.44 million.

Gem Quality (Captain Crunch-Twinkle) also ended his 2023 on a high note, taking the Breeders Crown for 2-year-old male pacers in a track-record 1:50 at Hoosier Park. He earned $438,940 for the season.

Qualifiers begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at The Meadowlands. Visit the Big M website for program pages for the qualifiers.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA