Nimble Ned finds his niche at Northfield

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word nimble as “quick and light in motion, marked by a quick, alert, clever conception, comprehension, or resourcefulness.”

That name certainly applies to the harness racing pacer Nimble Ned (Tellitlikeitis), albeit, with a bit of a twist. Now a three-time winner at Northfield Park for trainer Larry Clabaugh, Nimble Ned is quite quirky when it comes to the starting gate.

“This horse is petrified of the starting gate for some reason,” Clabaugh admitted. “Kurt (driver Sugg) has to time the gate just right to get him going, and it definitely puts him at a little bit of a disadvantage in that he can’t leave and get an good early spot. The horse just hangs and won’t go near it.”

Despite that, Nimble Ned has won three in a row, residing at the “Home of the Flying Turns,” along with 14 stablemates conditioned by the 62-year-old Clabaugh. Indiana-based owners Therl Hensley and Gerald Miller purchased the pacer for $6,000 in mid-December and sent him to Clabaugh.

“They thought he fit the class up here at Northfield, and that they’d be able to make some money with him,” Clabaugh said. “He has an old injury, a slight bowed tendon, the kind you really don’t see that often anymore, but it’s set up and tight and doesn’t seem to bother him.”

Nimble Ned was bred by Legacy Acres of Topeka, IN and began his foray into racing with trainer Mike Hollenback, racing twice at age 2 and scoring a win in his first lifetime start at Conover, where he paced to a winning 2:02.4h.

As a 3-year-old he won his second start of the year on April 5, in a $6,500 Hoosier Park overnight, in a seasonal and career best of 1:56.f with Jordan Ross. He won a pair of $3,800 Indiana Sired Fair Circuit Stakes—on June 2 at Converse in 1:58.2, and again on June 16 at Corydon in 2:06.2, both times being steered by Robert Taylor. The bay gelding spent most of the summer racing over the Indiana County Fair ovals.

After a July 19, fifth place finish in a Hoosier overnight, Nimble Ned did not go postward again until Dec. 2, when he won a Hoosier qualifier in a front-stepping performance with Taylor at the controls, timed in 1:58.4. But he followed that up with a disappointing 11^th place finish in a $5,500 claimer at Hoosier and was sold to Hensley and Miller.

On Dec. 27, he made his debut for his new owners, and with Sugg at the lines, came from behind to win at $15,000 claimer at Northfield Park in 1:57, his nearest competitor 3¼ lengths back. That was his last start of 2023, and pushed his seasonal earnings to $14,366, from four wins and a third in 15 starts.  The now 4-year-old then began 2024 with a front-stepping performance on Jan. 3 in 1:57.2, this time winning by 1½ lengths for Sugg, and followed that up with a 1:58.4 gritty triumph on Jan 10 in 1:58.4, coming first up as the public’s choice to prevail by half a length over a track listed as “good.”  He’s now two for two in 2024, and already has $7,500 in his seasonal coffers.

“He can handle these horses and fits the class really well,” Clabaugh acknowledged. “I’d like to get him over his fear of the gate, but he may never get used to it. Otherwise, he’s a nice, medium-sized little horse; he jogs nice and easy and is good to work around in the barn.”

Clabaugh, who has a farm in nearby Medina, Ohio, has been training horses since 1991, and to date has conditioned 1,144 winners to $4,813,065 in earnings. In 2023 his charges earned $194,748 from 17 wins, 23 seconds, and 27 thirds in 281 starts. His best year came in 2012, when he harnessed 149 winners to $440,155 in seasonal earnings.

Nimble Ned is the third foal out of the Rocknroll Hanover p, 3, 1:48.3 ($2,754,03) mare Ultimatum p, 4, 2:00.3h ($5,693), and the first by Tellitlikeitis p, 3, 1:48.4s ($490,695). He has a full sister in Ultimate Teller, now 3, who made five starts in 2023 as a freshman.

Nimble Ned’s dam, Ultimatum, is out of the Dragon’s Lair p, 5, 1:51.3Q ($1,085,317) mare Dragon So p, 5, 1:51s ($510,165) and is a half-sister to Can’t Slay Me (by Artsplace) p, 4, 1:52.2 ($232,169); Mythical (Artsplace) p, 3, 1:53 ($129,053); and to Smell That Rock (Pet Rock) p, 5, 1:55.1f ($62,422).

by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink