Former Clunker, Pinkman Major Threat in Hambletonian

Jimmy Takter doesn’t buy too many duds at the yearling sales. But he thought he had done just that when gearing Pinkman up for the races last year. Simply put, the horse just wasn’t any good.

“He was a very ordinary horse training down,” Takter said. “We paid $77,000 for him. Perry (Soderberg), who helps buy my horses, saw him in the field and he loved him. But he looked like a real clunker when he trained down. He just didn’t pay attention. It wasn’t like he was mean or something, but he was very laid back. He’s still very laid back, but now, he goes.”

Takter’s babies usually dominate the qualifiers at the Meadowlands, but not Pinkman. He was second in his first, going in 2:01.2. Still in qualifiers, he next finished sixth, sixth and third. At last, Takter tried a pari-mutuel race and Pinkman could do no better than second in a $2,100 non-winners of one-pari-mutuel at the Red Mile.