Canadian trotter aims to go from green to envied in next week’s Hambletonian elims.

by Debbie Little

When Highland Kismet “missed the gate by three or four lengths,” according to Meadowlands track announcer Ken Warkentin, immediately questions were raised.

Highland Kismet was the 8-5 second choice in the second division of the Stanley Dancer Memorial on Saturday (July 13) at The Meadowlands, and although race favorite T C I (3-2) didn’t win, he did hit the board finishing third, while Highland Kismet was sixth in the seven-horse field with only Bargain, who broke at the start, finishing behind him.

As of Tuesday (July 16) afternoon, Highland Kismet’s trainer, Mark Etsell, had not yet had a long conversation with driver Bob McClure.

“The quick conversation the other night [after the race] was it was [McClure’s] fault, he wasn’t on the gate,” Etsell said. “So, when you spot them four and get beat three, that doesn’t help you, either.”

McClure told HRU Tuesday — before speaking to Etsell later that night when driving two of the trainer’s horses at Woodbine Mohawk Park — that ‘Kismet’ was not interested in putting his nose on the gate.

“He just didn’t want to go in between the two horses,” McClure said. “Next time, as long as he’s there a little earlier, I think he will be okay.”

According to McClure, he had not seen this behavior in Highland Kismet’s six previous outings.

“Well, he’s a green horse,” McClure said. “That was only his seventh lifetime start, so we’ve been pretty careful at the gate with him every week. But he’s never done this where he didn’t want to go in between two horses before.

“I was expecting him to go up in between two horses and right behind the car, but he’s afforded some immaturity. He’s got a real disadvantage when it comes to experience on the other ones.”

Both McClure and Etsell said the signs on the rail bothered Highland Kismet.

“There was a lot to look at, but mostly I think it was the combination of going up between the two horses,” McClure said. “There have been weeks where I brought him in late, but the horses beside him were coming in late, too. So, [in the Dancer] the horse inside me and the horse outside me went right on the gate. He just seemed like he wasn’t so sure about going right up in between them. But that’s an easy problem to fix, just have him there earlier.”

McClure said he wasn’t concerned at all about what Highland Kismet did at the gate, but after that was another story.

“I mean, he’s missed the gate before and beaten good horses, but it was more concerning about when I went to ask him to leave the gate and get position after that and I had to steady him through pretty well the whole mile,” McClure said. “And it’s unfortunate because I thought most horses hit The Meadowlands and because the surface is so immaculate there, their gait just improves.

“I had a suspicion that maybe because of the good track, he extended more but I don’t know, that’s more of a Mark Etsell job than mine. And he’s a specialist with trotters, so I’ll leave that in his hands to figure that out. But I just hope it’s something that can be rectified in two weeks because the horse I’ve been driving to this date was pretty well bomb proof. So, you know, when you’re going down there thinking you’ve got a legit Hambo horse and you gotta steady him the whole way, that’s pretty tough to take.”

Etsell said he did diagnostics and bloodwork on Highland Kismet when he got home to Canada and everything looked okay, but he planned to talk with McClure about how the horse handled the track and whether any changes need to be made.

“You gotta remember this horse only had six starts, seven starts now, in a lifetime, total,” Etsell said. “So, I mean, everything was a little overwhelming for him.”

The Dancer marked Highland Kismet’s first outing away from home.

“He’s very comfortable at Mohawk because that’s where he’s been every start, from the day we schooled him to his last race [prior to the Dancer],” Etsell said. “And Mohawk compared to The Meadowlands isn’t as flamboyant, flashy, with all the signs and the carnival effect that is there, especially the other night with the food trucks.”

Etsell said he was telling people that, compared to The Meadowlands, Woodbine Mohawk Park is rural.

“We’re basically in the country and everything is open; everything’s grass, trees, there’s no big fence,” Etsell said. “The Meadowlands has a big fence along the backstretch which is a little overwhelming for a green horse that hasn’t seen it before. So, I think he was a little taken aback by all that.”

It was the anticipation of just such a situation that made
Etsell want to get a race at The Meadowlands under
Highland Kismet’s belt before next week’s Hambletonian eliminations.

“Because it is a different surface, it’s a different atmosphere, I thought it would benefit us to do it and that’s what we did,” Etsell said. “And, hopefully, we learned enough that we’ll be better prepared for the Hambo elims… We’ll try and cross all our t’s and dot our i’s and be as prepared as we can.”

It was not a night for favorites in the two Dancer divisions as both Karl (1-9) and the aforementioned T C I both failed to find the winner’s circle.

“Regardless of how Karl or T C I or others had raced, after the way my horse raced in the Goodtimes, I wouldn’t have traded him for anybody,” McClure said. “And, given what I saw last week, I still wouldn’t. My horse trotted [1:51.4], but after the wire he went around everybody. He’s a powerhouse of a horse. He wants to do it.

“Even as bad as he was trotting, he still trotted [1:51.4]. So, I’m confident he can go [1]:50 over The Meadowlands; if he’s right, it wouldn’t shock me at all. And I think if he’s at his best, he can go right with anybody.”

For a little perspective, race winner Situationship went in 1:51.1 with a last quarter in :27.1, while Highland Kismet’s last quarter was :26.3.

Highland Kismet is looking to become just the eighth horse that did not race at 2 to win America’s Classic Trotting Race. Tagliabue is the last horse to do it in 1995 and the Dancer final (then raced as elims and a final not divisions) was also the seventh start of his career.

“The thing about this horse is no matter how the race sets up [it doesn’t matter],” said McClure, who won the 2019 Hambletonian with Forbidden Trade. “I’ve put him on the front and he jogs in [1]:51 and I’ve come back halves in :53 with him. So, there’s no way for them to get away from him.

“If they go slow fractions, they’re going to hear from him early. If they want to speed away from him, they’re going to hear from him late. There is no disadvantage to this horse when he’s right.”