Friday, Mar 02, 2012 Corbett: Horse Racing Will Be Fine

HarnessRacingUpdate.com • 3/2/12 PAGE 2 of 6
Put On A Show Ready To Do Just That?
By Bill Finley
Richard Young has been waiting for this moment for more
than 15 months, which was the last time his sensational
mare Put On A Show (Rocknroll Hanover) raced. She
returns tonight in the first leg of the Overbid Series at the
Meadowlands, which came up brutally tough for a mere
$40,000 race, and the mare’s co-owner says she will be
better than ever. Eventually, that it is.
“She’s suggesting
to us that
she’s going to
even better than
before,” Young
said. “She’s
sounder. When
she raced at
three, she was a
horse whose knee
Put On A Show...the champ is back
(New Image Media photo)
was deteriorating.
At times, she
would cross the
wire a little gimpy. The vet indicated to us that this was an
injury that was deteriorating over time and finally broke off.
The driver, Brian Sears, is telling us that she’s come back
straighter and sounder. She’s considerably bigger and she’s
shown flashes of speed just as she had before. So we’ve
got something bigger, stronger, sounder.”
Put On A Show wrapped up a Dan Patch Award when
capturing her Breeders Crown event in 2009 before ending
her season with a second place finish in the American
Nationals at Balmoral. But a knee problem had flared up to
the point where she needed surgery.
With Put On A Show having already accomplished so
much, most owners would have retired her at that point and
bred her. But Young, who owns the mare along with his wife
Joanne and Craig Henderson, has never been much for the
breeding business.
“I’ve never bred a horse in my life and to breed her would
have meant changing my whole philosophy,” he said. “I was
told by the vet that, once she had time to heal, she was
likely to come back as good or better than ever. I like to
race horses, this is a great horse and I like to watch her
race.”
Trainer Chris Ryder brought Put On A Show along patiently
and had her ready for qualifiers at the Meadowlands
last month. She won two straight qualifiers, setting her up
for Friday’s race.
But Young will go into it with modest expectations. He
understands that any horse–even Put On A Show–leaving
from the ten post after being off 15-plus months is up
against it.
“We don’t care too much about this first race,” he said.
“We all want to win, but she drew the ten post against a
really tough bunch. I can’t see the driver saying, ‘we have
a great horse here, we’ve been off 16 months, we’ll go
right to the front.’ And if he does I’ll shoot him. What do I
see? Parked the mile, out five wide top of the stretch, pass
a few horses and finish fourth. That won’t bother me. She
can fly. But we’ve got to get he race-ready, not qualifyready.”
Ryder agrees.
I'm really happy with her; it doesn't seem like she's lost
her edge at all,” he said. “I think the biggest obstacle now
is getting her seasoned, but she'll overcome that."
Young believes Put On A Show should be ready for her
best about the time the Overbid Final rolls around. After
that, he’ll consider racing her against males, another sign
of his confidence. He said that if she is successful over the
next several weeks he will consider the Graduate and the
Ben Franklin.
“I’m very serious about that,” he said. “But I’m not going
to do it if she can’t beat the other mares.”
With a career record of 19 for 25 and earnings of
$1,883,475, Put On A Show is the richest horse in the
race, but she’s far from the only quality mare in the field.
The Overbid will also mark the 2012 debut of 2011 Dan
Patch Award winner Anndrovette (Riverboat King), who is
also coming off two winning qualifiers at the Meadowlands.
Chancey Lady (Camluck), second in last year’s
Breeders Crown, is also making her seasonal debut, and
Ron Burke will take aim at first prize with the three-horse
entry of Rock N Soul (Rocknroll Hanover), Ginger And
Fred (Real Artist) and Rocklamation (Rocknroll Hanover).