CURRIER & IVES FINAL 090629

RACE 6 - The Meadows - PA - June 29, 2022 Conditions: *****CURRIER & IVES***** 3 YEAR OLD OPEN - FINAL Gait: Trot Purse: $119,679 Class: C&I3YOPEN; Distance: 1 mile Track Cond: FT Temp-Allow: 75-0 Off Time: 7:46 PM HN Horse Finish Actual LQ Odds Driver Trainer 3 Rembrandt Spur (Pegasus Spur - Marty E.) 1/3Q 1:54.3 29.1 3.90 Richard Stillings Richard Stillings 1 Triumphant Caviar (S.J.'s Caviar - Ens Tag Session) 2/3Q 1:55.1 28.4 *1.60 Dave Palone Christopher Beaver 5 Keystone Activator (S.J.'s Caviar - Armbro Blusher) 3/3T 1:55.2 29.2 1.80 Eric Ledford Jim Raymer 4 Magic Carpet Ride (Angus Hall - Meadowbranch Magic) 4/4H 1:55.2 29.1 5.00 David Miller Dewayne Minor 2 Knoxtrot Hall (Broadway Hall - Knox Trot) 5BE/5Q 1:55.3 29.0 32.70 Mike Wilder Linda Toscano 7 Salutation Hanover (Andover Hall - Swift Kathy) 6/8 1:56.1 30.4 13.60 Tony Hall Ronald Burke 6 Rompaway Beau (Chip Chip Hooray - Rompaway Stacey) 7/8 1:56.1 30.3 101.20 Don Harmon Don Harmon 8 Up Front Prayer (Like A Prayer - Banshee Hall) 8/9H 1:56.2 29.3 58.80 Brett Miller Jim Arledge Jr 1st Rembrandt Spur (3, G Pegasus Spur - Marty E - Armbro Iliad) Registered Owner(s)/Lessee(s): Roy Davis - FL Breeder(s): Gbw Breeding Farms Inc - OH 2nd Triumphant Caviar (3, H Sj`s Caviar - Ens Tag Session - Tagliabue) Registered Owner(s): Kerry Beaver - OH, James Gallagher - OH, Luc Ouellette - ON, Paul Bernard - PQ Breeder(s): Eliezer Solomon - MD 3rd Keystone Activator (3, H Sj`s Caviar - Armbro Blusher - Mr Lavec) Registered Owner(s): Trillium Racing Stable - PA, Tammie Raymer - PA Breeder(s): Keystone Farms LLC - PA

Rembrandt Spur and Stillings too strong

Rembrandt Spur made a decisive quarter-pole move to the front, then cruised on top to capture the $119,679 final of the Currier aznd Ives for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters Monday at The Meadows. Rembrandt Spur has done his best racing on the lead, so when he got away third behind early leader Rompaway Beau, trainer-driver Dick Stillings didn't sit in with him for long.

�The outside horse got to the front pretty easy, but I figured he�d probably want to follow one of the horses to beat,� said Stillings, whose only previous victory in a Currier & Ives final at The Meadows was in 1992 with Sirocco Spur. �He let me go, and we got a pretty easy half. That second quarter was really nice.�

Once Rembrandt Spur got the front half in 58, the gelded son of Pegasus Spur-Marty E kicked into high gear, easily thwarting the first-over bid of Salutation Hanover, who could provide only faltering cover for the would-be closers.

Although Rembrandt Spur faced no serious challenge, Stillings said he was obliged to keep after his charge..

�You have to chase him,� Stillings said. �I have ears on him and a hood, and I didn�t want to fall asleep going for $120,000.�

Rembrandt Spur scored in 1:54.3, two ticks off the stake record established by Vivid Photo in 2005 and the fastest mile this year by a sophomore gelding trotter on a 5/8-mile track. Triumphant Caviar was 3-1/4 lengths back in second, with Keystone Activator third.

Roy Davis owns Rembrandt Spur, who won for the sixth time in nine 2009 starts and seems to have overcome the foot problems that caused occasional beaks. Not so Stillings, who limped noticeably on a gimpy right ankle injured in a training accident about a month ago.

�I started working on my tendon now, and I�m starting to feel better,� Stillings said. �Before that I was getting worse and worse. But now I�m doctoring it myself. Doesn�t bother me when I drive, though. Just when I walk or fish.�

Evan PATTAK