A truly exciting race to watch/wager on, when Paul made that daring move you could see Ron quickly get into position for what was the winning move, the best drivers have built in clocks in their heads and he had to know that half-mile move was going to take a little something out of the Beach. Sam McKee, what can you say, epic race call as well, miss you Sam!
cabaret When a standardbred wins in 1:47 it's no joke...Art official just felt great that night...And he ran the biggest race of his life...And he showed alot of heart getting up by a head.. To slay the dragon!!!! Not taking anything away from SBSW...He's my favorite horse..But thats what makes this sport so great even giants can fall....
masterfull steer by pierce!!! if he lets bullvillepowerfull clear.. The beach then clears and runs off in the strech...but pierce only let the beach in front of him..was a gamble that payed off in spades.....XXXXXelent drive The best race i have ever seen
A truly stunning upset with stunning fractions. SBSW had a brutal trip. Any horse with a trip like that with those fractions would have faded heading into the stretch. If Macdonell was a bit more patient this horse would have had a perfect record. Oh well, still pretty good for Canada. lol
he wasn't lucky. He rebroke Art Official when he saw The Beach go 3 wide. He was ready to settle but he made a split second brilliant move when he went 3 wide.
It was a heartbreaking loss and maybe Paul should have taken the hole when it was there , but that's horse racing and Art Official deserves credit for a great victory,still, the Beach is the greatest horse of the last few decades for sure!
The bottom line is it was a freak, freak night for Art Official. How could Mac have known Art Official would race 4/5ths of a second faster THAN ANY OTHER 3YO STANDARDBRED PACER IN HISTORY up to that point?! One second faster than any 3YO in M1 History. There are many, many times drivers make mistakes. This wasn't one of those times.
redbowtiej i just noticed your name there was a horse out of pompano beach named red bow tie who went on to be great. He broke a record on a 5/8ths track sometime around 2000 n i was there that night. It was a moment in my yoing life ill never for get. He had a full sister i forget her name though she wasnt as good
Hind Site is always 20:20 Paul's responsibility as a driver to the horse, the betting public and the sport of harness racing is to position the horse in a best position to win... at the 3/8 he's following a 14-1 and an 11-1.. Paul is 1/9 He drove him like he was tons the best.. an inspirational performance by the Art Official, SBSW, RP, PM and Sam Mckee.. gives me goose bumps and a tear to my eye.. I think Gingras is responsible for SBSW getting beat.. Parked to half with an 11/1 in 51.4??????? Get out of the way.. follow a helmet.... I guess thats why its horse racing got to love it
Hard to Blame MD for this...He knew he couldn't sit behind a parked horse and set SBSW to the top. Give Art Official his props, he went 51 and a piece and still rallied after losing the lead. Really, only Ronnie Pierce and those amazing hands could have pulled this off. Art Official ran the race of his life and really was never the same after this monstrous effort, while the Beach never lost again. It was just the greatest race in harness history. It was epic!
That drive was perfect. Art official had the position on him. The opening 1/8th mile was blistering and the beach just had to work to hard to make front. That's horse racing. Horse's don't loose,they just get beat.
Amazing race...may never see anything like it again...Art Official deserves all the credit in the world...went a monster mile...but SBSW is in a class that Art official can onlly dream about...and as disappointing as it was that the Beach wasnt at the Jug...ive been at it 3 years running now and this was the year we thought we would witness history and as much as i dont like Macgath i give him credit to sticking to his game plan...the Jug was never on his plan...to sat he was dodging AO is bull
The Beach out to the half in 51...deserved to win. Was tought to see him get beat as hes 10x the best. Nobody lost any respect for him tho, his record speaks for itself:-)
Driver Ron Pierce drive is timed prefect very, very skill full and must say thanks Ron for the many good drives and tickets I cashed when my haddicapping tells me you got horse .
I think great drive by pierce Its always easy to look back and say should a coulda wooda. But at the end of the day sbsw went a huge trip. And I don't know another horse in history that can put up fractions like that and still close. W
and why did he have to go 3wide? Because pierce wasnt giving up the lead to bullvillepowerfull...Pierce wanted the pocket and he made sure he got it...Im sure he didn't it was gonna that blistering of a pace though
wow,what critics. i thought it was the best harness race i have ever seen.1 minute 19 seconds,and they both kept going.how come they didnt beat the beach in the breeders crown? it was a choo choo train around the track.pierce cooked the beach here.what a drive!
Mc lost the race for the beach, best horse in the race... swap the drivers and the beach would have won by 2 lengths. I know everyone messes up sometimes but that was a BAD ONE. Surprised he was back on next time out, if he was from a big barn dont think he would have been. Slick drive Roonie, hes the man for the big races as he did with Well Said who is the 2nd best 3yr old I have seen. (I missed Niatross)
Anybody who thinks a driver like Dexter Dunn would have been caught 3 wide under encouragement in 25.4 doesn't know anything about racing. Ron pierce driving clinic here. Period.
By far the poorest drive you could have parked 3 wide at the half?? I still to this day wonder why .. 21-1-0 is his record.. should have never lost this race.. my all time favorite harness race horse..
O'Reilly North / Even the best drivers aren't perfect,Paul MacDonnell has quite an illustrious career & can't hold that against him,I must say Ron Pierce took advantage of the 3 wide move& with Bullville Powerful sandwiched between Ron Pierce & MacDonnell,made the journey extra tough for the Beach. Koodos to Ron Pierce on an awesome drive
Your right Mac drove him like he couldnt get beat but he did but that is still the best effort ever put forth by a racehorse period.......Come on Art Official had one race and that was it.The big knee boot wearin son of a bitch.Ron Pierce is the only reason he beat the Beach . Goodnight Irene!!!!!
Yes I think pm should have sat back a little longer yes I think he pulled the plugs early but at the end of the day we all say RP or B sears or who ever should have drove this horse. When was it that u evr seen one of those guys take a horse against that kind of comp. and go 20 for 21. Don't try and say the did not drive great horses against great horses they still loose
tough trip.....greastest ive seen ..mr big niatross..jeremys jet...nobody is as great as that horse..wish i couldve seen him in deleware..see you all 4th thurs after labor day in o h i oooooo
If anyone ever wonders why a lot of harness drivers are just plain mediocre, just look at the comments in here. This is the same inside the box jackass thinking that reigns supreme in most driving colonies. When you have the best horse in the world, you don't try to find fancy ways get things done. When you have the best, you drive the horse like it's the best, period. Pauly Mac had supreme confidence in his horse and drove SBSW exactly how he should have been driven.
