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8 1 On the Trot II — By MORRIE KURLANSKY 1 Harmening Successful Horseman Has Own Ideas on Warming-Up £ Miss Pemberton Heads Adams Unit ►* MAYWOOD PARK, Maywood, 111., May 6. — While training and racing harness horses seems to be conductive to longevity, C. F. Rumley, Grand ma Burright, Everett Osborn, Glenn Hawkins are just a few examples for this conten-t i o n, the younger generation of late is rapidly gaining ground on the oldtimers. One 6f the more capable young trainers and drivers at Maywood Park is the 32 -year-old Iowan, Mel Harmening. +£ Mel, whose parents lived near the Fair-*t grounds at his hometown, Waverly, took a . liking to horses in his early youth and after he left school entered the services of trainer John McMillen, who trained ■5 standardbreds at Eldon, Iowa. In 1947 he was ready to open his own public stable and started out with seven trotters and pacers to conquer the midwestern fair circuit and the Chicagoland pari-mutuel tracks. Success did not come easy and it was not before the fast trotter, John Dee by Prudential was given in his care, that Mel gained recognition as an able trainer and sulky pilot. With the Benson, Minn.-owned trotter Mel set something of a record when the Prudential gelding won no less than 22 dashes out of his 32 starts in 1950. At present Md races four horses, First GaUon, Court Senator, Court Call and • My Cash, which belong to three different owners, at Maywood Park, and has been to the winners circle with Court Senator, a useful sort of a pacer. He wintered as in former years at Macon, Ga. In contrast to many of the older trainers, Mel does not believe for instance in over-extending the warming up of his charges immediately before their races. People, who are not too familiar with harness racing often wonder why trotters and pacers are given such an amount of "work" on the evening of a race. Mel explains that while a standard-bred, contrary to a thoroughbred, actually needs much more work and the extent of the "limbering-up" period immediately before a race is often overdone. If one of his horses is entered, lets say in the fifth race, he brings him out on the track at 7 oclock for a mile spin in about 2:25, returns to the barn, and comes back an hour later for another mile in about 2:20. With this two miles he has his horse keyed up, any stiffness is removed from the muscles and blood stimulated to allow proper breathing needed for the all-out effort. The main reason for these pre-race blow-outs is the fact that the standardbred, if not exactly a coldblooded horse, is not as high strung as a thoroughbred. It, therefore, takes more physical exertion to bring his nervous system up to that high pitch which effects a speedier blood circulation. Maywood Park trotting ranks received a welcome addition in the three-horse stable of Stanley Adams, Fort Wayne, Ind. All horses have raced at the River Road oval before, especially the class A trotter, Miss Pemberton, seems to have a definite liking for this half-mile track. Now eight years old, the Blackstone mare had her most successful season in 1952, when she won 13 races and earned 0,427. Making her seasonal bow at Maywood Park last year, she not only won at first asking but made it three in a row. When shipped to Paines-ville, Ohio, Miss Pemberton gave a demonstration of superior speed at that half-miler, annexing both heats in excellent times, namely 2:05 and 2:06, which is about as fast as average trotters travel on an abbreviated oval. Although almost exclusively raced at night tracks, Miss Pemberton proved her great, capabilities when sent against the rail at Lexington, Ky. She came out of that time trial with a new personal record of 2:02. Miss Pemberton closed her 1952 campaign at the newly opened Grandview oval near Cleveland, Ohio, where she won four races in succession. Her stablemate, Wyn Eric, a nine-year-old mare by Calumet Eric, while not quite as fast as the stables top earner, nevertheless was a more than useful race horse last season, winning seven races for earnings of ,577. Wyn Eric at present belongs to class B, where she should be a stout contender. The third and youngest member of the stable is the four-year-old gelding, Pirellas Jerry by Jerry M., who made only three starts last year for one victory and two thirds. He is still a class 30 trotter. All three horses are trained and driven by owner Stanley Adams. A question the average patron of harness racing asks is whether the weight of a driver is a factor. Well, although no authoritative slide-rule answer is available, horsemen do not consider weight as a factor. As a matter of fact, the upward angle of the shafts of the sulky is such that the weight is behind the axle or hubs of the wheels and the weight actually lifts the ends of the shafts upward. . .Do you know that harness horses save ground by staying in line. The distance a horse travels from the rail is as follows: Five feet from rail — 62 feet over a mile, 10 feet, 126 feet 6 inches over a mile, 15 feet, 188 feet, 4 inches over a mile; 20 feet, 251 feet 2 inches over a mile; 25 feet, 314 feet over a mile. In other words, the shortest way home is to hug the rail until ready to make the drive for the wire. With Gay Order moving into the top pacing bracket, Maywood now may be in a position to bring: together a field of sidewheelers that can produce a mile faster than the current top effort of 2:071/f,. Race secretary Ted Leonard can book a race that could bring: together Gay Order, victor in 2: 01 V5 his last outing; Dale Wingay, who has won two straight in miles of 2:07% and 2:08%; True Jay, the Melrose Park favorite also carrying a string of two in a row in 2:08% and 2:0945; Jimmy Peter, beaten by Gay Order after a head -to -head duel with Caramac most of the mile; Gene Hayes, who toured the North Avenue oval last fall in 2:04, and Miss Shine-A-Mite, a recent winner in 2:09. Should entries for these horses be dropped in the box, area sulky enthusiasts may be treated to the best and fastest pacing match of the young season. Pick the winner! J I
