Campbell drives Rock N Roll Heaven in NA Cup

June 21, 2010

Trainer Bruce Saunders told harnessracing.com Monday morning that John Campbell will drive Rock N Roll Heaven in the $1.5 million Pepsi North America Cup Saturday night at Mohawk Racetrack. The decision came after Rock N Roll Heaven�s regular driver, Daniel Dube, was injured in a race accident at the Meadowlands last Friday and is expected to be out of action six to eight weeks with back and hand injuries.

Saunders said he asked Campbell�who actually drove Rock N Roll Heaven his first three career starts last year as a 2 year old�if he could make the trip from New Jersey to Mohawk last Saturday for the NA Cup elims. Campbell was unable to make the journey so Saunders turned to Tim Tetrick, who directed the colt to a win in his elimination.

�I knew John (Campbell) didn�t have a classic colt to race either in the Cup or the Meadowlands Pace, so it is a good fit,� explained Saunders. �I spoke to John in the morning (last Saturday) to see if the logistics would fit but they wouldn�t. There was no way he could get there (for the NA Cup elims), plus he had a full compliment of drives at the Meadowlands he was committed to. So we went with Timmy, who we felt most comfortable with.�

Saunders said when Tetrick won with Rock N Roll Heaven that he would have kept the victorious duo intact for the rich final, but Tetrick remained committed to the Ray Schnittker-trained One More Laugh, who finished second in his NA Cup elim.

�Timmy had the opportunity to drive him in the final if he chose to, but I suspected he would stay with Ray�s colt since he�s been with him since day one,� said Saunders.

�We were anxious that if Danny was not going to drive then to get John Campbell back in the bike because John is familiar with the colt; he raced him his first two or three lines and loved the colt, he just had a commitment (to drive another horse),� added Saunders.

The most successful driver in NA Cup history with six victories, Campbell has missed just two finals since 1989, once coming in 1992 when his mount, Direct Flight, was scratched, and in 2003 when he was sidelined with an injury.

�He�s a great little horse. He�s got a tremendous turn of speed but it�s his attitude that impressed me the first time I sat behind him,� Campbell told harnessracing.com Monday morning about Rock N Roll Heaven, adding though that the downside of getting the drive is that �you don�t want to gain from someone else�s misfortunes.�

The post position draw for the NA Cup final will be held Tuesday afternoon. The connections of the three horses that won the eliminations--Rock N Roll Heaven, We Will See and All Speed Hanover--will be able to pick their posts.

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