Glidemaster wins Trot

In a tremendous display of heart and determination Glidemaster endured a first-over trip the last half mile of the race and captured the $728,930 Yonkers Trot in 1:55.4 to become the eighth horse in harness racing history to win trotting’s Triple Crown. Earlier this year the Yankee Glide colt captured the Hambletonian in 1:51.1 and the Kentucky Futurity in 1:51.3.

In his first career start over a half-mile track, Glidemaster got away third from post five (after Here Come Herbie broke in the first turn), while Algiers Hall and John Stark Jr. set the pace with Bob Hayden and Trond Smedshammer in the pocket. The quarter was passed in :29.2 and as Algiers Hall passed the half in :58.3 Brennan pulled Glidemaster to the outside. He easily passed Bob Hayden and came head to head with Algiers Hall at the 1:26.2 three quarters.

Through the last turn Algiers Hall refused to give an inch and entering the homestretch the two colts were still nose to nose. But late in drive to the wire Glidemaster once again showed the class that carried him to victory in the first two legs of the Triple Crown as he pulled ahead by more than a length at the wire. Ira K and Yannick Gingras were a distant third.

A $60,000 supplemental entry in the Yonkers Trot, Glidemaster is the second horse in two years to sweep the Triple Crown after Windsong’s Legacy ended a 32-year drought in the Triple Crown in 2004.

Trained by Blair Burgess and owned by his father, Bob, his wife, Karin, Marsha Cohen and breeder Brittany Farms, Glidemaster scored his eighth victory of the year in 15 starts to go together with seven second-place finishes. His share of the purse boosts his earnings for 2006 to $1,918,701 and $1,968,023 for his career.

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