Lather Machine has Tetrick

Lather Machine may have what it takes to defeat even-money favorite JK CU Later in the $70,000 Exit 16W on Saturday at the Meadowlands: red-hot driver Tim Tetrick.

Rated at 4-1 on the morning line, Lather Machine and Tetrick will start from post seven as they try to snap JK CU Later’s seven-race winning streak. Trained by Robert Clark, four-year-old Lather Machine sports a career slate of 12 wins in 23 starts and has finished off the board only three times. Tetrick, 25, is currently the leading dash-winning driver in North America with 158 wins and $1.5 million in earnings. He leads the colony at Dover Downs, where he recently had a five-winner night, and will steer six horses on the Saturday card at the Meadowlands.

“In the Exit 16W Final, my horse has the option of leaving or taking back,” said Delaware-based trainer Robert Clark. “Tim Tetrick has the green light to do what he wants; he came in here to drive in a stakes race for me. Tony Morgan (veteran reinsman and Tetrick’s chief rival at Dover) said this kid was up-and-coming about a year ago in an article. Tim has impressed me. He set a world record at Dover Downs on Tuesday of 1:50 with Poppy Luster N.”

Lather Machine made his Meadowlands debut in the first round of the Exit 16W and rallied from far back to finish second. In last week’s second leg, he popped out of the pocket to win by a neck over Western Shore in 1:51.3.

“The first week of the Exit 16W series, he really didn’t have a chance,” Clark said. “He hadn’t raced in 10 days and I tried to get him as tight as I could. I didn’t want him to leave from post 10 and get roughed up. I told Tim I’d rather race him from off the pace and see what we could gather up late. Devilfish made a break right in front of us when Timmy was getting ready to go. He ducked back inside and didn’t have a clear shot.”

Gary and Barbara Iles of Harrington, Delaware, bred and owns Lather Machine. The son of Badlands Hanover is out of the prolific In The Pocket mare Pocket Comb. Clark and the Iles have made money with all five of the mare’s offspring: Scissor Magic, $120,258; Love That Cut, $257,788; Hot Lather, $122,454; Lather Machine, $170,723; and Lockes Of Love, $14,960.

“I raced Pocket Comb’s full brother, Crew Cut Zach [1:51.2, $1,006,055],” Clark noted. “I’ve had the Iles’ horses for 10 or 12 years. Gary bred all of them. He does all of the bloodlines. It took him a while to get that line going. I finished second to Sanabelle Island a couple of times with Pocket Comb. She always had some lameness issues, but she’s kicking out nothing but winners now.”

Lather Machine was a late bloomer at two and made just five starts before being turned out to the paddock.

“He won a leg of the sire stakes (at Harrington) and set a track record (1:55.4 on October 5, 2005),” Clark said. “He had some traffic issues and then a sick scratch before getting roughed up in the final. I won it with my other horse anyway (Quick Trim).

“We turned him out after his two-year-old season, gave him some time off,” Clark continued. “He won the $100,000 Delaware Sires Final [April 13, 2006 at Dover] and I kept him off the half-mile track. He went on to set a track record of 1:50.1 at Chester Downs winning the Battling Brad Series Final (December 10, 2006). He’s a good, honest horse who wins a lot and we’ve just picked our spots with him. At Dover Downs, we buried Fake Denario (on January 8, 2007) before he beat us twice, but we weren’t on our game.”

A third generation horseman, Clark has 20 horses stabled on his farm in Milford, Delaware.

“My father was a presiding judge for about 15 to 20 years down here (in Delaware), so I couldn’t race much here at the time because they wouldn’t allow it,” he explained. “I would go to Pocono Downs, Liberty Bell, Rosecroft and Freehold. It was okay with me because they weren’t going for much money in Delaware back then until the slots arrived.

“I usually have five or six babies a year and I’ve been lucky enough to do well with them,” he continued. “I might have a couple of two year olds at the Meadowlands this year, but I enjoy being a big fish in a smaller pond.”

The fourth race on Saturday night at the Meadowlands, the $70,000 Exit 16W shares the spotlight with the $74,000 Aquarius and $90,400 Junior Trendsetter finals. The evening also features drawings for luxury suite tickets to New Jersey Devils and Nets games. Post time is 7:30 p.m. (Meadowlands)

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