Nebupanezzar returns with a bang

Trainer Bob McIntosh told harnessracing.com that he may have had a restless night prior to the return of 2008 O’Brien Award winner Nebupanezzar in a qualifier, but he was thrilled with the 1:52.4 winning performance by the 4-year-old son of No Pan Intended at Windsor Raceway on Wednesday morning.

 

The richest freshman pacer of 2008 with $946,365 in earnings, Nebupanezzar did not make a pari-mutuel start last year as a result of a tendon injury. The tendon tear required surgery in August which was performed by Dr. Larry Bramlage at the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky.

 

“Larry is one of the greatest surgeons there is in the world and I am lucky enough that he can work on my horses. I can’t give him enough credit for this,” said McIntosh. “We really took extra time with the horse; it was a long process getting him back because I was very conservative.”

 

McIntosh may have admitted he was nervous going into Wednesday’s qualifier, but his emotions turned to ecstasy after Ron Henderson drove the gelding to the 19-length romp, setting fractions of :29, :57.3 and 1:25.2 before closing out the mile with a final quarter of :27.2.

 

“I had a restless night’s sleep last night because it’s been a long process getting this horse back,” McIntosh said of Nebupanezzar, who won 10 of 14 starts as a 2 year old including the $647,800 Governor’s Cup and $246,000 Ontario Sire Stakes Super final at Woodbine. “He has trained back great and I am very happy with him. He kicked home real strong on the end of the qualifier. My main question to Ron (Henderson) after was how the horse was to the wire, and Ron said he was great. And that’s what I wanted to hear.”

 

McIntosh said he had trained Nebupanezzar on his track at his farm in Windsor, Ont., in 1:54, so he wasn’t surprised to see a 1:52.4 clocking on Wednesday morning. He said he plans on starting Nebupanezzar in a second qualifier at Mohawk Racetrack, before embarking on a pari-mutuel schedule that could bring the Bob Glazer-owned pacer to Hazel Park Raceway for his debut.

 

“The right way to do it would be to go to Hazel Park and then Toronto, but we’ll see,” said McIntosh. “We’ll evaluate after the second qualifier, but it looks like he’s going to have to jump right in with the gorillas.”