Teague ready for Jersey

Trainer George Teague has a one-two punch in the stakes for New Jersey-sired three-year-olds on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. He will harness Western Ace in the $500,000 Anthony Abbatiello/SBOA New Jersey Classic, the sixth race, and Future Destiny in the $175,000 Thomas D’Altrui Miss New Jersey, the third race. “I’m pretty confident in both of them,” said Teague, who exploded into the national limelight with 2004 Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue.

Western Ace comes off a stellar 2-year-old campaign in which he posted 11 wins, two seconds and one third from 14 starts for earnings of $709,743. He added another $2,000 last week, finishing fourth in the $25,000 prep race for the New Jersey Classic.

“I’m glad Ronnie [driver Ron Pierce] didn’t rush him out of the gate,” Teague said of the prep race. “I’m sure he’ll race him differently this week. It might have cost him the race, but we didn’t want him butchered. He raced longer than most at two. He grew a little bit in height and he put on muscle. He’s competitive with the top level of colts.”

It is always a challenge to bring a youngster back from a hard freshman campaign for his 3-year-old season, but Teague believes Western Ace can make the transition.

“Statistically, they don’t usually come back as well,” he acknowledged. “But I think this is the rare horse that can do it.”

A $20,000 yearling purchase at the Harrisburg sale, Western Ace is by Western Ideal out of the mare Alice Alice. Teague and his sister, Brenda, who are from Houston, Del., own the colt in partnership with the Kovach Stables LLC [Jan and Jerry Kovach] of Milford, Del.

At two, his stakes victories included the $240,675 Matron at Dover Downs, the $113,300 Bluegrass at the Red Mile, the $160,000 Babic at Freehold and a quartet of Meadowlands features--the $375,000 Woodrow Wilson, the $175,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Final, the $67,450 Niatross and the $56,854 Goshen Cup. His third-place finish in the $575,400 Breeders Crown in November at the Meadowlands probably cost him divisional honors to Jereme’s Jet.

Teague, 42, has two decades of hard work on his racing resume, but it was not until Rainbow Blue’s phenomenal career with wins in 30 of 32 starts and earnings of $1.4 million that he found himself in the spotlight.

In 2004, his stable earned $1.6 million, four times more than he had ever recorded in a year. Last year the Teague stable sent out 74 winners for $1.4 million in purses.

“We all dream of that happening--a horse like Rainbow Blue,” said Teague by phone during a rare break between races at Delaware’s Harrington Raceway. “We all hope for a chance for a few more horses and owners. We hope for an opportunity. I don’t take it for granted. Five years ago I didn’t have the financial backing. That’s not as hard to come up for me now. We work hard, and we still have the same plan * to make a profit with them. Buying yearlings, you have six to eight months of hoping that they can be competitive.”

Teague helps the odds by buying modestly priced yearlings. Of his top 2 year olds of 2005, Western Ace cost $20,000, Total Truth $18,000 [who earned $102,825 and finished first or second in six of seven starts last year] and Future Destiny was $10,000.

“When I was training them last winter, I’d get off one and the next one would be even better and I’d say I can’t be this damn lucky,” he mused. “But when they raced, they reconfirmed what I was thinking. They’re all pretty much overachievers.”

Future Destiny did not race at two but the daughter of Artiscape * Future Millbank has five wins, two seconds and a third in eight starts this year, banking $119,672. She won the $64,000 Tender Loving Care Final on February 24 and the $70,790 Blossom Final on April 19, both at the Meadowlands, and was second in the $76,262 Helen Dancer on May 5 at Freehold. She won the Miss New Jersey Prep last Friday by a nose in 1:52 flat. Pierce was in the sulky.

In early April the Teagues and their partners on Future Destiny, K&R Racing LLC [Kevin and Ronald Fry], allowed retired Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet [Double Down Stables of Colts Neck, N.J.] and former heavyweight champion George Foreman of Huffman, Texas, to buy shares of the filly.

“Wayne lives nearby so I suspect he’ll be there on Saturday,” said Teague. “I’ll have to call George [Foreman] this week and find out if he can make it.”

Teague’s stable is down to around 50 horses now, having started the year with 70. He has a small staff working 12-hour days to keep the operation humming. Teague himself is often handling even the most mundane chores.

“We all have to share the workload,” he noted. “You have to be dedicated. And even when I’m not at the barn, I’m scouting and recruiting. That’s part of my success. I look at a lot of races. I remembered watching Western Ace’s mom race so that is why we bought him.”

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