Will MacLeish follow Chamberlain with Battle victory?

August 17, 2007

Sunday's revival of the $250,000 Battle of the Brandywine Pace at Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack brings back 30 years of memories of harness racing in the Delaware Valley, including a special moment for basketball star Wilt Chamberlain.

Chamberlain was a horse lover who purchased Rivaltime as a 2-year-old pacer in 1964. The colt took on world champion Bret Hanover in many races over the next two years and usually came out second best. When trainer-driver Frank Ervin decided that Bret Hanover would skip the 1965 Battle of the Brandywine, Rivaltime took full advantage and won the $33,800 race with George Sholty Sr. in the sulky.

Chamberlain enjoyed many happy nights at the Wilmington harness track, and Rivaltime finally put him in the winner's circle to collect a trophy.

In his book "A View From Above," the late great Philadelphia native wrote a lot about winning, a sensitive subject for him. Some basketball experts gave arch-rival Bill Russell more credit because his Boston Celtics teams won 11 championships to Chamberlain's two (the 76ers in 1967, the Lakers in 1972).

"Society is too quick to say that certain winners are great or even the best ever," Chamberlain wrote. "The best competitor does not always win. On any given day a miracle can happen. We've had a Kentucky Derby each year since 1875 and each year we've had a winner. Were they all great horses? No. It just means for that moment in time--about two minutes--that horse was the best. In horse racing, running times, the track condition, the gate position will be brought into the equation. Was it a four-horse field or a 12-horse field with a lot of bumping? Things that seem definitive and objective are not always so."

Chamberlain had a list of opinions longer than his legs, and expressed them all in "A View From Above." On his all-star team of multi-talented athletes, he picked jockey Willie Shoemaker as the point guard. (He always admired short people.)

This Sunday, another champion athlete will take a shot at the Battle of the Brandywine. Retired hockey player Rick MacLeish of the Philadelphia Flyers co-owns Big Business, a 3-year-old colt with 1:51 pacing potential. He will start from the No. 6 post in the second division with trainer-driver Ben Stafford in the bike.

MacLeish, 57, grew up in Cannington, Ont., and became a harness racing fan while developing his hockey skills. With the Stanley Cup champion Flyers of 1974 and 1975, MacLeish centered a versatile line with Gary Dornhoefer and Ross Lonsberry on the wings. MacLeish scored two hat tricks in the playoffs and tipped home the Cup-winning goal in 1974. The Flyers practice in Voorhees, N.J., where the Stafford family owned a farm and horse-training track for many years.

Big Business dominated the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes as a freshman last year and recently set his career mark of 1:51 4/5 at the Meadows, where he has won five races. Stafford rates the colt as more consistent but a step slower than Hennessy Hanover, who will race in the third division of this 31st Battle of the Brandywine at Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack.

Championships are scarce in Philadelphia, but Chamberlain and MacLeish are two athletes who sipped the champagne. Perhaps it's MacLeish's turn to win a Battle of the Brandywine. The race Sunday at Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack will be split into five divisions worth $50,000 each.

BATTLE NOTES: The stakes record of 1:53.4, set by Pershing Square in 1985, is guaranteed to fall Sunday. The Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack mark of 1:50.1 for 3-year-old pacers, held by Artistic Fella, also is in jeopardy. . .Herve Filion was the driving kingpin at Brandywine Raceway but captured only one "Battle," with Icarus Lobell in 1982. . .The only disqualification occurred in 1977 when BG's Bunny was taken down for interference and Canadian invader Nat Lobell earned the trophy for driver Jack Kopas. . .That same year, BG's Bunny won a Meadowlands Pace elimination heat but came up lame and was scratched from the final. . .Guts prevailed in a real "Battle" with On the Road Again in 1984. . .Some Brandywine Raceway publicity workers will enjoy a reunion Sunday at the new racetrack by the Delaware River. The five-eighths-mile oval includes a 220-yard bridge over a little section of the water. (Harrah's Chester)

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