Page 86 - The Rankin Family and Harness Racing

ISSUE : Issue 45

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1987/6/1

he had the big-league swing, so to speak. He's good-gaited; he reaches out good and far with his feet and he doesn't interfere with himself. He has a perfect stride. Which is what you need if you're going to go fast. But he never really ran away or anything with explosive speed. But what I like a- bout him: say he won his first or second race in 2.17 (2 minutes, 17 seconds). Well the next time out, he went right to 2.11-- he dropped 6 seconds off. And sitting be? hind him, you wouldn't notice that 6-sec- ond drop. He went in 2.11 as easy as he went in 2.17. The question is, can he drop another 7 seconds that easily. (Actually, your relationship to this horse goes back to before it was born. How did you get Donmar Rain?) Dad had acquired this mare--he had bought her as a year- ling--a mare called Shady Dale Deb. And she is out of a really good family. Her brothers and sisters all were really good-- they'd go in 2 minutes, or 1.59, And she was a nice race mare. She raced free- legged, which is an asset to any horse, to be able to maintain their gait without any hobbles. So that's a good sign. But she never went really fast. She went in 2.09, I guess, which was back 15 years ago or so--which was a respectable mile at the time, but (not by) today's standards. But in that period of 15 years, her sis? ters who were good had retired from racing and were having foals. And they turned out to be really good. Her sisters have pro? duced champions. So you knew there was pro? duction in that line. The first couple of colts we had off Shady Dale Deb, we had kind of bad luck. The first one, she trained down like a champi? on but she got in an accident, training. The horse in front of her fell down, and she got caught up in the wheels and crip? pled herself. So you thought she was good, but she hadn't raced. As a matter of fact, we retained her for a brood mare, too-- she's got a colt, now, that's training and looks pretty good. And Shady Dale Deb had L J Super Chief, who looked really good at the start. He was free-legged too, the same as his moth? er. He was second as a 2-year-old in Prince Edward Island, in 2.02, which is an exceptional mile in the Maritimes for a 2- Serving Industrial Cape Breton and North Victoria Real Estate & Insurance ' "If you're thinking of selling your home, give us a call." R. Hickey &Cto.; P.O. Box 96, B2A "North Sydney 3M1 Gerald Brennan, Mgr. Residence: 794-4564 "And remember: No sale, no charge." 794-3119 N ARDOCCHIO GeDDES AUTO SALES HYunDni 3rd Anniversary Our sincere thanks to our many friends and customers who made this day possible. May 14, 1984: We opened our doors. Very few had heard of our car. Very few could pronounce its name. Three years later we opened our new spacious showroom, and we continue to be the leader in import car sales. If you are not yet a Hyundai owner, we look forward to introducing you to the best buy in Canada. ''??H

Cape Breton's Magazine