Higher And Higher Recovers to Win Round Two of Overbid

Higher And Higher rebounded after two losing efforts to upset in the second leg of the Overbid. Tea Party Princess was second, Put On A Show was third and Rocklamation finished fourth.

Put On A Show left for the lead, with Chancey Lady in second and Ginger And Fred sat third. Put On A Show went by the quarter in :27.2. Tea Party Princess came first over from fifth at the three-eighths and cleared the front before the half. Put On A Show sat second and Chancey Lady came first over. Tea Party Princess lead at the half in :56.4 (:29.2).

Into the far turn, Chancey Lady challenged Tea Party Princess. Put On A Show was getting a pocket trip in third and Rocklamation was second over in fourth. Tea Party Princess controlled at three-quarters in 1:25.3 (:28.4).

Higher And Higher winning in 1:52.1

Tea Party Princess was losing momentum at the top of the stretch. Rocklamation fanned three wide and Royal Cee Cee N and Anndrovette were closing from the back with Higher And Higher. Put On A Show was riding the pylons to get past the leader. Heading down to the wire, it was a six horse lunge to the wire, but Higher And Higher shot like a cannon in the final sixteenth. She won by about 2 lengths at the wire. Tea Party Princess finished second, Put On A Show was third and Rocklamation finished fourth.

Higher And Higher is a five-year-old mare by Western Terror out of the mare Pro Bowl Best by Cambest. She is owned by Daryl Bier, Glenn Del Russo and Charles Dombeck and was trained and driven by Daryl Bier.

Rocklamation Shocks in Opening Leg of the Overbid

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ— Rocklamation defeated the top free for all mares in the $40,000 opening leg of the Overbid series. Tea Party Princess finished second and Anndrovette finished third.

Symphony In Motion, Rock N Soul, Ginger And Fred and Tea Party Princess all left for the top. Tea Party Princess came first over to clear the front at the quarter in :28.3. She drew off by about 3 lengths down the backstretch. Ginger And Fred came first over and cleared the front approaching the half mile. Back in second came Rock N Soul first over, supplying cover to Higher And Higher. The Cape And Cutter champion Symphony In Motion was pulling up at the half in :56.4 (:28.1).

Into the far turn, Ginger And Fred still had the lead and Tea Party Princess was in second. Rock N Soul was hanging in third and Rocklamation started her late bid. Coming to three-quarters, Ginger And Fred was starting to lose her momentum. Three-quarters went in 1:23.4 (:27).

Down the stretch, Ginger And Fred faded from the wind and Tea Party Princess circled out two wide. Anndrovette came rolling up the pylons late and Rocklamation came off cover. It was a war between Anndrovette, Rocklamation and Tea Party Princess. At the line, Rocklamation got her nose in front. Tea Party Princess nipped Anndrovette for second and Ginger And Fred was a game fourth.

Rocklamation is a four-year-old mare by Rocknroll Hanover out of the mare Art Sale by Artsplace. She is owned by Our Horse Cents Stables, 45 Stable and Jerry Silva, trained by Ron Burke and Yannick Gingras was in the bike. She rebounded from a four month layoff to win the opening leg of the Overbid in 1:52.3.

The Presence of a Blossoming Superstar: Charlie De Vie

Chris Ryder & Tim Tetrick with Charlie De Vie

The Hambletonian was not in the thoughts of Chris Ryder until Charlie De Vie came into the picture. Charlie De Vie has a record of seven wins in 12 starts with earnings of $231,947. In this exclusive, I talked to Chris Ryder at the Harrisburg Sale about Charlie De Vie. I also got to talk to him about Put On A Show.

When Ryder and I went to the table and I asked him about Charlie De Vie, he told me it is a story. “He came down with EPM (Equine Protozoal Encephalytis)” Chris Ryder said. For those of you who don’t know, EPM is a condition that affects the brain of a horse and what it controls. It mostly affects his muscle control.

“He always broke from EPM,” Ryder said. Note that Chris did not know at this time Charlie De Vie had EPM.

Charlie De Vie in one of his biggest romps

“I pulled his hind shoes in the Hambletonian elimination and it didn’t work. I put hopples on him and he won three straight. He went and won in the Colonial at Chester, the $200,000 one. He went and won at Tioga, in the Zweig, in 1:53.2 and Broad Bahn went in 1:55.” Ryder stated.

“Then, he broke in the Canadian Trotting Classic elimination, he wasn’t training right. It turned out that it was EPM,” Chris said.

Although Charlie De Vie came down with such a harsh condition, he is expected to make a full recovery. “He won’t return until he is 100%. We are anticipating a comeback at four,” Ryder told me.

With Charlie De Vie coming back at four, I asked Chris how that campaign would look. “The recovery will take six to eight months. He should come back stronger and bigger by then. We will race him lightly at four. His four-year-old season will help him get back into one piece,” Ryder stated.

Put On A Show winning the Breeders Crown in 2010

After a magnificent three-year-old campaign, the world awaited the return of Ryder’s champion filly pacer Put On A Show. But her return was halted in early May. She had to get a bone chip removed in her knee and was expected to return in September.

“She had surgery and the recovery is taking longer than expected,” Chris said. “She will return at five and we are aiming for her first start to be the Overbid, at the Meadowlands,” he added.