Publicerad 1999-07-01

Jan Johnson on his way to a fairy 'Tail' season.

It's a tale of two tails for trainer-driver Jan Johnson. Four-year-old Kick Tail takes center stage this Friday night at the Meadowlands in the $20,000 elimination for the next week's $160,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial at the Meadowlands.

Younger brother Comets Tail gets a week off before the July 9 eliminations for the $400,000 Budweiser Beacon Course Trot on July 16, the final prep for the $1 million Hambletonian on August 7.

Kick Tail, a son of Sierra Kosmos, has come back to the races in 1999 ready to tackle the older trotters. The Cutler elim field includes Titan Cup winner Alanjopa, who if he adds the Cutler Final, Breeders Crown and Nat Ray Finals would earn the $500,000 bonus offered by the Meadowlands for a sweep of the quartet of older horse stakes. Kick Tail has drawn post 11, with Berndt Lindstedt driving.

Johnson qualified him three times to prep him, including a 1:57.2 effort on June 24 at the Meadowlands "His last qualifier was very good," said Johnson. "He had a long three-year-old season and we wanted to give him a good rest. He has filled out more body wise since last year."

Kick Tail amassed $560,282 in his three-year-old campaign for the Arden Homestead Stable of Goshen, New York. His most notable accomplishments in 1998 included a third in the Hambletonian and a victory in the $535,000 World Trotting Derby in DuQuoin, Illinois.