CR Commando's Amazing Story

I am at a loss to tell you how impressed I was with the performance of CR Commando in winning the Breeders Crown at Colonial Downs in a world record 1:53 2-5 mile. 1:53 2-5!!!!! A two-year-old trotter!!!!!

Up until two weeks ago, the world record for 2yo colt trotters was Mack Lobell’s 1:55 3-5 mark, set twelve years ago at The Red Mile. There have been some very good colt trotters in the intervening years, including such standouts as Supergill, Firm Tribute, Valley Victory, Royal Troubador, Wesgate Crown, Donerail, Lindy Lane and Malabar Man, just to mention a few. Of that group, Donerail had the closest effort to Mack Lobell at 1:55 4-5, and Lindy Lane was not far behind with a two-year-old mark of 1:56. What happened at Colonial on Saturday night is so interesting not only because CR Commando re-wrote the record books, but also because the first six colts in this same race all beat 1:55! Second-place finisher San Pellegrino shows a beaten time of 1:54; Angus Hall trotted in 1:54 3-5; Self Possessed was home in 1:54 4-5; and so were Enjoy Lavec and Starchip Entrprise.

This collection of two-year-old trotters, all foals of 1996, surely are a very talented bunch and one is left with the distinct impression that this will not be the last world record that falls to this group. Second-place finisher San Pellegrino, a Valley Victory colt whose Prakas dam is a half-sister to Peace Corps, has improved rapidly over the last month, and could be a colt to be reckoned with next season. Third-place finisher Angus Hall, whose world record set last week of 1:54 4-5 will never make the record books, also is a very impressive colt that I have liked since the first time I saw him train over The Red Mile last winter. Enjoy Lavec, winner of the Peter Haughton at the Meadowlands in August, is another good one, and regular readers of this column already know of my admiration for Starchip Entrprise, who was compromised in this event by troublesome foot problems. Trainer Jim Doherty told me at the recent Harrisburg sale that Starchip Entrprise was trying to "pop a gravel" and that he was concerned with the colt’s condition for this Breeders Crown. He surely will be heard from next year, too.

But the star of the show, and what a constellation he was, is CR Commando. It is not often that world records of this magnitude occur in a big race, because most often drivers are more concerned with winning than setting records. It must also be reported that conditions for a record mile were not optimum. It was very cool and damp at Colonial on Saturday, and there was a strong headwind facing the competitors through the stretch. All of this makes CR Commando’s achievement even that much more imposing.

For starters, I must offer congratulations to his owner-breeder-trainer and driver Carl Allen, and to co-owner and co-breeder Rod Allen. This pair, of course, need no introduction to anyone who has followed harness racing in the past two decades. This same pair engineered the exciting career of CR Kay Suzie, the brilliant, multiple world-champion filly raced by Rod Allen to a splendid career that saw her win more than $1.6 million, trotting to world records at two, three and four. She earned marks of 1:55 1-5 at two; 1:52 4-5 at three, and 1:52 3-5 at four. The Royal Troubador mare still owns four major world records.

A BIG WIN FOR CR COMMANDO’S SIRE--ROYAL TROUBADOR

CR Commando is also by Royal Troubador, a splendidly-bred son of Super Bowl, whose dam Mae Jean’s Crown is a full sister to Speedy Somolli. This remarkable world record effort should give a huge boost to the career of Royal Troubador, as most observers had thought of CR Kay Suzie, his previous champion filly, as somewhat of a freak. With a follow-up champion of such obvious class and ability, Royal Troubador should now be taken more seriously by the major breeders in North America.

Royal Troubador was a very courageous and fast horse himself, winning the Breeders Crown at two for Allen. He had a mark of 2,1:57 and earned $899,501 in only 28 career starts, 20 of which came at two. He also set world records on a five-eighths (1:57 3-5f) and half-mile (1:58 1-5h) tracks. He was the Two Year Old Trotter of the Year in 1989 and the favorite for the three-year-old classics.

At three, Royal Troubador returned to form, winning the early season Dexter Cup and Yonkers Trot. He was the favorite in his Hambletonian heat, but finished third in both heats of the 1990 classic, won that year by Harmonious. The Hambletonian starts were the last of his all-too-brief career, as bone chips in his knee were discovered, and he was retired to stud.

Royal Troubador was a very handsome, high-headed, high-going colt on the track. He had a very distinctive style and gait which made him easy to spot on the track. Like all of Allen’s horses, he was raced very aggressively, and he thrived on the regimen. He was a small horse at two and three, and somewhat short-backed, a trait attributable to his Speedy Somolli dam. Retired to stud in New Jersey, his first crop included not only CR Kay Suzie, but also Kentucky Futurity winner CR Track Master 3, 1:55 2-5; $238,444. Despite his lofty credentials and race track accomplishments, Royal Troubador did not get a good reception from breeders. He had only 30 foals in 1992; 21 foals in 1993; 15 in 1994 and only nine current three-year-olds. However, the foal crop from which CR Commando emerged was much larger, numbering nearly 80. This increase in mares bred resulted from the horse being moved from New Jersey to Ugo Chiola’s Kosmos Farm in Pennsylvania where he was heavily promoted.

ROYAL TROUBADOR IS GETTING HIS CHANCE

What Royal Troubador had not gotten prior to moving to Kosmos was a chance to show that CR Kay Suzie was not a freak, and that he could indeed replicate this same ability in another young trotter. I guess that question can no longer be debated after this latest assault on the world record table by one of his offspring!

CR Commando has been an interesting colt to watch during the summer. He first appeared back in June at Hoosier Park in Indiana, winning his very first start in an eye-popping 1:58 4-5. Next followed a wire-to-wire 1:58 3-5f romp in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows. He has made a few breaks throughout the season, and his first was in mid-July in a Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at Pocono Downs. His first start at the Meadowlands was on July 21, and there he met for the first time his season-long adversary, Starchip Entrprise. CR Commando cut the mile, and Starchip Entrprise nailed him on the wire in a then season's record 1:56 4-5.

After that, it was time to qualify for the Peter Haughton, and in the elimination, CR Commando gave a glimpse of the kind of exciting speed he had to offer. Leaving from the ten hole in only the fifth start of his life, he rocketed to the quarter in :28 1-5 and the half in :56 1-5. He still had the lead at the three-quarters, trotted in 1:26, but tired after that, struggling home third to Wired Pine and Starchip Entrprise, with his own final quarter in :31 2-5.

In the Haughton final, again drawing the ten-hole, Carl Allen reversed tactics, taking his colt off the gate, dropping out of contention, and unable to rally during the victory by Enjoy Lavec in 1:56 4-5. Still, he was beaten only five lengths, timed in 1:57 4-5. There were those, of course, who dismissed the colt’s early triumphs, and thought that although he was certainly a very fast colt, he lacked the stamina to get the whole route of distance. After the Peter Haughton, Carl Allen gave his colt nearly two months off before he would ask him to race again. The wisdom of this move now looks very prescient.

CR Commando’s next start would be on October 2 at Lexington in The Red Mile’s Bluegrass stake, where he was a wire-to-wire winner in 1:56 1-5. What was important in this mile was not that he won in near season’s record time, but that he trotted his last half and not the first half, in :57 2-5, with the final quarter trotted in :29, turning back Starchip Entrprise and Arbor. It was evident to anyone who saw him win at Lexington that Allen’s colt had turned the corner in terms of his racing personality and character. Allen has done a masterful training job in throttling the speed instincts of this colt, and getting him to finish his miles strongly. The second week at Lexington, CR Commando won again in the International Stallion Stake, trotting in 1:58 2-5, turning back Davanti and Americanese. From there, it was on to Garden State Park for the rich and important Valley Victory stake.

In his elimination, CR Commando was very impressive, as he was second by a nose to the late charge of Angus Hall in a 1:56 3-5 mile where the final quarter was trotted in :28 1-5. In the final, however, CR Commando was again stuck in an outside post, (remember he also had the ten hole in the Haughton final) and made a break off the gate, finishing a distant tenth.

The Colonial Downs track plays to a horse with tactical speed, as the design of the track is a one-turn mile with a straightaway, first half-mile. It was tailor-made for CR Commando. In his Breeders Crown elimination, CR Commando was a wire-to-wire winner in 1:57 1-5, and he again flashed not only early speed, but the newly-found ability to carry his speed throughout the mile, and finish strongly. He trotted the final quarter of his elimination in :27 4-5.

THE WORLD RECORD FINAL

I have been blessed over the years to have seen many of the breed’s most accomplished two-year-old colt trotters, a list that includes Nevele Pride, Super Bowl, and all the others that have come since. I can honestly say that I have never been so impressed as I was with this colt in his world record 1:53 2-5 mile in the Breeders Crown final. I stole a glance at the timer as the colt pounded through the long stretch, and it was clear that as he passed the seven-eighths, he was trotting into new territory. When the 1:53 2-5 came up on the board, I gasped. It took a moment to comprehend what I had just seen. It was an epic performance.

CR Commando is the fourth foal of his Spellcaster dam, Airborne Gal, and the Allens can be justly proud of their accomplishment with this colt, for he is a product of more than 20 years of their exclusive breeding and training. Spellcaster was a $300,000 plus yearling himself, as he was by the world champion Florida Pro and from Tom Crouch’s splendid young broodmare, Rosemary, a stakes-winning, Nevele Pride daughter of the modern-day foundation mare Lovester. Spellcaster did get a 2,1:58 3-5 mark, racing for Allen, but the colt’s career stalled after showing great early promise.

Airborne Gal’s dam, and the second dam of CR Commando, is the accomplished Speedster mare Laurna Jean 2:02f, a winner of more than $156,000 in her racing days. The next dam is the Trader Horn mare Gabriel’s Horn 2:03 4-5. All of these mares have been bred and raced by the Allens. Among Laurna Jean’s other foals are Country Janine 3,2:03.4f, a Nevele Pride mare who is the dam of the well-known international performer Somollison 3,1:56.1f; $500,000 before export, and the 1995 Kentucky Futurity winner CR Track Master, mentioned earlier in this column. Another producing daughter of Laurna Jean is the Nevele Pride mare Country Dawn 3,T2:02.1, who is the dam of the fast Work Til Dawn 2,1:59; $125,528.

When reduced to paper, the pedigree is very intriguing. Royal Troubador is inbred to Star’s Pride 2 x3, since he is by Super Bowl, a son of Star’s Pride, and from a mare with a Star’s Pride dam. He is also linebred 3 x 4 to Worthy Boy; 3 x 5 to Rodney, and 4 x 4 x 5 to Volomite. CR Commando’s dam, Airborne Gal, is inbred 4 x 2 to Speedster, and is by a horse, Spellcaster, who carries an impressive, deep pedigree. Combing the two pedigrees, there are more recurring crosses to Star's Pride, Speedster and Volomite.

A FINE PEDIGREE WITH DEEP HISTORIC ROOTS

CR Commando brings an interesting lineage to the world record books. While the torch of trotting excellence has been passed to Valley Victory and his sons and grandsons, CR Commando has come on the scene to remind us that the Star’s Pride-Super Bowl line is not ready to go away just yet. Maternally, the female line of this colt goes back to the foundation mare Mamie, as do a number of the breed’s best trotters.

The Mamie family is home to such trotting stars as Valley Victory, Sugarcane Hanover, Demon Hanover, Mystic Park, Superlou and The Intruder, as well as the great race mares Fresh Yankee and Killbuck Mary. The branch of the family from which CR Commando descends is one of the breed’s oldest. His fifth dam, the Scotland mare, Scotch Star, is a half-sister to the 1939 Hambletonian and Kentucky Futurity winner Peter Astra in the branch of the family descended from Wilto Leyburn, a granddaughter of the foundation mare Mamie, a foal of 1880. Interestingly, another branch of this family is home to the recently-deceased pacing supersire Albatross, and yet another to pacing stars Nihilator and Gothic Dream.

What CR Commando did at Colonial Downs this past Saturday was amazing. I consider myself fortunate to have seen it.