Crockets Cullen N making history at Saratoga
Crockets Cullen N did something that no other horse in recent history at Saratoga Casino Hotel has done.
The New Zealand invader rattled off ten consecutive victories in the local Open Pace over a span of better than five months. Crockets Cullen N, who is trained by Tracy Tarantino, won his first Spa Open of the season back in August of last year and went on an unprecedented streak that didn’t see him lose again locally before the meet ended in December. All told, the superstar pacer won nine consecutive tries in the Saratoga Open and wound up being named Pacer of the Year at the Spa for his efforts.
Crockets Cullen N made his seasonal debut at the Spa in the season’s first pacing feature on February 17 th . After one race and three qualifiers this winter, it would be understandable if Crockets Cullen N wasn’t ready yet to win another Open. That proved not to be the case as the nine year old extended his incredible streak when he came on to pace away from his rivals in 1:54.2 to record the victory in the season’s first Open Pace and move his personal streak to ten against the track’s top level competition.
While there appeared to be no end to the streak of Crockets Cullen N, on February 29 th he was opposed by classy invader Americanprimetime. Trained by Rick Dane Jr, invader Americanprimetime finished third in the second to last Open Pace of 2019 at the Spa contested in early December. That race proved to be the final start of the campaign for the classy veteran who won eleven times in ‘19 and hit the board in 25 of his 31 starts en route to $110,075 in earnings. Americanprimetime raced this winter at the Meadowlands and hit the board in four out of five tries in New Jersey to begin his 2020 campaign. Showing a blend of incredible early speed and strong closing ability, the eight year old was back at the Spa on Leap Day to try and do what no other horse at Saratoga could do since late August of last year, defeat Crockets Cullen N.
Trainer Rick Dane Jr utilized the services of driver Jimmy Devaux who was tasked with piloting what would be the 3-5 betting favorite in the Open Pace as Americanprimetime looked to end the reign of Crockets Cullen N. The classy invader brought his close to three quarters of a million dollars in career earnings to town with him as he started from post six in the eight-horse feature. Fresh off some starts where he left at the Meadowlands, Americanprimetime flew off the car and surged out to the early lead in a sizzling 26.4 first quarter. Untested in a half of 56 seconds, Americanprimetime braced for the challenge of superstar Crockets Cullen N who had been assigned post eight. Trying to dig out of what was nearly a dozen length hole at the opening quarter, Crockets Cullen N wound up first-over on Americanprimetime with that epic win streak on the line.
The track’s defending top pacer never got close to the invader and Americanprimetime cruised to victory in 1:53.4. Though he was a gutsy and game second-place finisher, Crockets Cullen N did finally suffer a defeat, his first at Saratoga since August of 2019. All it took was a monster effort from a classy veteran invader to end the sensational streak.
Last weekend, Americanprime
time returned to the Spa as he looked to go back-toback in the local Open. This time, not only did he have to face Crockets Cullen N again but also was tasked with taking on all-world pacer Western Fame. The Rene Allard trainee battled the top horses in North America last year. Oh, and he earned over $700,000 in just in nineteen starts. The seven year old brought his nearly $1.75 million to town and was assigned the outside post in the six-horse Open.
Western Fame, though, hadn’t raced since early October of last year and even with two qualifiers under his belt in 2020 was bound to need a start. Americanprimetime wasted little time powering right out to the early lead on Saturday and once again played “catch me if you can” on the engine cruising along unopposed throughout a first half that went in 56.3. Crockets Cullen N was once again first-over on the favored leader but this week never got very close to the razor sharp invader. Western Fame was coming from last and picked up the cover of Crockets Cullen N but the outer tier did not thrive and this week, Crockets Cullen N had to settle for a fifthplace finish while Western Fame faded to last. Americanprimetime was again up to the task under the lights on a Saturday evening and drew away to score in 1:52, the fastest time for any horse on the young season at Saratoga.
Americanprimetime was bred by the Rock&Roll Stable of Chicago, IL and his career started in 2014 while trained by Rick Dane Jr. A New York Sire Stakes participant in both of his first two years of racing, Americanprimetime made the Stakes Final in both ‘14 and ‘15, finishing second in the $225,000 Final in the latter year. Fast forward to 2020 and Americanprimetime is still owned by the Rock&Roll Stable, still trained by Dane Jr. and has now enjoyed five consecutive seasons in which he has earned six figures. With over $40,000 made in just his first seven starts in ‘20, it certainly appears the eight year old is on his way to his sixth straight year of six-figure earnings. Though the racing season is not yet one month old, Americanprimetime has been the early star. Not only has he gone back-to-back in the Open Pace but has soundly defeated the seemingly unbeatable Crockets Cullen N in two consecutive tries. Whether or not his connections continue to race him at Saratoga remains to be seen but Americanprimetime has put together two straight terrific efforts in the $15,000 regular Saturday evening feature and has all the characteristics of a horse who could have season-long success at the Spa if he were to race here on a regular basis. And don’t count Crockets Cullen N out either. He continues to display his versatility in addition to the incredible ability that saw him shatter the previous record at Saratoga for consecutive wins in Open competition.
Live racing takes place every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoon at Saratoga starting at 12 Noon. There is a $5,000 guarantee in the Pick Five pool on Wednesdays and Thursdays during the month of March. Saturday racing begins each week at 5pm.