After her powerhouse triumph in the C$370,000 Roses Are Red final at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Saturday, June 16, in a strong clocking of 1:49.3, Shartin N’s human connections were both overjoyed and relieved. The 5-year-old daughter of Tintin In America went off stride in her elimination the previous week and was extremely fortunate to even compete in the final.
“I let her tell me what she wanted to do off the gate, which I’ve always done and today I did let her step forward pretty good and get early position and it worked out,” said Tim Tetrick, her regular pilot. “I was going to make my way to the front and I went ahead and did that.
“She didn’t want to listen to my audible (last week), but she’s a good mare,” he continued. “She’s got her quirks but with as much speed as she has, she can overcome a lot of that.”
She certainly can.
Owned by Richard Poillucci and Jo Ann Looney-King, Shartin N is harness racing’s latest superstar and is now a top performer in three nations. Bred in New Zealand by G J Crabbe, the mare is conditioned by Looney-King’s husband Jim and is currently the richest Standardbred in North America with a bankroll of $560,923. At this juncture, Shartin N’s overall record stands at a stellar 14-11-1-0 on this continent. She was 13-7-3-0 in her native land.
Since her U.S. debut on January 24 at Dover Downs, the mare has defeated males on two occasions, annexed the $373,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker final, the $102,000 Chip Noble Memorial final, the $150,000 Betsy Ross Invitational and now the Roses Are Red final.
The Kings are no strangers to importing horses from New Zealand or winning top stakes contests. They have New Zealand-breds Nike Franco N and Christen Me in their stable; both were elite competitors in New Zealand and retained that form in North America.
Wakizashi Hanover, the 2015 North America Cup victor and world champion, also resides in the Kings’ shed row, along with stakes winners Newborn Sassy and Purrfect Bags.
While the Kings thank the lord daily for the talent in their family operation, Shartin N holds a specific place in their hearts.
“She is just special,” said Looney-King. “We are so very, very grateful for all we have, but she is different. We have never had a horse like her and we have never had an opportunity to own part of a horse like her. It is difficult to find the words to express how much she means to us.”
Trained by Dean Braun, who was also responsible for Nike Franco, in New Zealand, Shartin N clearly displayed her ability long before she arrived on U.S. soil in October, 2017. Braun purchased the mare privately and prepared her for her career which was prolific during the one season she raced across the ocean.
Shartin N collected victories in the prestigious Queensland Oaks and the Tasmanian Oaks. She was also second in the Queensland Derby racing against males after a tough journey.
“It’s a great result, I’m thrilled for all involved with the mare and I always stated this was the best mare I’ve trained,” Braun told Racing Queensland. “I had Nike Franco and she also has done a tremendous job up there but this mare is still on the up.”
It appears Braun is quite correct in his assessment of Shartin N’s capabilities.
Looney-King was thrilled the first time she caught a glimpse of the mare.
“When Rich sent us some pictures of her and told us he was thinking of buying her I said to myself, ‘Oh boy,’” she recalled. “He wanted our opinion and I told him she was built like a tank. If we would be able to race her we could have some fun.”
After providing Shartin N with several months to acclimate, the Kings decided to get her started at Dover Downs, where they are regulars on the circuit. There were many people in the business anxiously awaiting the mare’s debut, as her potential was not exactly a well-kept secret.
As she headed for her first leg of the Blue Chip Matchmaker Series, Shartin N already had attracted considerable attention. Her record stood at 5-4-1 with her sole defeat being by a scant nose.
That resume, however, was acquired against Open and overnight horses and now it was time to see if the mare was stakes-caliber.
She did not disappoint and was actually incredibly impressive. So much so, even the commentators on the simulcast show at Yonkers Raceway could only utter superlatives. That is until Shartin N inexplicably broke stride on two occasions in the fourth and final leg of the series.
That is when the Kings and Tetrick had numerous inquiries from the media as to what went awry.
“She is a sweetheart in the barn and you can do anything you want with her,” said Looney-King. “But she gets really worked up on the track and is anxious to do her work. The key is to get her to calm down because she can be a real handful out there. We’ve made some equipment changes, which seems to have helped and thank god for Timmy. He is so terrific with her and has really spent a lot of time trying to teach her our style of racing.”
The primary addition the Kings made to Shartin N’s equipment was a Murphy blind. They instituted the new headgear shortly before the Blue Chip Matchmaker final.
“It took right up until tonight to get it done,” King Jr. said in the winner’s circle after the race. “We worked on her a lot at home and made some changes. We came here and warmed her up a couple of trips and made some more changes. We put our heads together and came up with a plan and here we are.
“We did so many different things,” he continued. “The biggest thing was adding the Murphy blind to get her to go straight and stop her from being so fussy. I warmed up a hard trip before we raced to take some of the sting out of her.”
Shartin N was absolutely perfect for her next two engagements until the miscue in the Roses Are Red elimination. As she did in the Blue Chip Matchmaker final, the mare recovered from the complication with ease.
With a full schedule of stakes on her agenda for the rest of the season, Shartin N will be sure to provide her connections with more memorable occasions and hardware. She also is accruing a group of devoted fans that will grow throughout the year.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves and just want to enjoy each and every moment with her,” Looney-King said. “These kinds of horses don’t come along very often and we have to remind ourselves each day that we are truly blessed.