Local horse selected as Standardbred of the Year

PLUMSTED - Glidemaster, winner of the 2006 Trotting Triple Crown along with nearly $2 million in purse money, has been named the New Jersey Standardbred of the Year for 2006.

New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles Kuperus gave a special presentation at the annual New Jersey Bred Equine Breeder Awards dinner on Jan. 28 at the Freehold Gardens Hotel in Freehold Township, according to a press release from the N.J. Department of Agriculture.

The state Department of Agriculture's Equine Advisory Board gives the award annually to a New Jersey-sired standardbred upon the recommendation of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, which registers all New Jersey stallions for breeding, and its Breeders Committee, the press release said.

Glidemaster, sired by Yankee Glide, who stands at Kentuckiana Farms of New Jersey in the New Egypt section of Plumsted, is out of the mare, Cressida Hanover, which was bred by Brittany Farms. He is owned by Robert B. Burgess, Karin Olsson Burgess, Marsha Cohen and Brittany Farms, according to the press release, and was trained by Blair Burgess and driven by John Campbell and George Brennan.

Among his eight victories, Glidemaster won the $1.5 million Hambletonian in 1:51.1, the $526,000 Kentucky Futurity in straight heats in 1:53.1 and 1:51.3, and the $728,930 Yonkers Trot in 1:554h. He was never worse than second in his 15 starts, the press release said.