Ackermans Have Harness on Success

The Ack-Ack Attack is back. Trainer Doug Ackerman and driver D.R. Ackerman, his son, are enjoying a banner Los Alamitos meet after a 1995 better remembered for Doug’s induction into the Harness Hall of Fame than the accomplishments of their stable.

Team Ackerman has opened 1996 with a bang by rebounding for 30 victories from 132 starters, fourth in the standings.

“We had about 17 horses ready for this meet,” D.R. said. “Last year we only had about eight or 10.”

The development of 3-year-olds Peaceable, Armbro Omar and Italian Crown have been particularly gratifying to the younger Ackerman.

“Peaceable nearly died last year,” he said after the filly trotter recorded her fifth victory in 10 starts Saturday. “We shipped her back east, she contracted pneumonia, a vet worked on her three weeks and said there was nothing more he could do for her. I never dreamed she would do this good.”

Armbro Omar, a colt pacer, won for the second consecutive time Sunday, and Italian Crown, a gelding trotter who was not raced last year, has won three of eight starts.

The leading Hambletonian hope remains R.S. Victory, a Valley Victory colt who was the highest-priced trotting yearling sold in 1994 for $175,000.

“Dad just trained him in 2:08 at Del Mar; he’s almost ready to qualify,” said D.R. “First he had pneumonia last year, then he got sore. We raced him three times. He won a stake at Lexington in September, and the next day he couldn’t walk.”

Hattie, a 4-year-old mare pacer, won for the first time in 10 tries Friday. After finishing second in the 1994 Breeders Crown, Hattie also became sick last year and required throat surgery. She could make her final start here April 6 in the Albaquel Pace, named after her dam, before a breeding date with Magical Mike.

Team Ackerman, which splits the year between the West Coast and Midwest, may also be seen in Scandinavia this spring. Federal Yankee, a 5-year-old trotter, has been invited to rich international races in Finland, Norway and Sweden and is scheduled to ship at the end of the month.

Harness Notes

Meet pacing star Hi Ho Silverheel’s remained unbeaten in five tries Saturday with a victory as competitive as the Mike Tyson fight. He won by 4 1/2 lengths in 1:52 3/5. Trainer Milan Smith said the 5-year-old horse would remain through the end of the meet, racing again March 30 and in the $50,000 Pres Jenuine Pace April 5, before shipping east to challenge the best. . . . Falcon Dakota, a top free-for-all performer in Chicago, was shipped in Sunday by former meet leader Joe Anderson to Mark Anderson’s barn to prepare for the Jenuine. The 7-year-old gelding, with earnings of $459,866 and a 1:52 3/5 victory this year at Hawthorne, will race the next two Saturdays before the Jenuine.

Nick’s Fantasy, who won the Little Brown Jug last year for owner Ken Carver of North Hollywood, finished sixth in a leg of the Levy Series at Yonkers on Saturday in his second start of the year and will probably clash with Hi Ho Silverheel’s in legs of the Graduate Series. . . . Driver Chip Lackey, 44, registered the first quintuple of a 20-year career Saturday and was almost too sleepy to remember it. ‘I drove a filly at Cloverdale [British Columbia] Friday night and got on a red-eye flight back at 3:30,’ said Lackey. . . . Cal-bred sophomore pacing stars Gee Gee Digger and Little Bighorn resume their rivalry Sunday in a Sire Stakes test. Gee Gee Digger won their last battle in a lifetime best 1:53 4/5 in the $10,000 Cypress Pace.

Paul Blumenfeld, a former training leader here who left the game because of a back injury two years ago, is back as an owner and returned to the winner’s circle with Heavy Tipper, a popular 8-year-old gelding. . . . Larry Beer, the marathon man of the circuit, enjoyed one of the best weeks of his career, driving two winners and finishing second with a 45-1 longshot. Beer won with Shadows Obsession, a 42-1 shot, and Magna Hepcat. Beer, 53, ran a 72-mile race in Lake Tahoe last year.