2 Year Old Campaign
Shadow Play made his racing debut on 21 June 2007 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Along with owner and trainer Ian Moore, he beat a field of maiden pacers by 4-1/2 lengths.
Shortly thereafter, Moore shipped the colt to Ontario, where he raced for the remainder of his 2-year-old year. He finished 2nd in 2 legs of the Dream Maker Pacing Series, followed by a 4th in the final.
The highlight of his year was a 3rd-place finish in an elimination of The Metro Pace at Mohawk Racetrack. Assigned an outside post, Shadow Play never really got into the race despite pacing his own mile in 1:51-3/5.
He completed his freshman campaign with a mark of 1:57.2 taken at Mohawk Racetrack while compiling 3 wins, 3 seconds, and 3 thirds in 13 starts and earning $31,151.
3 Year Old Campaign
On 12 April 2008, Shadow Play surfaced for his second year with a 1:58 qualifier in Charlottetown, where he was 14 lengths the best. He returned to the track one week later to make his parimutuel debut, where he won by 13 lengths in 1:56.
Shadow Play's next start came in the Diplomat Pacing Series at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, where he returned a winner in a new career best 1:52-1/5. After winning both his starts in the initial legs of the Diplomat, he was sent away as favourite in the final but finished a fading 4th.
On 1 July 2008, Shadow Play made his racing debut for high-profile trainer Mark Ford. Leaving from the outside at Pocono Downs, a 5/8-mile track in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he finished third after being parked every step. The winner, Upfront Hannahsboy, set a new track record for 3-year-old colt & gelding pacers by virtue of his 1:49-2/5 victory.
Shadow Play then reeled off two victories at Pocono Downs, winning in 1:50-1/5 and 1:49-4/5, before breaking stride in a Pennsylvania Sires Stake event at The Meadows Racetrack and Casino near Pittsburgh.
On 1 August 2008, he won an elimination of the Coors Delvin Miller Adios. With leading Grand Circuit driver David Miller in control, Shadow Play eased off the gate before making his move. Clearing just before the half, he opened up by 2 lengths on the field and maintained that advantage as he powered home in a world record for 3-year-old colt & gelding pacers on a 5/8-mile track, 1:48-2/5. This mile was 2/5-seconds from the all-aged world record and tied the 2nd-fastest mile on a 5/8th-mile track ever. He returned 8 days later to capture the $350,000 final of the Adios with a time of 1:50-4/5.
On 9 September 2008, it was announced that Shadow Play was named Horse of the Year at Pocono Downs.
On 18 September 2008, he again stepped into the record books. In his first heat of the Little Brown Jug, Shadow Play tied Mr Feelgood's stakes record of 1:50 scoring over Badlands Nitro. Though that record was broken in the next race by Lonestar Legend, Shadow Play returned to capture the Little Brown Jug, winning the second heat in a time of 1:50.1, setting a new two-heat world record for 3-year-old pacing colts.
10 October 2008 marked another milestone for Shadow Play as he returned a first-up winner over Badlands Nitro in the $275,000 Windy City Pace at Maywood Park. The time of 1:50.4 set a stakes record, lowering the 1:51.3 mark set in the 2007 edition by Booze Cruzin.
Bret Hanover was an outstanding American Standardbred racehorse. He was one of only nine pacers to win harness racing's Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers and won 62 of 68 starts. He was the first horse to be voted United States Harness Horse of the Year three times and remains the only pacer to have received that honor.
Precious Bunny is a bay Standardbred pacer and sire.
Albatross (1968–1998) was a bay Standardbred horse by Meadow Skipper. He was voted United States Harness Horse of the Year in 1971 and 1972. Albatross won 59 of 71 starts, including the Cane Pace and Messenger Stakes in 1971, earned $1,201,477. It was, however, as a sire that he really made his mark. Albatross's 2,546 sons and daughters won $130,700,280.
Cam Fella was a bay pacing horse by Most Happy Fella out of Nan Cam by Bret Hanover. He was trained and driven originally by Doug Arthur and later by Pat Crowe. His best time for the mile was 1:53.1. Cam Fella was purchased as a 2-year-old by the two Norms, Norm Clements and Norm Faulkner. He earned the nickname "The Pacing Machine" in a career wherein he became the richest standardbred of all time.
The Cane Pace is a harness horse race for standardbred pacers run annually since 1955. The race was first run as the William H. Cane Futurity in 1955 at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messenger Stakes to become the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers.
Adios was a champion harness racing sire. The son of Hal Dale and the mare Adioo Volo, the horse named Adios was born on January 3, 1940, at Two Gaits Farm, in Carmel, Indiana. Trained and driven by Frank Ervin and for a while owned by Harry Warner of Warner Bros. film studio, Adios was a multiple world champion during his racing career. His pacing record at the Shelbyville, Indiana, fair stood for 43 years. Despite his racing success, he is most famous for his offspring, which included Adios Harry.
Beach Towel was a Standardbred pacer who was named the 1990 American Harness Horse of the Year. He won 18 of his 23 starts with a fastest race mile of 1:50 and earnings of $2,091,860.
Georgia Pacific is a dark bay Standardbred race horse sired by Western Hanover and out of Armbro Savannah. He is trained by Randy Bendis and driven by Tony Hall. He races at The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Meadow Lands, Pennsylvania.
Somebeachsomewhere (2005–2018) was a Standardbred Race Horse who, as a three-year-old, tied the world record for a mile at The Red Mile with a time of 1:46.4 and earned $3,221,299. In 2008, he had the highest earnings by a pacer in a single season of $2,448,003.
The Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, formerly The Meadows Racetrack and Casino, originally (1963) just The Meadows horse-racing track, is a Standardbred harness-racing track and slot-machine casino which is located in North Strabane Township, Pennsylvania, United States, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Pittsburgh. After 44 years as a racetrack, the casino was added in 2007. The real estate has been owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties since 2016, with the business operations owned by Penn Entertainment since 2018, including a long term lease agreement to Gaming and Leisure Properties.
Wiggle It Jiggleit is a champion American Standardbred racehorse. At the age of three, he won 22 of 26 starts including the Little Brown Jug and Meadowlands Pace, earning him the Dan Patch Award for 2015 Harness Horse of the Year. At age four, he repeatedly dueled with Always B Miki, to whom he finished second in the 2016 Horse of the Year balloting.
The Adios Pace is a horse race for three-year-old Standardbred colts and geldings run annually since 1967 at a distance of one mile at Meadows Racetrack in North Strabane Township, Pennsylvania.
Bolt The Duer is a bay Standardbred racehorse who set or equaled two World Records for one mile.
Mark Ford is a trainer of Standardbred horses in the sport of harness racing. He is best known as the trainer of Gallo Blue Chip, 2000 Harness Horse of the Year and the then richest pacer of all time. That year, Mark Ford was voted the Dan Patch Trainer of the Year Award along with co-winner Jimmy Takter. Mark Ford also trained Shadow Play in his major United States races for his Canadian trainer and co-owner Dr. Ian Moore. Ford won the 2008 Adios Pace at Pocono Downs.
The Breeders 3yo Colt & Gelding Trot is a harness racing event for Standardbred trotters. It is one part of an annual Breeders Crown series of twelve races for both Standardbred trotters and Pacers. First run in 1985, it is contested over a distance of one mile. Race organizers have awarded the event to various racetracks across North America. The 2017 race will be held at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, United States.
The Breeders Crown 3YO Colt & Gelding Pace is a harness racing event for three-year-old Standardbred pacers. It is one part of the Breeders Crown annual series of twelve races for both Standardbred trotters and trotters. First run in 1985, it is contested over a distance of one mile. Race organizers have awarded the event to various racetracks across North America. The 2017 race will be held at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, United States.
The Breeders Crown Open Mare Pace is a harness racing event for four-year-old and older Standardbred mare pacers. It is one part of the Breeders Crown annual series of twelve races for both Standardbred trotters and trotters. First run in 1986, it is contested over a distance of one mile. Race organizers have awarded the event to various racetracks across North America. The 2017 race will be held at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, United States.
The Breeders 2YO Colt & Gelding Pace is a harness racing event for two-year-old Standardbred male pacers. It is one part of the Breeders Crown annual series of twelve races for both Standardbred pacers and trotters. First run in 1985, it is contested over a distance of one mile. Race organizers have awarded the event to various racetracks across North America. The 2017 race will be held at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, United States.
The Breeders 2YO Colt & Gelding Trot is a harness racing event for two-year-old Standardbred male trotters. It is one part of the Breeders Crown annual series of twelve races for both Standardbred trotters and pacers. First run in 1985, it is contested over a distance of one mile. Race organizers have awarded the event to various racetracks across North America. The 2017 race will be held at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, United States.
Tar Heel was an American Harness Racing Hall of Fame Standardbred racehorse. Given the State of North Carolina nickname "Tar Heel", he was bred by William Reynolds at his Tanglewood Farm near Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
