Bay colt by Rocknroll Hanover – Artistic Vision – Artsplace


BREEDERS: Steve Stewart, Paris, KY & Charles, Julie and Francene Nash, Lexington, KY

OWNERS: Frank Bellino, Bronxville, NY

STATISTICS:
2010 7 5 0 1 $261,200
2009 9 4 4 1 $614,186
Totals 16 9 4 2 $875,386

LIFETIME MARK: 3, 1:48.3, Meadowlands

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS & NOTES:
Purchased for $57,000 at Lexington Select Sale in October 2008
Son of 2005 Pepsi North America Cup winner Rocknroll Hanover

At two:
• Broke maiden in New Jersey Sires Stakes, July 23 at the Meadowlands in 1:54
• Finished second to Malicious in Metro elim August 29, then was second to Sportswriter, two lengths behind, in $1 million Metro final, September 5 at Mohawk
• Won Governor’s Cup elim September 13, then finished second to One More Laugh, one length behind, in Governor’s Cup final, September 20 at Chester
• Won Bluegrass division at Lexington on October 3 in season best 1:50.2

At three:
• Finished third in Berrys Creek elim, May 1, then won $250,000 final May 8 at the Meadowlands by one and one-quarter lengths over Cup rival Fred And Ginger
• Won New Jersey Sires Stake May 29 at the Meadowlands in career mark of 1:48.3
• Made break at half-mile pole while leading Burlington division June 12
• Won first and fastest Cup elim by a nose over Kyle Major on June 19 at Mohawk in 1:48.4
• Second leading money-winner (behind Sportswriter) in Cup field with $875,386

ELIMINATION QUOTES: Bruce Saunders, Trainer

“Just be eligible to the final was our objective when we came up here. You know, the pot of gold everyone is chasing will be next week. To be lucky enough to win (the elim) should be an added advantage. So, yes I’m very relieved.”

“Tim (Tetrick) put him (Rock N Roll Heaven) in a great spot. I can only commend Kyle Major and Sportswriter for their big efforts. We got the best of it trip-wise. I kind of thought my colt might have rolled on by a little more because those horses were a little beat up. When I saw how fast they went, everyone was on fumes coming to the wire, including my colt. But, he loves to win and I’m very proud of him.”


Trainer – Bruce Saunders
Career wins through June 21, 2010: 955
Career earnings through June 21, 2010: $21,640,327

• A licensed trainer since 1979, Bruce Saunders campaigned two different Delaware Valley Horses of the Year – Perky Fiddler and Chipper Frost. His Biggest success was the millionaire Misfit, a top free-for-all pacer in the mid-1990s.
• His stable banked more than $2 million in each of the last two campaigns. Leading the way in 2008 was Psilvuheartbreaker, a winner in the Fred Fialkow and Beckwith Memorial events. He has handled many other top horses, including Mandretti, Indiana Sam, Master Barney, Die Lute, Armbro View and Casimir Camotion.
• Raised in Farmingdale, N.J., near Freehold, Saunders spent two years in the army, including a year in Vietnam (1969), became an account executive for a brokerage firm in Wilmington and, from 1972 to 1976, was the Director of Economics for the State of Delaware.
• For one day, he was even the acting Governor of that state. He earned his Masters in Finance from Temple University in 1980. He’s also the former brother-in-law of U.S. Vice- President Joe Biden.


Driver - John Campbell
Age: 55
Career wins through June 20, 2010: 10,275
Career earnings through June 20, 2010: $271,884,654

• John Campbell’s list of accomplishments in harness racing is legendary. Near the top of the list is his induction in 2009 into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in harness racing.
• He lives in River Vale, New Jersey, but the superstar linesman was born in Ailsa Craig, Ontario on April 8, 1955 and maintains close ties with the Ontario racing circuit.
• He returned to racing in April, 2007, after recovering from a serious leg injury sustained in an accident at Woodbine in October, 2006, during a Breeders Crown elimination. Campbell immediately returned to his superlative form, finishing the year with 166 wins and more than $10 million in purses – ranking sixth in North America -- despite having sat out the first quarter of the year.
• Campbell was behind the wheel for Snow White, the outstanding two-year-old filly trotter who captured the Goldsmith Maid Stakes, the Champlain, Oakville Stakes, and the Breeders Crown in 2007 en route to earning numerous accolades and $1.25 million in purses. He also steered A And Gs Confusion to an O’Brien Award as Canada’s top two-year-old filly pacer of the year, and sat behind Pampered Princess in the majority of her starts at two and three as she earned her way to a $1,740,605 bankroll.
• In 2008, he won 165 races and over $9 million in purses, ninth overall in North America, helped by two-year-old trotting filly Honorable Daughter and older trotter Corleone Kosmos, both Breeders Crown champions.
• He is the youngest individual, at 35, to have been inducted into harness racing’s Living Hall of Fame, and has racked up 44 Breeders Crown victories, six Hambletonians, seven editions of the Meadowlands Pace, three Little Brown Jugs, and six Pepsi North America Cups: 1991 (Precious Bunny), 1994 (Cams Card Shark), 1995 (Davids Pass), 1996 (Arizona Jack), 1997 (Gothic Dream), and 1999 (The Panderosa).
• Other champion performers over the year include the brilliant four-year-old Real Desire, who won the $845,500 Canadian Pacing Derby and was named 2002 Horse of the Year. The sport’s all-time leading money winning driver eclipsed the $200-million mark on 2001 Breeders Crown night at Woodbine, a night in which he won three BC races.
• In 2006, before his accident, Campbell had won the Hambletonian (in stakes and Meadowlands track record 1:51.1) and Kentucky Futurity (1:51.3 second heat victory at The Red Mile) with Blair Burgess-trained Glidemaster, who would end up winning the trotting Triple Crown (via the Yonkers Trot victory) with substitute pilot George Brennan.
• In 2001, he became the first driver in history to win more than $13-million in a single-season. He also received Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal that year, the first driver to do so. The award, created by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, recognizes a deed or activity performed in a highly professional manner or to a very high standard that brings benefit or honour to Canada.