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THE ADMIRAL
ABDICATES AT AGE 11
The
Horseman and Fair World
by Gordon Waterstone
January 10, 2007
Admiral's
Express, the sport's all-time leader in sub-1:50 victories,
has been retired after a career in which he won 76 races and
earned $1,649,900.
Michigan-based owners Ed and Cheryl Sayfie and Gary and Laurel
Gust originally paid just $3,700 for the Michigan-bred yearling
in 1997.
"He was losing a little bit... and we always said the horse
would tell us, and he is telling us," Ed Sayfie told The
Horseman of the decision to retire the 11-year-old gray Admirals
Galley gelding, who raced the majority of his career at Woodbine/Mohawk.
"By doing this now, we just want to honor him with the
class that he has. It's a retirement that is well deserved."
Admiral's Express made his final start Dec. 23 at Woodbine,
finishing off a 293-start career in which his gritty and determined
efforts earned him the nick-name "The Gray Gladiator"
from former Woodbine/Mohawk race announcer Frank Salive.
His 14 sub-1:50 victories is an all-time record, with his career-best
1:48.2 coming in an Open Pace at Woodbine at age nine on June
11, 2005. Sayfie said he was especially proud that Admiral's
Express was named Canada's 2005 Horse of the Year as well as
winning two other O'Brien Awards over his career as the best
of his division.
THE
GREAT "GREY GLADIATOR" RETIRES
Posted on Standardbred Canada
January 5,2007
Admiral's Express,
the grey pacer who captured the hearts of race fans all over the
country, was honoured as Canada's 2005 Horse of the Year, won
in a record 14 sub-1:50 miles, and earned over $2-million, has
been retired at the age of 11. Trainer Mike Hales told Trot
Insider this morning that racing has been just too tough for
Admiral's Express and in order to ensure his health and
safety, his connections have made the difficult decision to retire
him.
An emotional Hales gave the following statement to Trot Insider:
"It is with great
honour that we are announcing the retirement of the great Grey
Gladiator, Admiral's Express, now 11 years old. He will enjoy
the comforts of retirement at trainer Mike Hales' farm in Orillia,
Ont.
"He and groom Lacey
Beer will become riding buddies.
"The 2005 O'Brien
Award winner, Horse of the Year and record holder for most sub-1:50
miles will hopefully still visit tracks both in Canada and the
U.S. for guest appearances and track events.
"He's always been
a fan favourite and loves being at the track.
"We owe many thanks
to the people who helped make the dream come true for us. Special
thanks to trainer Mike Hales, groom Lacey Beer, driver Paul MacDonell,
announcer Frank Salive, and all his friends who loved him as much
as we do.
"We love you Grey
- Ed and Cheryl Sayfie, Gary and Laurel Gust, Mike, and Lacey."
Admiral's Express,
a son of Admirals Galley-Platinum Card, retires with 76 wins,
a mark of 1:48.2, and $2,045,630 in career earnings.
Bruce Murray, Woodbine
Entertainment Group's Vice-President of Standardbred racing, said
Admirals Express will be missed by fans.
"He's the ultimate
people's horse who attracted a wide legion of fans," Murray said.
"He did a lot for the sport. He'll be missed."
Murray also announced
WEG plans for an Admiral's Express retirement ceremony, set for
opening weekend of the Mohawk meet, May 19-20. The gelding will
be on site, pose for pictures with fans and lead a post parade.
Further details will be announced.
NUMBER
75 FOR ADMIRAL'S EXPRESS
The Horseman and Fair World
by Gordon Waterstone
November 29, 2006
Admiral's
Express snapped out of an uncharacteristic six-race losing streak
Saturday night, Nov. 25, winning a $21,000(C) conditioned pace
at Woodbine Racetrack in 1:51.1. It was the 75th career victory
for the 10-year-old Admirals Galley gelding, nicknamed the "Gray
Gladiator," and his first since winning a $66,750 Invitational
at Hippodrome de Montreal on Oct. 8.
The
win was only Admiral's Express's seventh of the year, increasing
his seasonal earnings to $182,655. The sport's all-time leader
in sub-1:50 victories with 14 to his credit (three this year as
he became the fastest 10 year old ever with a pair of 1:49.2 efforts),
Admiral's Express has career earnings of $1,633,857 for owners
Ed and Cheryl Sayfie and Gary and Laurel Gust.
WINNER
OF TWO O'BRIEN AWARDS
Posted
on Standardbred Canada
January 29, 2006
The O'Brien Awards
are Canada's national harness racing awards and are named for
the late Joe O'Brien, a member of the Canadian Horse Racing
Hall of Fame.
At a sold-out black
tie gala held at the Delta Meadowvale Hotel, fan favourite Admirals
Express collected two O'Briens. Affectionately known as the
'Grey Gladiator' and one of the sport's most popular horses,
Admirals Express was voted Canada's Older Pacer of the
Year and 2005 Horse of the Year.
Owned by Laurel & Gary Gust
and Cheryl and Ed Sayfie of Michigan, the 10-year-old son of
Admirals Galley
is the sport's leading sub-1:50 winner of all time and the world's
fastest grey standardbred with a mark of 1:48.2. He had earnings
of over $491,000 for trainer Mike Hales and was driven regularly
in 2005 by O'Brien Award nominee Paul MacDonell.
TOP
HONORS FOR ADMIRAL'S EXPRESS
Posted on Standardbred
Canada
December 18, 2005
This evening at Mohawk, Admirals Express
was named the Woodbine Entertainment Group's Horse of
the Year for 2005, as well as the Pacer of
the Year.
The nine-year-old son of Admirals Galley
had a spectacular campaign, banking in excess of $491,000 in
purses from 39 starts.
Trained by Mike Hales for Michigan residents
Laurel and Gary Gust and Cheryl and Ed Sayfie, the "Grey
Gladiator" has assembled a seasonal record of 17-7-5 so
far in 2005, pushing his career bankroll to over $1.8 million.
"He just seems to get better and
better with age," Hales said of the gelding, who lowered
his mark to 1:48.2 on June 11 at Woodbine. "He has just
had and unbelievable year. Until he tells us otherwise, we look
to have another great season with him in 2006."
20 RIDICULOUSLY
AMAZING THINGS ABOUT
ADMIRALS EXPRESS
STORY BY LAUREN
LEE
Canadian Sportsman
What more can be said
about Admirals Express, the nine-year-old grey pacing warrior?
The ‘Grey Gladiator’ has out-earned, out-paced and
out-fought his free-for-all foes to become the most recognizable
and beloved horse in Canada. Long ago, his feats of strength,
speed, resiliency and longevity bridged the gap from sublime
to ridiculous and beyond.
In celebration of his
ongoing bewildering achievements, The Sportsman has selected
20 things that make Admirals Express truly amazing and wondrously
endearing.
1. HE’S GREY, for God’s
sake.
It’s not an uncommon scene at the racetrack. A racing
newcomer will watch the horses in the post parade and declare,
‘Ooh, look at the grey one’ or ‘I hope that
one wins’. Then, not long after the gate swings, comes
the disheartened, ‘Why is the grey one so far behind?’
Of course, there have been great exceptions to the rule —
Jet Laag, Greyhound, Laag — but, historically, greyness
hasn’t been synonymous with wealth, speed or success on
very many occasions.
Admirals Express is a grey thriving in a bay world. Among the
rows and rows of somewhat indistinguishable bays that stand
in Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) paddock stalls, the Gladiator
stands out like Ozzy Osbourne in a church choir. There are few
things that have never been spoken or overheard in a race paddock,
but ‘Which one is Admirals Express?’ is one of them.
Admirals Express is the fastest and richest grey horse
of all-time. In fact, with regards to the fastest miles
ever by a grey/roan horse, Admiral Express has the fastest
(1:48.2), the second fastest (1:48.4), four of the top five
miles, six of the top 10, and 11 of the top 16. Those
are impressive numbers, to be sure, but it’s his unwillingness
to take a back seat and ability to beat hordes of bay bullies
that makes him so very special.
2. Sub, sub, sub-1:50
He has more sub-1:50 miles than any other horse in history with
11 miles under the mark. Life Source has 10 sub-1:50 miles to
his credit. Admirals Express first broke the barrier (1:49.3)
on June 21, 2003. Most recently, he paced away to a 1:49.1 win
on Oct. 29, 2005 at Woodbine. Regular driver Paul MacDonell
has been along for the ride for 10 of the 11 historic miles,
while Rick Zeron notched the other on July 5, 2003.
He has three sub-1:50 miles in three consecutive weeks to his
credit AND he’s done it twice in his career (summer 2003,
summer 2004).
3. Blue-collar grey
What do you think Admirals Express would say if he knew Rocknroll
Hanover made almost as much money in winning three races (Metro,
North America Cup and the Meadowlands Pace) as the grey made
in 67 knock-’em-down-drag-’em-out winning efforts?
a) “Back in my day we walked 16 miles to school in a snow
storm.”
b) “Where’s Don King when I need him?”
c) “Those young whipper-snappers don’t know the
first thing about a hard day’s work.”
Any way you look at it, Admirals Express has become a millionaire
the hard way. To date, he’s won almost $1.8 million dollars,
but never won a race with a purse higher than $75,000. His biggest
single pay cheque was the winner’s share, $37,500, from
the Slots Cup Invitational on Sept. 4, 2004, at Hiawatha Horse
Park. Driver Brad Kramer engineered the wire-to-wire victory
in 1:50.1.
4. Better with age
He set his life mark this year at age nine AND his 1:48.2 mile
on June 11 was Canada’s fastest mile of the year and also
an all-track record at Woodbine (shared with Dr No). In fact,
Admirals Express has lowered his mark every year from the age
of two to nine.
“So at the age of 14, we figure he’ll pace in about
1:45,” said Ed Sayfie, with a laugh. Sayfie shares ownership
of Admirals Express with his wife, Cheryl, and Gary and Laurel
Gust, all of Michigan.
Also, Admirals Express has won more races in 2005 (16) than
in any other year he’s raced.
5. Humble beginnings
Admirals Express (Admirals Galley—Platinum Card) is a
$3,700 Michigan-bred yearling, who began his career on the Michigan
Fair circuit.
6. Star power, star treatment
To say Admirals Express is kind of popular would be like saying
lip readers sort of hate sarcasm. When Standardbred Canada runs
an online poll that involves Admirals Express, they get a record
number of votes. When the Toronto Star finally gives harness
racing a little bit of ink, it’s a three-quarter-page
story / photo of Admirals Express. When his owners go to the
Little Brown Jug and some Canadian fans find out, they are treated
like rock stars. When Frank Salive makes an announcement that
Admirals Express posters are free at the Mohawk customer service
desk (after another amazing mile to close the Mohawk summer
meet), there is an all-out stampede... and so on.
According to WEG track photographer Clive Cohen, he is also
the most requested horse for photos — by a landslide.
Bruce Murray, who fields daily requests for photos, tidbits
and information about Admirals Express as Mohawk’s senior
manager of media/community relations, recalls one night from
the Mohawk summer meet that perfectly exemplifies the Gladiator’s
gravitational pull.
“Everybody cheers for this horse. It was a Saturday night
and he was late in the card — the 10th or 11th race. It
started to rain and it was just teeming down. (Admirals Express)
goes out for the post parade and these people run outside. It’s
coming down in buckets and they go out cheering and screaming
for him in the post parade. Paul MacDonell got off the track
— after going an amazing mile that night — and he
said, ‘Did you see those people? They were screamin’
and yellin’ and getting soaked.’ And that was just
because it was the Grey Gladiator.”
7. Uncommon resiliency
“It doesn’t matter how much he gets roughed up,
he always seems to bounce back and be ready the next week,”
said Mike Hales. Yep. After a going a tough, tough mile parked
to the three-quarters in the Des Smith Final on Sept. 18 at
Rideau Carleton Raceway (finishing eighth by eight-and-a-quarter
lengths), Admirals Express rebounded the following week with
a blockbuster 1:49.2 win by four-and-a-quarter lengths at Mohawk.
8. Catch me if you can
It’s like the old joke about ‘80s sitcom Three’s
Company — ‘Hey, did you ever see that episode? You
know, the one with the misunderstanding...” However, when
applied to the Gladiator it’s, “Hey, did you see
that Admirals Express race? You know, the one where he went
to the front...” That’s another great thing about
the grey, everyone knows he’s going to the front and he
does it any way. Of his 67 career wins, no fewer than 38 have
been wire-to-wire victories.
9. Gladiator’s hero
Trainer Mike Hales was awarded the Government of Canada’s
Medal of Bravery by the York Region Police in 2002 after he,
along with another citizen named Rosemary Russell, wrestled
a knife from a man on the main street of Sutton, ON. The armed
man was fleeing the scene of an altercation and Hales restrained
the suspect until police arrived.
10. Can’t keep a good
man down
His connections thought his career was over twice due to injury
and illness. Five years ago, Admirals Express battled a case
a pneumonia and was given a 20 per cent chance of racing again.
Three years ago, an ankle infection prompted a five-week stay
at the University Of Guelph for treatment.
11. Looks can be deceiving
Warming up prior to his races, Admirals Express often looks
like a mess. He may look slow and shaky in the post parade,
but when the gate swings he settles into perfect stride and
fires off the wings like a heat-seeking missile. In fact, owner
Cheryl Sayfie says, when racing away from the WEG circuit, the
connections have had to plead with veterinarians and judges
who think the pacer should be scratched.
“Our trainer Mike says, ‘No, no, he’s fine.
He always does that. Just wait until he goes to the gate’.
(Admirals Express) just kind of plays out there and lolligags
around the track. He’s playful and the more he messes
around out there, the better he races,” she said.
12. He’s fearless
The spring and summer of 2004 belonged to older pacer Four Starzzz
Shark, after he reeled off one dominant win after another. With
the racing world buzzing over The Shark’s 1:47.4 mile
on July 3, 2004 at the Meadowlands, Admirals Express (with some
help from Mike Hales) cleared his throat and suggested a match-race
might be in order. Undeterred by the fact The Shark had double
his lifetime earnings and significantly more stakes success,
not to mention that he had paced in 1:48.2 and 1:48.1 in the
two weeks following his 1:47.4 mile, Admirals Express wanted
a piece of him. Although the challenge was enthusiastically
accepted by The Shark’s owners, Jeff Cohen and Mike Sudaley,
the dual never came to fruition as The Shark’s storied
career ended abruptly following a lung infection only a few
weeks later.
13. Show on the road
He made his first trip to the Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day,
Aug. 6, 2005. Parked out through torrid fractions of :25.4,
:52.2 and 1:20, Admirals Express faded to finish seventh by
eight-and-three-quarter lengths. Carlspur won the race in a
blistering 1:48. “It’s like (other drivers) weren’t
going to let him come in and beat them,” said Bruce Murray.
“He defies logic. He doesn’t get easy trips. He
got that trip at the Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day and most
horses would’ve never raced again. But like Hales said,
‘It’ll hurt the horses that did it to him more than
it’ll hurt him’ and, sure enough, those ones didn’t
race worth a darn after that.”
14. There’s no place like
home
Since coming to Ontario from Michigan in 2000, Admirals Express
has won 54 times. Of his 54 trips to the winner’s circle
since 2000, only nine of his victories have been away from the
WEG circuit.
15. Never met a start he didn’t
like
He has averaged more than 30 starts a year for the last eight
years. In total, he has made 249 starts with a record of 67-40-35.
16. Hanging on
The Grey Gladiator’s many fans don’t often get a
completely stress-free tour around the track. In 55 wins since
coming into Mike Hales’ barn, the old warrior has won
20 times by less than a length. Moreover, 17 additional times
the margin of victory has been less than two lengths. In 54
wins, only five have been by more than four lengths.
17. Friends in high places
Even long-time horsemen are in awe of Admirals Express. Especially
on big stake nights at Woodbine or Mohawk, Admirals Express
will have a stream of big-wig paddock visitors dropping by to
meet him.
“We have trainers like Mark Ford and drivers like George
Brennan that will come up and look at him and say, ‘That’s
the toughest horse I’ve ever seen’ and they’ll
just stand there and look at him. Everybody is just in awe of
him,” said Hales.
Even the connections of his competition have a soft spot for
the grey.
“Our competitors have come up to us at the races and said,
‘We are rooting for your horse. Even though we’re
in this one, we’re pulling for your horse,’”
said Cheryl Sayfie. “The people are so great and we’ve
got fans from every corner of the world and every corner of
the industry.”
18. Post position, smost position
The average post position for his 11 sub-1:50 miles has been
5.4, with his top three miles (1:48.2, 1:48.4 and 1:49) coming
from Post 7, Post 6 and Post 9, respectively. Of his 55 wins
since he began racing in Ontario, The Gladiator has won from
Post 5 most often (10 times) and from Post 8 only once. On four
occasions he’s overcome either Post 9 or Post 10 for the
win. More than half of his 55 wins have come from Post 5, Post
6 or Post 7 (28 wins in total).
19. Always holds his own
Amongst his fellow racing millionaires, Admirals Express has
always won his share. During his career, he has beaten a few
of the sport’s most decorated champions such as Gallo
Blue Chip, Boulder Creek, Dragon Again, Yulestar N, Rair Earth,
Sir Luck, Escape The Wind, Georgia Pacific, Royal Mattjesty,
Luckyisasluckydoes and Sand Olls Dexter, as well as many others.
20. ‘Tis the season
During his career, Admirals Express has notched at least one
win in every calendar month. Not surprisingly, his most prolific
months are June and July with 11 wins per month, followed closely
by September (10 wins) and August (six wins). However, the gladiator
is certainly more than just a fair-weather racer. In fact, he’s
made several trips to the winner’s circle in the wintery
months of November (seven wins), December (three wins), January
(four wins), February (four wins) and March (four wins). His
least productive month is April, scoring only one lifetime win
in the month of showers and fools.
Odds On Racing's
Horse
of the Month
for December 2005
ADMIRAL'S
EXPRESS
CLICK HERE
to view the complete article
Purchased for a mere
$3,700 as a yearling, Admiral's Express has gone on to race
against and beat such horses as Real Desire (2002 Horse of the
Year) and Gallo Blue Chip (2000 Horse of the Year), among others.
A grandson of the mighty Laag, Admiral's Express is by the popular
Michigan stallion Admirals
Galley p, 2,1:54.2 ($300,000+)
This Michigan-bred gelding
began his career on the Wolverine county fair circuit, competing
during his two and three-year-old season. Admiral's Express
won five of 14 starts at two, earning $16,108. At three the
grey gelding entered the winner's circle seven times in 19 starts,
winning over $60,000. He spent much of his next few seasons
racing at the "B" tracks in Canada, such as Kawartha
Downs and Rideau Carleton.
In 2001, Admiral's Express
seemed to find a new gear, nabbing checks on a regular basis
in the Junior Free For Alls at Woodbine and Mohawk and dropping
his mark to 1:52.2 after a June 9 win at Woodbine. After a bout
with pneumonia, however, he was sidelined for nearly five months
and didn't start again until that fall, winning on December
1 at Mohawk.
2002 saw him back at his
previous level, scoring in the Junior Free For Alls and high
conditioned races, including a start against Real Desire that
saw him pace in 1:48.3, making him the fastest-timed grey performer
ever. That season he consistently paced between 1:49.3 and 1:50,
earning him the title of the "Grey Gladiator." He
wrapped up that year with six wins in 44 starts and $175,000+
in earnings--his best year ever.
"Admiral's Express
doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'," announcer
Frank Salive recalled. "Three miles under 1:50 was amazing--it
was a pleasant surprise that every year he was getting better
and better. We knew he would be a good horse, but not a great
horse. I think he just grew into himself. He became more athletic.
He learned to race smarter. He has an incredible will to win."
In 2003 Admiral's Express
appeared set for another winning season when a small cut on
his ankle turned into an infected joint. His owners sent him
to the University of Guelph for antibiotic treatments, giving
him some "down time." That didn't deflect him from
winning just over a quarter of a million dollars however.
As an eight and nine-year-old
pacer, Admiral's Express has garnered his most profilic seasons,
earning well over $300,000 each year.
Admiral's Express is one
of the most popular pacers racing today in North America. His
determined attidute, size and color have endeared him to fans
throughout both Canada and the United States.
Admiral Express' Lifetime
Statistics as of December 3, 2005
Year Starts Wins/2nds/3rds Earnings Record Track & Date
Taken
2005 37 17 5 5 $388,257 9, 1:48.2S WDB 06/11/2005
2004 41 10 9 3 $303,208 8, 1:48.4S WDB 06/12/2004
2003 33 11 5 3 $225,516 7, 1:49.1S WDB 06/28/2003
2002 44 6 6 9 $175,136 6, 1:50.4S WDB 07/06/2002
2001 29 4 2 9 $114,450 5, 1:52.2S WDB 06/09/2001
2000 33 8 6 2 $140,054 4, 1:53.0F RIDC 07/20/2000
1999 19 7 4 3 $66,818 3, Q1:56.3S MOH 12/07/1999
1998 14 5 3 1 $16,108 2, 2:01.3H KNRS 09/04/1998
Total 250 68 40 35 $1,429,547 9, 1:48.2S
Pacer
for the People
Nearly 10, popular Admirals Express shows no
signs of slowing down
Colourful horse's fan base reaches far and wide
Nov. 15, 2005
HANS GROTTKE
Admirals Express will
officially become 10 years old on Jan.1, an age at which nearly
all of his standardbred contemporaries have long been put out
to pasture.
But rather than slow down,
the Admiral is getter better and faster. He won 10 races last
year. He has won 15 times this year and is the odds-on favourite
to win an O'Brien Award as the country's top older pacer. He
might even be Canada's horse of the year in the standardbred
division.
Not bad for a horse that
cost $3,700 as a yearling.
The Admiral's humble beginnings
and late-career success have made him the most popular pacer
in Canada since the legendary Cam Fella. His four owners —
two couples from Michigan — have dubbed him "the
Seabiscuit of harness racing."
"He's the people's
choice," says Edward Sayfie, a bar owner in Grand Rapids,
Mich. "Everybody likes to see the underdog succeed. We
may be a small-time stable but he's a big-time horse."
Admirals Express could
also be an all-time horse.
If he captures the aged
pacer award, he will be the oldest horse to do so in modern
times. Horse of the year would be even more remarkable. That
award usually goes to 3- and 4-year-olds. Since 1987, there
has been one 4-year-old winner; the rest were younger.
Nicknamed "The Grey
Gladiator" because of his unusual body colouring and black
muzzle, the gracefully aging Admirals Express is already in
the record books.
Last month, he registered
his 11th career victory in less than one minute and 50 seconds.
No other standardbred has paced as many sub-1:50 miles.
During his lengthy career,
The Grey Gladiator has won 66 races and $1.7 million. But that
doesn't tell the whole story. Today, many young horses become
millionaires in a hurry because there are so many mega-bucks
stakes races available to them as 2- and 3-year-olds.
But Admirals Express is
strictly a blue-collar horse, grinding out purse money against
tough allowance company in races that rarely top $50,000 in
purse value. His richest "stakes" victory came in
the $75,000 Slots Cup at Sarnia a few years ago.
His unassuming style and
increasingly remarkable record — plus TV coverage of races
from Woodbine and Mohawk — have given the Admiral a following
right across Canada.
Earlier this year, Barclay
Hurley of Montreal asked the Woodbine Entertainment Group if
arrangements could be made to have his 70-year-old father pose
with Admirals Express when they were in Toronto for the North
America Cup on Father's Day. The elder Hurley had been following
the horse's exploits on television for years and was thrilled
to meet the Gladiator "in person" in the paddock.
Seemingly sensing the
occasion, and rising to it, Admirals Express won his race that
night.
"He always draws
the biggest crowds and gets the most attention wherever we race,"
says trainer Mike Hales, who has engineered the Gladiator's
career for the past six years since the horse moved to Ontario
from Michigan at the end of his 3-year-old campaign.
Woodbine gets more requests
for photographs and information on Admirals Express than any
other standardbred on its circuit, which encompasses several
thousand horses, spokesman Bruce Murray says.
"He just loves attention,"
Hales says. "He's got a great attitude and never seems
to worry about anything. He's a bit of a ham."
A well-fed ham.
"He's a brute. He
weighs nearly 1,300 pounds. I think he could race all year and
never lose any weight," the trainer says.
That sturdiness has paid
off. Hales recalls when the Gladiator was sidelined with pneumonia
a few years back and veterinarians figured he might never race
again.
"Instead, he gained
weight while he was being treated. The vets said they had never
seen anything like it."
Later, Admirals Express
developed an ankle infection that laid him up for five weeks
and again threatened his career. But once more he made a complete
recovery.
It might be no coincidence
that the horse has been at his best the past two years since
being regularly partnered with driver Paul MacDonell. Like Admirals
Express, MacDonell is enjoying the best year of his career;
he's the country's leading money winner.
Hales attributes the pairing's
success to the Gladiator teaching MacDonell how he likes to
be driven.
"It's the same as
training," Hales says. "We don't train him. He trains
us."
But how long can Admirals
Express continue to defy the odds and his age?
"He'll let us know
when he can't race any more," Hales says. "Right now,
he doesn't show any signs of slowing down. I think he can go
until he's 14 (the mandatory retirement age)."
Admiral's
Express Makes Harness History
Posted on Standardbred Canada
on October 30, 2005
Admirals Express, in rein
to Paul MacDonell, notched his 66th lifetime win in Saturday’s
$50,000 Open Pace at Woodbine and his 1:49.1 clocking makes
him the leading sub-1:50 performer in the history of harness
racing.
The “Grey Gladiator”
owns a total of 11 sub-1:50 wins – one more than fellow
free-for-aller Life Source.
Admirals Express improved
his 2005 record to 15-5-4 in 34 starts for trainer Mike Hales,
who has watched his stable star rack up season’s earnings
of $410,850.
Gary & Laurel Gust
of Cedar Springs, MI, and Ed & Cheryl Sayfie of Rockford,
MI, hold the papers on the 9-year-old son of Admirals Galley
– Platinum Card, who now sports lifetime earnings of $1,740,650.
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Admiral's
Express
"Cover Boy"
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His
Great Greyness Strikes Again!
Article posted on Standardbred
Canada
October 9, 2005
Admirals Express notched
his 65th lifetime win on Saturday night in Mohawk’s $50,000
Open Pace and in doing so you have to wonder if it was the gelding’s
way of saying “thanks for all the great calls and the groovy
nickname” to track announcer Frank Salive, who dubbed the
pacer the Grey Gladiator.
The 9-year-old son of Admirals
Galley – Platinum Card grabbed the racetrack right from
the time the starting gate sped away and more often that not he
is one tough customer to catch when allowed to shake loose up
front.
That proved to be the case
yet again for Admirals Express, who rattled of panels of :26.3,
:54.2 and 1:22.2 en route to the 1:49.4 decision for driver Paul
MacDonell, trainer Mike Hales and the partnership of Gary &
Laurel Gust of Cedar Springs, MI, and Ed & Cheryl Sayfie of
Rockford, MI.
The 1:49.4 clocking was
the tenth sub-1:50 in the career of Admirals Express, who joins
Life Source as the only two pacers to have that many sub-1:50
scores.
The $25,000 payday brings
the pacer’s yearly earnings total up to $361,350 and it
boosts his career total to a staggering $1,691,150.
Just another day at the
office for one of the biggest draws in all of harness racing.
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