The experts had Twister Bi winning the International Trot at Yonkers Raceway.
The money coming in had the horse at a 2-5 betting line.
Everything was there except a letdown.
There wasn’t.
The pure speed of the 5-year-old allowed him to break the world record, setting it at 2:22 1/5 in the 39th edition of the International Trot.
“I wanted everybody to see how good a horse he was,” said trainer Jerry Riordan, who added that he knew the race was over as soon as his horse made it through the first turn without incident. “I don’t want to brag, but of the elite horses in Europe, Timoko came over and he is certainly one of the all-time elites. But of this year’s generation, he is one of the elite horses, and to build this race you have to have one of them at least. If there had been Bold Eagle out here or Aubrion Du Gers or Nuncio on his best, he wouldn’t have been all alone on the wire; there would have been a fight right to the end. That’s what gets people excited.”
Defending champion Resolve took the early lead, but was overpowered by Italian entries Oasis Bi and Then ultimately Twister Bi.
From there, that was all was needed in this race, which paid $2.90 and of course $1 million to the winner.
Driver Christoffer Eriksson said, “He was feeling good before the race, and I wanted to take it easy early.” Asked what makes Twister Bi the horse he is, Eriksson said, “He’s got such good technique getting around the turns. He can go at full speed.”
It was the biggest win of his career.
Although some of the horse will get invitations to the Breeder’s Cup, Twister Bi will take some time off to rest up for the European circuit.
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