Rock N Roll Heaven followed his outstanding 2010 pacing season by capturing trophy hardware honors as Harness Horse of the Year, Pacer of the Year, and Champion Three-Year-Old Colt Pacer in ceremonies held February 27, 2011 at the Marriott North Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In divisional voting for Champion Older Mare Trotter, Buck I St. Pat swept all 131 ballots.
Rock N Roll Heaven's HOY Run
The son of Rocknroll Hanover--Artistic Vision, by Artsplace, Rock N Roll Heaven leveled the fields in the Little Brown Jug with an elimination race in time of 1:49.2, then stole the Jug final convincingly with a second identical time of 1:49.2 in the final.
His Jug time in two consecutive heats was a world record, and just to make sure everyone caught his action, he later triumphed in the prestigious Breeders Crown by 5-1/2 lengths in 1:49, giving another dominant performance.
Driven by Daniel Dube and trained by Bruce Saunders, Rock N Roll Heaven also won the season's Messenger Stakes. The Jug and the Messenger are two of the three races of the Pacing Triple Crown.
Rock N Roll Heaven had a sophomore season of 16 wins from 21 starts. Two seconds and a third filled out his 2010 slate. His earnings reached $2,156,192.
Rock N Roll Heaven's HOY Vote
Rocknroll Hanover's bay pacing son scored even more impressively in ballot voting for Harness Horse of the Year. Ballot counting revealed Rock N Roll Heaven received all but eight of the available votes for HOY, 123 of 131 cast.
Rock N Roll Heaven's 93.8 percentage vote for HOY topped all Harness Horse of the Year victors except the sensational Niatross in 1980. Niatross was given the nod for HOY on all but one ballot cast, receiving a 99.5 vote percentage.
Other 2010 Harness Racing Winners
A voting breakdown for harness racing's 2010 divisional winners follows:
Pacer of the Year -- Rock N Roll Heaven, 127; Won The West, 2; See You At Peelers, 1; One More Laugh, 1.
Two-Year-Old Colt Pacer -- Big Jim, 120; Feel Like A Fool, 5; Mystician, 3; Mystic Desire, 1; Powerful Mist, 1.
Two-Year-Old Filly Pacer -- See You At Peelers, 99; Idyllic, 25; Badlands Jenna, 2; Strike An Attitude, 2; City Delight, 1; Pretty Katherine, 1.
Three-Year-Old Colt Pacer -- Rock N Roll Heaven, 129; One More Laugh, 2.
Three-Year-Old Filly Pacer -- Put On A Show, 118; Dancinwiththestarz, 7; Western Silk, 5.
Older Male Pacer -- Won The West, 90; Shark Gesture, 34; Hypnotic Blue Chip, 3; Foiled Again, 1; Atochia, 1; Vintage Master, 1.
Older Mare Pacer -- Dreamfair Eternal, 123; Ginger and Fred, 3; On The Glass, 1; Southwind Tempo, 1; Symphony In Motion, 1; Tug River Princess, 1.
Trotter of the Year -- Lucky Chucky, 60; Buck I St. Pat, 54; Muscle Massive, 7; San Pail, 3; Bar Slide, 2; Wishing Stone, 2; Crys Dream, 1; Enough Talk, 1.
Two-Year-Old Colt Trotter -- Pastor Stephen, 56; Manofmanymissions, 55; Blue Porsche, 18; Chapter Seven, 1.
Two-Year-Old Filly Trotter -- Crys Dream, 94; Jezzy, 19; Martiniontherocks, 12; Thatsnotmyname, 2; Creme De Cocoa, 1; Some Girls, 1.
Three-Year-Old Colt Trotter -- Lucky Chucky, 108; Muscle Massive, 16; Wishing Stone, 5; Break The Bank K, 2.
Three-Year-Old Filly Trotter -- Bar Slide, 69; Impressive Kemp, 28; Ultimate Cameron, 13; Costa Rica, 10; Msnaughtybynature, 7; Behindclosedoors, 2.
Older Male Trotter -- Enough Talk, 73; San Pail, 30; Lucky Jim, 26.
Older Mare Trotter -- Buck I St. Pat, 131 (unanimous).
Rock N Roll Heaven Owner/Breeders
Harness Horse of the Year Rock N Roll Heaven is owned by Frank Bellino.
The champion pacer was bred by Steve Stewart, Charles "Cotton" and Julie Nash and Francene Nash, all of Kentucky.
BarbaraAnne Helberg - Barbara Anne Helberg, Supporter of Better Lives for Animals and Clean, Spirited, Competitive Sports
