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Cellebrity Force Powerful in Top Trot
After finishing second in all six of his previous outings at Hoosier Park, Cellebrity Force earned his first Hoosier Park win Saturday, June 21 in the Invitational Trot. Driven by Gerry Kazmaier, the six-year-old Mr Vic gelding brought home the biggest portion of the $23,000 purse for owner Ron Goldman in his 11th start of 2008. 
Starting from post six in the eight-horse lineup, Cellebrity Force never gets involved in the action real soon after the start. Kazmaier eased the tall trotter to the rear of the pack, only beating one horse to the first turn as Norvelous and Brad Hanners led the way past the quarter in :28.4.
The tempo of the race quickly softened up as Norvelous reached the halfway mark in 1:00, forcing Kazmaier to move Cellebrity Force to the outside to begin his pursuit of the top spot. Cellebrity Force dug in and took on the task at hand, reaching the wheel of Norvelous by the top of the stretch and the third quarter time of 1:29.4.
In the stretch, Cellebrity Force began to work on ousting heavily-favored Norvelous from the top spot, but at the same time, had to fight off Wigwam Baby and Dan Shetler, who had followed them to the stretch. Neither competitor would give in quietly as the trio raced to the wire, giving Cellebrity Force the edge between horses by a half-length in a time of 1:57.3. Wigwam Baby finished second. Norvelous was three-quarters of a length back for the show spot.
Cellebrity Force earned his 17th win in 75 tries for Goldman. The Kentucky-bred gelding now has more than $140,000 in career earnings.
“No longer a bridesmaid, he’s finally a bride,” noted Goldman, who has had Cellebrity Force since his three-year-old year.
Cellebrity Force is trained by Kazmaier, who is less than 100 wins away from 1,000 and has experienced success on both coasts. The New York City native has been an active driver for the past five decades, competing successfully from Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island to Los Alamitos in California.
Last season, the team of Kazmaier and Goldman competed at The Meadowlands in the early portion of 2007. Cellebrity Force was the meet’s top trotter, winning more races than any other trotter on the grounds for the first quarter of the year.
