It was a bit over a year ago when Jujubee burst on the national scene with a sparkling 1:49 4/5 victory at The Meadowlands on Hambletonian Day. That winning mile was part of a string of seven wins in eight starts including the Breeders Crown which vaulted him to the top of the heap in 2021 as Trotter of the Year. Everything was perfect and this year started off the same way as Jujubee trained down for Greg Wright Jr., but just as he was approaching a return to the races something seemed off. The 4-year-old was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of his left hind pastern. "The x-rays didn't pick anything up so we brought him to Dr. Patty Hogan and she was able to find it on an MRI. Even after she found it she went back to look on the x-ray and couldn't find it there," said Wright, who gave the horse plenty of rest from his first qualifier on April 13 at Spring Ranch Garden to his second on August 3 at Pocono. "He seems good on it now. We've had him checked out and there is no reason to think otherwise." Wright drove Jujubee himself in the August 3 qualifier and had a front row seat to his 1:55 4/5 victory. The plan was to qualify again before potentially going in the Sebastian K on August 20 at Pocono, but the son of Creatine got sick. So Wright moved Jujubee from Congress Hill Farm in New Jersey to The Red Mile to prepare for a Midwest campaign which got started on Monday (8/22) with a 1:52 3/5 qualifying win, this time with Andrew McCarthy in the bike. Jujubee tucked third from post seven, brushed to the lead at the half in 56 3/5, set the pace past three quarters in 1:24 4/5 and cruised home to win by 3 1/2 lengths. "Andy [McCarthy] said he was really strong and did it easily," said Wright about the qualifying effort. First up on the stakes calendar for Jujubee is the Charlie Hill Memorial at Scioto Downs on September 10 and Wright is hoping to get a race in beforehand. If not, his stable star will qualify. "They qualify [at Red Mile] on Monday, so that isn't ideal. Hopefully we can find a race for him," said Wright. Assuming all goes well, the preliminary plan is for the career winner of $961,857 to start two weeks later in the Caesars Trotting Classic at Harrah's Hoosier Park on September 23, the Dayton Trotting Derby on October 1, the Allerage on October 9 and then start in the Breeders Crown eliminations at Woodbine Mohawk Park on October 22. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter While Jujubee is seemingly lightly raced this year considering his dance card only shows three qualifiers and no pari-mutuel starts, Wright feels that the winner of 16 races in 23 career starts has actually had a long year since he was ready to return in April before forced into six weeks of rest. Even though the injury seems to be in the rearview mirror, Wright is not exactly doing cartwheels quite yet. "It is not going to be easy [beating the top older trotters] but it is good to have him back," said Wright. "If he gives us any indication that he's not right we won't continue with him." Wright and owner Jon Erdner are clearly hoping that Jujubee has a big second half of the year but it is always good to have options. They've already gotten calls for him to stand as a stallion in Indiana and Ohio. "My owner wants to race him," said Wright about the prospect of Jujubee racing in 2023. "Maybe we can breed and race."