Harness: McWicked an ageless wonder on the track
Trainer Casie Coleman had to answer the questions a lot earlier this year about what was keeping her defending Horse of the Year McWicked from routinely beating the top horses in North America.
“Everybody wanted to know what was wrong with him,” Coleman said when looking back on his early 2019 campaign. “I kept telling everyone there’s nothing wrong with him, he’s just fine.”
McWicked is actually more than just fine, he’s an exceptional example of the best of a standardbred. The 8-year-old has shipped north following an eye-catching victory in last Saturday’s Allerage final at The Red Mile and goes for his second straight $250,000 Dan Rooney triumph this Saturday afternoon at Yonkers Raceway.
“He had a 12-hour ship from Lexington to our setup in New Jersey,” Coleman said. “I just called down there and he’s doing great.” That’s good news for those that have followed this magnificent son of McArdle throughout his illustrious career and likely bad news for the seven that will be behind the gate alongside on Saturday.
“He’s such a smart horse,” Coleman said. “He knows how to take care of himself whether it’s training in 2:25 or racing.”
Longevity is something more common among standardbreds and McWicked’s span at the top ironically connects him with a pair of Teague stable stars, Wiggle It Jiggleit and more recently Lather Up, who just announced his retirement due to injury at age 4. While those pair shined brightly when on the track, neither can match the durability of the $4.7 million winning McWicked.
“You know earlier this year people were telling me that McWicked had slowed down and wasn’t the same horse as he was a year ago,” Coleman said. “Actually when he chased Lather Up in that mile-and-one-eighth race, he went faster than he’s ever gone before.” Coleman gave credit where it was due. “Lather Up was just a beast at the time,” Coleman said.
With the fall upon us, McWicked has become the one to beat this week and looking down the road with a chance again to capture a division title. “Ideally we’d like to race him this Saturday and then come back in two weeks for the Breeders Crown. I’m hoping and feel that there won’t be eliminations in the Crown,” Coleman said. “After that we’ve been invited to the $100,000 race at Rosecroft and hopefully will close out the year in the TVG Final at The Meadowlands.”
Perhaps what has set McWicked apart from the competition is a racing style that is more 1980’s than what we’ve seen in the last 10 years. McWicked is a horse that appears to thrive racing from off a helmet and closing in the stretch. His victory in the Ewart at Scioto Downs on September 7 may be the best example in his five 2019 victories of just what kind of horse he is. Left for dead on the final turn with those around him circling and those inside of him finding room, McWicked already brutalized from chasing a 1:20 three quarters while racing on the outside, managed to exhibit rare courage and determination and got his nose up on the wire in what was the best finish of any race in North America this year.
That he would lose his next two races is something critics would point to but that disappointment is not shared by McWicked’s trainer. “He’s going to be first-over a lot. That’s just the way he races. He’s either been first-over or he got locked in in the Canadian Pacing Derby. He hasn’t gone a bad race,” said Coleman.
Win or lose this Saturday, McWicked is quickly approaching the $5 million mark in career earnings and his next victory will be his 40th.
Coleman is certainly hopeful that this won’t be the last year that we see McWicked on the racetrack. “That’s Mr. (Edward) James’ decision, but in my opinion McWicked keeps getting better,” said Coleman.
The trainer hopes that McWicked comes back in 2020 and if so he’ll likely head to Florida to train back under Jim McDonald, who has pretty much been with McWicked from the start. “Jim does a great job getting him ready before shipping him north to me,” Coleman said. “If he comes back next year, I’d hope he would have a little less down time.”
Coleman is looking forward to this year’s Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park and expects to have three in the lineup, with Stag Party and Allywag Hanover also slated to compete in the 3-year-old and 2-year-old male pacing events.
“Allywag Hanover is an extremely fast horse,” said Coleman. “He’s just had absolutely no luck at all this year. When we’ve left with him he’s had to go 26 to the quarter and 54 to the half. Then when we’ve taken him off the gate they get to the half in 57 and he’s had no chance.”
Coleman was referring to Allywag Hanover’s last two starts where in the former the son of Captaintreacherous failed to qualify for the Metro final because of a dawdling pace. Prior to that he set wicked fractions in the Champlain only to tire in the stretch. “We’ve got him racing Thursday in a non-winners of $30,000,” said Coleman.
Coleman returned from Lexington with four yearlings, but that was far less than the number she had bid on. With the first crop of her sensational pacer Betting Line going under the block, Coleman was in contention to bid on and buy what she could but that didn’t exactly work out as planned. “They sold through the roof,” Coleman said with obvious delight. “We were the under bidders on one that sold for $200,000 and another for $230,000.” In the end only one of the four she purchased was by Betting Line.
“I think he’s got 55 selling at Harrisburg,” Coleman said of Betting Line. “I’ve seen some of the videos and they’re a great bunch.”
With Coleman looking to come away with between 12 and 15 yearlings at the Harrisburg Sale in November, getting colts or fillies by Betting Line may still prove a challenge.