Harness: Officer Jim ready to patrol the rest of United States

At first glance there was nothing remarkable about Officer Jim. Sure, he likes to win and has visited the winner's circle an impressive 30 times in 89 starts, but otherwise he simply looked like a run-of-the-mill overnight horse competing in the low to middle claiming or condition ranks at Running Aces and Cal Expo.

Somehow, at age 7, Officer Jim has gone from being just a competitive horse in the lower-level conditioned ranks at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California, to arguably the best horse on the grounds. During his meteoric rise, which directly coincides with his being claimed by trainer Michael Meza for owner Debra Mc Carthy, the gelding has lowered his lifetime mark four times and now owns the fastest mile of the meet – 1:50 3/5.

Rewinding a bit, Officer Jim has a bit of pedigree to him as a Winbak Farms-bred son of American Ideal out of the Artiscape mare Freedom Crossing, a $320,691 winner on the track. To date, Officer Jim is the fastest foal from Freedom Crossing, who has a yearling half-brother from Courtly Choice in the offing this year from Winbak.

As a yearling Officer Jim was sold at Harrisburg for $70,000 to a group including trainer Ron Burke, who qualified him five times and got one victory in 2:02 at The Meadows. After a full year without a pari-mutuel start, ultimately the decision was made to part ways with the 2-year-old to a pair of owners from Minnesota.

"We always thought he had talent but we didn't see this coming. I remember that he couldn't handle his gait," said Burke, who tends to focus on 2- and 3-year-olds, as well as top older horses. "It's cool and really validates what we saw in him originally, but I'm not waiting on any horse until they turn 7. We sell a lot of horses that turn out to be good. The truth is that if they aren't top stakes horses at 2 or 3 we just move on from them."

Officer Jim raced in the Brady Jenson barn for a couple of years before getting claimed for $7,500 on August 3, 2021 by owner Robin Clements and trainer Quentin Schneider. Over the next two years he reached the Open ranks a handful of times at Running Aces and Cal Expo but never showed the form that developed after a January 20, 2023 claim by Meza.

"He went a few monster miles for his previous trainer, and I thought he had what it takes to win," said Meza on why they made the claim for $6,000.

Officer Jim won at first asking for the Meza barn at Cal Expo but found Open company too difficult the following week, fading to sixth after setting the pace. That was the last time the 7-year-old tasted defeat in 2023. On March 3 he set a career mark of 1:51 4/5, two weeks later he paced a winning mile in 1:51 3/5, then he lowered his best clocking to 1:51 before putting up another lifetime-best time of 1:50 3/5 on April 21.

"We made a few equipment changes, that's for sure," said Meza on the improvement from Officer Jim since entering his barn. "He's a speedball and likes to roll. I noticed that every time he won or raced well before I got him, he was on the lead. He just digs in late no matter what happens earlier in the mile."

The majority (five) of Officer Jim's 2023 victories and the last four in his current eight-race winning streak have come with Lemoyne Svendsen in the bike. The Minnesota native, who resides in Sacramento during the winter and Minnesota during the summer, has 3,991 career driving wins and another 422 as a trainer, so he certainly knows a good horse when he sees one.

"The horse is a monster right now," said Svendsen. "I've won in that fast of a mile [1:50 3/5] before but never like that. It was always with a little help. That's a huge mile. The track record is only 1:49 4/5 [Eaton Road Kill in 2005]. If I let him go a bit down the backside there is no doubt in my mind he could've threatened that. I was trying to save my horse because the main threat [Handsome Harvey] was sitting right behind me."

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Meza will have the opportunity to savor the current eight-race winning streak for a few weeks since Cal Expo did not card an Open on its closing weekend and Running Aces, the next stop on Officer Jim's journey, doesn't open until May 14. The plan is for trainer Gordie Graham to babysit Officer Jim while he competes at the Minnesota track in the Linkjack Hanover late closer – first leg on May 23 with a final scheduled for June 6. After that he'll team back up with Meza at his home base in New York.

Amazingly, Meza, who just turned 23 in April, made his debut as a trainer the same week that he claimed Officer Jim. The California native is heading back to New York at the Mark Ford training center where he'll continue to condition Officer Jim and a small stable while going back to work for trainer Blake Macintosh.

"I worked with Blake for four or five years and a little with Edwin Quevedo," said Meza, who added that the money was too good to pass up working for Macintosh with help very tight in the harness racing industry right now.

Once Officer Jim makes it to the East Coast, the plan is to tackle foes at the Meadowlands or Yonkers Raceway. Svendsen, for one, thinks the horse would love Yonkers.

"I think he'd be a killer at Yonkers. He's so fast off the gate. Sitting behind him is like driving a Harley Davidson," said Svendson, who gives much of the credit for the horse's streak to Meza. "He found what the horse likes."

Refusing to take the credit, Meza praised the horse.

"I have others and they race like crap, so it must be the horse," joked the trainer.

Whether it is the horse, trainer or driver, there is clearly something special about Officer Jim. While it may have taken a handful of years for it to surface, watch out world because he means business.