Harness racing: Odds on Equuleus looks tough in Bluegrass at Red Mile

Is a neck the difference between greatness and goodness?

Odds On Equuleus, second in the $1 million Metro four weeks ago at Mohawk, might have been the horse everyone is talking about had he caught Captaintreacherous on the wire in the year’s biggest race for 2-year-old pacers. The son of Art Major gets a chance to make a name for himself Saturday as the favorite in one of five divisions of the Bluegrass at Lexington’s famed Red Mile.

Trainer Robin Schadt has never had a colt with the talent of Odds On Equuleus. The Odds On Racing homebred has been impressive in each start this year while racing primarily from off the pace. Schadt first recognized the enormous potential of her colt just days before the March staking deadline.

“He was going to be primarily staked in New York. One day in training he practically lifted me out of the seat,” Schadt said.

After that, she elected to nominate the colt to the Metro and a few other open stakes, including the Bluegrass and International Stallion Stakes in Kentucky and the American National at Balmoral, in her home state of Illinois.

Essentially, without the Breeders Crown to race in, Lexington will be the last place on the map Odds On Equuleus will have to showcase his enormous talent on a major stage.

“He’s sound and happy,” Schadt said. “He shipped back from Ontario and spent a week in Illinois at our farm and then went to the Red Mile. We trained him last Friday [a mile in 1:56 4/5] at the Red Mile.”

The likely favorite in race four, an $85,800 division, Odds On Equuleus landed post 5 in a field of seven. Hall of Famer John Campbell has been his regular driver this season and once again has the assignment.

Schadt expected to keep her colt’s equipment the same over the Red Mile surface and believes Odds On Equuleus should handle the “kind surface” quite well.

With a record of 4-1-2 in 7 starts this season, Odds On Equuleus has earned $373,759 in the process.

This week Odds On Equuleus won’t meet division leader Captaintreacherous. That colt landed post 7 in the $86,800 fourth Bluegrass division for juvenile colts, race 11 on the 12-race card. Captaintreacherous, a recent qualifying winner at the Red Mile, faces a solid field that includes Metro elimination winner Apprentice Hanover (post 8), Sheppard Pace winner Hail The Taxi (post 5), and Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final champion Good Day Mate (post 3).

The Red Mile racing secretary, perhaps looking to create some buzz for the second week of Grand Circuit racing action, divided a group of 37 2-year-old colts and geldings into five divisions.

Does Schadt believe Odds On Equuleus is better than Captaintreacherous?

At this point, she was unwilling to say. On the racetrack, the two have been similar in nature. They both have shown impressive closing kicks and a determination to win races. In the Metro final, Schadt thought her horse was getting up.

“I was rooting for a dead heat,” Schadt said.

The picture wasn’t that close, but the result didn’t jar her confidence.

“He still has a few more races this year and a big year next year,” Schadt said, alluding to the big money races available at 3 and her concern to keep the homebred healthy and happy for the duration of the season.

With victories in the Nassagaweya and Metro elimination [a 1:50 1/5 career best], Odds On Equuleus proved that he could go with any horse out there. On Saturday, he’ll face a field that on paper that doesn’t hold up as well as the Ontario races.

Nevertheless, those who have watched the pacing game closely recognize that many horses step up in a big way at the Red Mile due to its more “horse friendly” racing surface.

What that could mean to gamblers is that horses that have foot issues can pick up dramatically at the Red Mile when compared to some of the harder surfaces in the Northeast.

Odds On Equuleus will meet some stakes-tested competition in his division, including the well-bred Rockin Amadeus (post 1), a horse who beat him in finishing second in the $261,829 Champlain at Mohawk on Sept. 8 and Johny Rock (post 6), a four-time winner in 2012 with $129,791 in earnings.

Post time for Saturday’s Grand Circuit program at the Red Mile is slated for 7 p.m.