Just Beat the Odds will try to fill Crazy Mason's shoes this winter
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This year, trainer Gregg Sacco enjoyed a terrific winter and early spring with Crazy Mason, who reeled off three straight wins at Aqueduct capped by a Grade 2 victory in the Carter Stakes in early April.
In 2026, Sacco hopes to experience similar success with Just Beat the Odds, who came off an eight-month layoff to win last Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Elite Power Stakes at Aqueduct.
It was the first stakes victory for Just Beat the Odds, but Sacco hopes not the last.
Sacco is plotting a winter campaign in New York that could include stakes such as the Toboggan and/or Tom Fool. The New York Racing Association has yet to release its 2026 stakes schedule, so dates for those races are not yet known.
Sacco said he likes to have plenty of time between races for Just Beat the Odds, though he wasn’t planning to go eight months between races for the 5-year-old gelding by Munnings. Just Beat the odds had a few “nagging little things” that kept him away from the races since April 12.
Just Beat the Odds earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for his Elite Power victory. He had earned a 103 Beyer for an allowance win in March at Aqueduct, following an 11-month layoff.
“He’s very talented, we’d like to have everything stay together, keep him healthy,” said Sacco, who will have his son Will oversee the stable’s New York string again this winter while Sacco is at Tampa. “He’s a really cool horse for us to have moving forward.”
Meanwhile, Crazy Mason ran a respectable third in Saturday’s Grade 2 Elite Power Stakes, earning a career-best 99 Beyer. Sacco said Crazy Mason will get a 45- to 60-day break in Ocala and be brought back for races in the spring.
Depending how quickly Crazy Mason gets ready, the Carter in early April could be his first target of 2026.
If not, Just Beat the Odds could be a more than capable backup.
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