Meadowlands: Foiled Again looks for elusive second win in Pacing Championship

By Anthony Fleet

Foiled Again, the seemingly ageless harness racing legend, will take the track once again Saturday afternoon for the United States Pacing Championship at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, NJ. Harness racing’s richest horse will start from post nine looking to add the winner’s share of the $215,400 purse to the $7 million that he has already earned for his owners.

Foiled Again is the oldest horse in this field by far at 11 years old and is competing against horses as young as ages 4 and 5. The gelded son of Dragon Again is unique because he has gotten better with age over his long career. As a 7-year-old, Foiled Again became the only horse older than age 4 to be named U.S. Pacer of the Year. Two year later, he became the oldest horse to win a Breeders Crown. At an advanced age, he has also won a number of the sport’s top stakes races for older pacers.

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Although Foiled Again is getting older, he has seemed to find his inner-youth on the racetrack. Trainer Ron Burke said, “He’s funny. He’s like a cranky old man. But he loves what he does. He is fun to jog and train because he just really enjoys it.”

The pacer eclipsed the $7 million earning mark after winning Northfield Park's Battle of Lake Erie on June 12. So far, that was the only race (out of nine) he has won this year. Nonetheless, Burke believes he has a good chance to win Saturday.

“It’s been a wide open field all year,” Burke said. “No horse has stamped themselves as the horse to beat. So I think he still has a chance to end up on top when it comes down to the end.”

His last race was not his best performance. He finished fifth in the $50,000 TVG Open on Aug. 1 at the Meadowlands while trapped behind horses on the inside. For pessimists, it would be easy to count the aging horse out for this race, but Burke isn’t fazed.

“It wasn’t his best race but he’ll be ready for [the Pacing Championship],” Burke said. “He’s always better when he’s on the outside and moving. When you get him trapped inside he’s not going to race as well.”

Burke trains Foiled Again for co-owners, Weaver Bruscemi LLC [Mark Weaver and Michael Bruscemi] of Canonsburg, PA and JJK Stables LLC [Jay, Joey and Kevin Koury] of Fort Lauderdale, FL. The group purchased Foiled Again privately for $62,500 in 2008. Since then, he has earned over $6.6 million, with $163,355 coming in 2015.

On Saturday, Foiled Again’s regular driver, Yannick Gingras, will pilot the pacer against eight rivals. The pair will face a strong field that includes morning line favorite State Treasurer and JK Endofanera, who defeated both horses while winning the TVG leg a week ago.

The Pacing Championship is scheduled as race 4 with a post time of 1:05 p.m.