The Meadows: Battle of top sophomores in PASS Colt Pace final

The speed of the racing season can catch up with you in more ways than one. Take for example the 3-year-old pacing colt Workin Ona Mystery. Thought to be among the elite and certainly fastest of this deep sophomore male pacing crop, Workin Ona Mystery looked fast enough early in the stakes campaign but since July has been playing catch-up to find equal footing.

“We’ve been trying to get his blood right,” said Brian Brown, Workin Ona Mystery’s trainer. “He was no good at all in the Milstein and then got cooked pretty good in that 25 4/5 opening quarter a few weeks back.”

The last race, a fourth-place finish in the final Pennsylvania Sire Stakes leg on August 23 at The Meadows, found Workin Ona Mystery again with less than perfect post-race medical conditions. Brown has been working on getting the son of Captaintreacherous healthy for Saturday’s $253,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship Final at The Meadows and sounded cautiously optimistic that the colt is in better physical shape.

“I trained him last week and he was very good,” said Brown. “I trained him again yesterday to a jog cart and not a fast mile, but he felt good. Hopefully that will continue for him.”

It’s always a tale of two seasons when it comes to sophomore stakes racing and September and October are when championships are won. Yet given the results of last weekend, when two of the premier sophomore pacers Bettor’s Wish and Captain Crunch were odds-on favorites and lost, there’s reason to believe the tables can be turning and new faces may step up to win the big ones.

Brown sees the rigors of the wear and tear on these horses but considers that part of racing against a solid crop of horses. “I think it’s because there’s a lot of good horses out there and the way some of these races are contested,” said Brown. “When Niatross raced he was so much better that he had it much easier week to week. These horses go at it because they’re so well matched.”

With only eight starts this year, one wouldn’t think wear and tear is a major factor at this stage for Workin Ona Mystery, who landed post four in Saturday’s final inside main rivals Southwind Ozzi (post 5) and Captain Crunch (post 7). At the same time, Workin Ona Mystery was parked to the half in 52 4/5 in the North America Cup then was used extremely hard early and close-up in a 52 4/5 opening half for the Meadowlands Pace. While recent results have been less than inspiring, Brown still believes his horse is right up among the best.

“When you look at the North America Cup that he was only beaten a length or so after that half and the Meadowlands Pace where he’s within a head, I’d say yes, he is right there,” Brown said. “But he’s got to prove it again.”

Certainly North America Cup champion Captain Crunch has the license necessary to capture the Sire Stakes Championship final given his five victories in eight starts this year. A third-place finish in the Simcoe at Woodbine Mohawk Park last week had to be sobering for those who bet him down to 2-5 odds, but at the same time, Captain Crunch had not raced competitively for four weeks entering last Saturday’s contest. Though Captain Crunch drew post seven in the field of nine, he certainly showed enough early speed in the North America Cup starting from post eight and winning a long battle after racing without cover.

Brown appeared a bit more concerned with Southwind Ozzi in the sophomore division. “I think he may be the sharpest one out there right now,” Brown said of the Adios winner who bounced back from a no-luck fifth-place finish in the Milstein with a powerful 1:49 1/5 victory in the final Sire Stakes preliminary two weeks ago.

Without question what Southwind Ozzi doesn’t have on his resume are any elimination or final past performance lines from the North America Cup or Meadowlands Pace. That’s two fewer sub-53 half mile clockings to his credit that may prove beneficial as the road winds down on the sophomore season. What Southwind Ozzi does have is impressive speed and determination. With six wins in his eight starts this season, Southwind Ozzi looks to avenge a second-place finish behind Captain Crunch in Sire Stakes competition earlier this year. On May 19 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Captain Crunch went wire-to-wire in 1:49 1/5 with Southwind Ozzi, after a long first-over trip, finishing second despite his own 26 1/5 final quarter. Southwind Ozzi is also undefeated at The Meadows this year with two Sire Stakes victories and a brilliant Adios elimination score winning from post nine. His 1:48 effort was magnificent in the $400,000 Adios final.

The Sire Stakes final may also be a spot where Ron Burke’s Captain Victorious returns to top form. An early-season purchase by the sport’s leading stable, Captain Victorious has shown the speed necessary to compete at this level all season long but has come up short in key races. The colt enters Saturday’s race after a solid second behind Southwind Ozzi in the Sire Stakes.

Brown trains over the Delaware, Ohio Fairgrounds but was not ready to commit that Workin Ona Mystery would be entered for the Little Brown Jug on September 19. “We’ll have to see how he races and comes out of this race,” said Brown. “I may even wait longer to see how he trains back.”

Given Workin Ona Mystery’s issues this year, it’s easy to see why the trainer would be concerned to enter a race where there will be heats. On the other end of the spectrum this year is the number of ineligible horses among the division leaders.

Saturday’s Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship final for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers at The Meadows could reveal the mystery of who will be the top sophomore at season’s end.