The Meadows: Freehold regular enters the spotlight with Southwind Ozzi in Adios

You can tell by speaking with trainer Bill MacKenzie for two minutes that he totally loves the sport. He recently turned 47 and has spent pretty much his entire adult life training standardbreds and racing close to home at Freehold Raceway.

“I love Freehold,” he said.

Overnight horses have been his specialty and he takes it one day at a time trying never to get too high or too low in the process. Yet while MacKenzie tries very hard, it’s nearly impossible not to get excited about Southwind Ozzi, a son of Somebeachsomewhere that was installed the 2-1 morning line favorite in Saturday’s Delvin Miller Adios at The Meadows.

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At the same time, MacKenzie feels just lucky to be racing in the Adios this week given the events that have transpired in the last two months. “I had the check for $31,500 on my desk and ready to supplement to the Max Hempt,” MacKenzie said of the plans to enter Southwind Ozzi against the top colts. “But we discovered he had a hernia on Thursday (prior to the deadline to enter) and sent him right away for an operation.”

The operation would be successful and Southwind Ozzi would spend 10 days recovering after a testicle was removed. “It was a very lucky thing that we caught this when we did. If we hadn’t it could have been a much worse operation and he could have missed the entire year,” said MacKenzie.

Fortunately for the now ridgling, the time away did not conflict with many races. The Pennsylvania sire stakes multiple-leg winner had been sparingly staked by MacKenzie, with good reason. “It’s very expensive to stake to all of these races,” MacKenzie said with the realization that though expectations can be endless not all bankrolls are.

For Southwind Ozzi, the rise to stardom in 2019 was not entirely unexpected and MacKenzie does little to credit himself with any magical formula.

“He was a big colt last year but we liked him a lot,” said MacKenzie.”He showed a lot of promise and we had him eligible to the Governor’s Cup, but he got sick on us and wasn’t at his best when we raced him in the Kindergarten Final so we stopped and brought him back.”

Mackenzie doesn’t see Southwind Ozzi as being much different this year than he was a year ago but clearly the results are encouraging. Heading into last week’s Adios trials, Southwind Ozzi had captured three of his first four races and the lone defeat was a sparkling second-place finish behind Captain Crunch. “We had to come first over into Captain Crunch,” said MacKenzie, clearly understanding the daunting task while at the same time appreciating the grit his horse showed.

With the time away from the track, MacKenzie had little choice but to qualify Southwind Ozzi and then enter him in the Adios the following week. His 1:51 qualifying victory at The Meadowlands on July 13 was a very fast training mile but hardly resembled the racing activity most horses of this caliber need. That would come in real form last Saturday when, saddled with post nine, Southwind Ozzi would need an expert drive and sheer determination to score in 1:49 3/5 in the late stages.

“There really wasn’t much he could do,” said MacKenzie in hindsight about driver Brian Sears’ strategy. “He wasn’t going to get the front leaving out of there in 25 and change.”

Indeed that wasn’t to be the case as Sears tucked Southwind Ozzi and then waited for cover to advance. That decision was prudent at the time but left race-leader Stag Party with a decided advantage after a regaining move and a reasonable 55-second opening half after the 25 4/5 first-quarter stinger. Stag Party and Dexter Dunn put the hammer down on the backstretch and made Southwind Ozzi’s second-over trip appear futile for some time. Yet Sears, never lacking confidence, swung wide with Southwind Ozzi on the final turn and the ridgling did the rest.

It was a grueling mile for the first effort after time away and that’s a fact not lost on the veteran trainer. “I think he’s going to be a lot better this week,” MacKenzie said, suggesting the effort will reap rewards. “The reason I love this horse is that he’s the kind that comes out of every race like he didn’t race.”

MacKenzie is in unfamiliar territory in the Adios as his long career has never cast him into the spotlight in a major Grand Circuit race. He’s cautiously optimistic but has been getting encouragement from Sears.

“We were very luck to get Brian,” said MacKenzie. “Timmy (Tetrick) had him first but then Workin Ona Mystery came along and I knew there was going to be conflict. Then Brian drove him, but after he won the Hempt I was worried.”

That worry disappeared when Sears told MacKenzie after the Hempt that he would stick with Southwind Ozzi. But fear reared its ugly head again just a few weeks back when Sears picked up the drive on another 3-year-old. “After he won the Meadowlands Pace with Best In Show I was worried again,” said MacKenzie. “But Brian called me the next day and told me not to worry, he would drive Southwind Ozzi.”

An $85,000 purchase in Lexington in the fall of 2017, Southwind Ozzi’s star is on the rise for longtime owner Alma Iafelice, who just happens to be MacKenzie’s grandmother, and patron Vincent Ali Jr., the son of another longtime MacKenzie client.

MacKenzie doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself with Southwind Ozzi as he tends to roughly 20-head in his stable, but he suggests the owners will back their horse as he seeks to race with the best.

“We’re prepared to supplement him to every race we can,” said MacKenzie. Saturday’s Adios could be the stepping stone that lands Southwind Ozzi into the national spotlight and perhaps allows those outside of the Freehold area to get a glimpse of his trainer.