Meadows: McWicked the featured Adios attraction
While 18 horses will line up behind the gate at The Meadows on Saturday night to compete in three eliminations for the $600,000E Delvin Miller Adios, McWicked is the one horse which most will expect to take home the trophy.
Coming off an impressive 1:47 3/5 victory in the $500,000 Max Hempt final at Mohegan Sun Pocono Downs, McWicked was installed the 8-5 morning line choice in the third of the trio of eliminations. The Casie Coleman-trained 3-year-old pacing colt has won four of seven starts (with two seconds) in 2014 and stamped himself as one of the divisional leaders along with North America Cup winner JK Endofanera and Meadowlands Pace champion He’s Watching.
“I just finished training him this morning and he was very good,” said Coleman late Wednesday morning. “He went a fast trip on the weekend in (1):56 in a race bike at White Birch (Farm) and two slow trips this morning in (2):15 and (2):30.”
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For Coleman and McWicked, luck has shined brightly from a scheduling standpoint. Both JK Endofanera and He’s Watching skipped the Hempt and have elected to bypass the Adios, leaving the role of favoritism on Saturday and potentially in the July 26 Adios final all to McWicked.
“I certainly don’t mind. The easier the better,” said Coleman about the absence of some of the top colts on Saturday, before pointing out the depth of the 18 competitors.
“There are lots of good horses. Let’s Drink On It is fast and (trainer, Ron) Burke bought a couple of good ones. The one he bought from Brian Brown, Limelight Beach, I tried to buy him myself but they didn’t want to sell him at the time. I’m kind of interested to see how he races.”
Of more immediate concern are the five other foes McWicked will face in the fifth of 15 races on the Saturday Meadows program which kicks off at 6:55 PM. McWicked starts from pylon position with David Miller in the bike. The duo will likely face the stiffest challenge from At Press Time, who finished second in the Hempt behind McWicked. Matt Kakaley, fresh off his 3,000th career win, will steer At Press Time from post three.
The top three finishers from each elimination will advance to the final.
Assuming all goes well for McWicked in the Adios, Coleman said he will race next in a pair of Pennsylvania Sire Stakes races in August and hopefully the September 7th Championship final at Harrah’s Philadelphia. After that it is on to the Little Brown Jug on September 18th at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
“I love it,” said Coleman about the Little Brown Jug, a race she has won the last two years with Michael’s Power and Vegas Vacation. “Just to be in the race makes me happy.”
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