Miami Valley: Clever Cody ready for 4YO debut in $100K Mindlin Memorial

Saturday is closing day at Miami Valley Raceway in Ohio, and trainer Dr. Ian Moore is coming to town hoping to walk away with the bulk of the $100,000 purse in the featured Pacey "The Wizard" Mindlin Memorial with Clever Cody.

The Mindlin Memorial is part of a stacked 14-race card that starts at 1:00 P.M. (EDT) and includes four $75,000 James Hackett Memorial finals for 3-year-olds as part of $617,500 in purse money being distributed.

The Pacey Mindlin is an Invitational event for older pacers, and last year's 3-year-old Ohio champion Clever Cody will be making his first start in the division versus some heavy hitters. While the task is often tall for a 4-year-old to beat his elders, Moore feels his son of The Panderosa is ready to roll.

"I think he's ready. He has lots of miles in him," said Moore.

Those miles include a pair of efforts at Southern Oaks Training Center where Clever Cody won the first in 1:51 and was second behind last year's Metro runner-up and potential top 3-year-old Prince Hal Hanover in a same-timed mile.

"It is hard to say which horse is better off the qualifiers," Moore, comparing Clever Cody to Prince Hal Hanover, who will start in Saturday's Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows. "Typically, if they go about 1:52 down there on the clay in Florida, they will go a second or two quicker on the racetracks up north."

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

Clever Cody (5-1) will start from post four with Aaron Merriman in the bike for owner Clever Cody Stable and faces a strong group that includes 2024 winner Carbine (post six, 6-1, Austin Hanners) and 2023 champion Little Rocket Man (post three, 5-2, Jeremy Smith). Both horses are coming off fast wins over the Miami Valley oval, with the former winning in 1:49 4/5 on April 13 and the latter off a April 27 victory in 1:49 1/5.

Adding to the intrigue in the race is the presence of $2.3 million winner Bythemissal. The Ron Burke trainee missed a bunch of time in 2024 due to injury but was still able to post a 1:47 2/5 winning effort at The Red Mile as one of two wins in eight starts.

After a pair of qualifiers at the Meadowlands with Yannick Gingras in the bike, Chris Page picks up the drive from post five as the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.

The field also includes PJ Lou (post one, 9-2, Brett Miller), McCrunch (post two, 20-1, Dan Noble), Brookview Bullet (post seven, 12-1, Tyler Smith), Saulsbrook Victor (post eight, 10-1, Brett MacDonald), Dale Yeah (post nine, 20-1, Marvin Luna).

"It all depends on whether he can step up a notch and I'm optimistic that he can," said Moore on Clever Cody's chances. "We'll be racing. We are not there to just get a start. He is going to the Confederation Cup [Charles Juravinski Memorial at Flamboro Downs] the following week."

The Pacey Mindlin Memorial is scheduled as race 12 on the Saturday card. The four Hackett Memorial races go as races four, six, eight and 10, with the last of those containing a pair of potential Grand Circuit pacing colts in Swingtown and Sippinonsearoc. Both horses earned around $500,000 in 2024 for the Burke barn.