Trainer Greg Wright Jr. has three horses in his stable. Counterpart Ake Svanstedt has three horses in Saturday's $253,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. For Wright, the fact that his Jujubee is the likely favorite at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and that Svanstedt's fourth horse and certainly his best -- Hambletonian winner Captain Corey -- must race in the consolation, having failed to qualify for the rich final, is perfect. Saturday's contest will be the largest purse Jujubee, a homebred son of Creatine, will race for up until this point. While Captain Corey was the star of Hambletonian Day, Wright's charge was in fact the fastest trotter that afternoon when he scored in 1:49 4/5 in a division of the Muscle Hill. "We'd been racing over the five-eighths mile tracks in Pennsylvania," said Wright, "I was really looking forward to getting him on the big track at The Meadowlands. I kind of thought he could trot in 1:50 and change." Still, the colt from the first crop of Creatine was the most unlikely candidate for stardom on the first Saturday in August given a pedigree that likely wouldn't have commanded much of a price tag had he gone to auction. "My dad trained the dam," said Wright. La Cantera, a daughter of Cantab Hall, was a Pennsylvania Stallion series winner as a 3-year-old in 2011 for the senior Wright. "She raced for a few years then they decided to breed her." La Cantera took a 1:57 1/5 mark and raced a few more years before becoming a broodmare. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Her broodmare career didn't exactly get off to a flying start or even a successful one as her first three foals lacked one victory. In 2017 she was bred to the first-year stallion Creatine, who earned a reputation on the racetrack as an extremely tough horse, but when it came time for stallion duty had trouble finding applicant mares. La Cantera's past failures were quickly forgotten when Jujubee came along. "Last year dad trained him down, but he had some sickness issues," said Wright. "I kind of got him a bit late in the season. He'd been in 2:20 and I just wanted to race him a little bit to see what we had." Jujubee raced five times at Wright's home track -- The Meadows -- in 2020 and was on the board in all of those efforts, winning twice and finishing second twice. "He definitely showed me that he had some talent, so we stopped with him and turned him out," said Wright. While some high-profile horses go south for the winter, Jujubee's turnout was a bit short and in Pennsylvania. "It was only six weeks and I had to get him ready for the late closer," said Wright. "When I drove him and won in 1:56 4/5 in his first start, I knew I had something good," said Wright of the start in early March at The Meadows. Still with but six starts at that point Wright wasn't taking chances with the shoeing. "I had bar shoes on him." Tony Hall would become his regular driver and he guided him to victory in the late closer final on April 21 at The Meadows. On a chilly evening with the track labeled "off," Jujubee trotted in 1:56 defeating the favored Whiskey Blu, a sophomore from the huge Ron Burke stable. The victory gave Wright the confidence to give Jujubee a chance to race in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, shunning the "Stallion" series his dam had captured. The May 15 first leg at The Meadows saw Jujubee up against the highly-rated In Range from the Marcus Melander stable. "He really showed me something in that mile," said Wright. "He trotted a 26 third quarter and just got caught late by In Range." It was a test of speed and class and Jujubee passed both with flying colors, instantly becoming a colt to reckon with in the rich state program. Since that May second-place finish, Jujubee has won five of his next six starts including two Sire Stakes wins, one being at Pocono in 1:54 4/5. Saturday's Sire Stakes final may be missing Captain Corey but the three Svanstedt-trained entrants include Hambletonian elimination winner Delayed Hanover (post 8), a colt that defeated Jujubee at Harrah's Philadelphia on June 23 when he had the pole position. Svanstedt's Yonkers Trot winner Johan Palema drew post 6 for the final and he enters the contest following a solid second-place finish in the $300,000 Beal Memorial last Saturday. Wright was a bit frustrated that he couldn't find a start for Jujubee following his performance on Hambletonian Day. "He was feeling really good right after that race, but we only had him staked in Pennsylvania and there was no place we could race him," said Wright. "I qualified him last Tuesday here [The Meadows] and he was very sharp." The 1:54 4/5 mile should have Jujubee primed and ready for the biggest race of his season. Saturday's Sire Stakes final will be the first time Andrew McCarthy will be sitting behind Jujubee but Wright isn't worried about the lack of familiarity. "I think he's an easy horse to get behind and I don't see Andrew having any issues," said Wright. In a crop of trotters that produced two seven-figure yearlings in 2019, it's refreshing that a horse like Jujubee, a colt by Creatine whose first crop features an abundance of geldings, can rise to the top of the class in Pennsylvania where some of the sport's leading stallions tend to dominate. Wright didn't hesitate when asked the age-old question: Is he the best horse you've ever trained? "He's the best horse I ever trained, and he could be better than some others have trained too," said Wright. In putting McCarthy in the bike, Wright may not just be thinking about the Sire Stakes but looking ahead to some races Jujubee can supplement to. While he was keeping his options open, Jujubee will be making just his 14th start of the season on Saturday and could have some big paydays ahead given the fractious nature of a sophomore division that historically loses members as the season winds down. With 10 wins in 13 starts this year, owner-breeder Jon Erdner has already seen Jujubee surpass expectations. "I was able to switch to aluminum shoes and that's when we started seeing those 26 quarters," said Wright. While yearling prices are the numbers some pay attention to, clearly the 1:49 4/5 mile speaks volumes for Jujubee's ability and potential.