By Perry Lefko for Breeders Crown
Trainer Mark Steacy has only one
starter in the 2017 Breeders Crown, but his history in these championship races
makes Obvious Blue Chip an obvious horse to watch Friday night at Hoosier
Downs.
The Canadian horseman has had 11
finalists in Breeders Crown history, winning three of them, which isn’t too bad
of an average given the caliber of competition in these races. Steacy won the
2006 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Male Trot with Majestic Son, the 2007
Two-Year-Old Filly Pace with Stylish Artist and the 2009 Open Mare Pace with
Hana Hanover.
“I usually don’t enter in the Breeders
Crown unless I think I have a good chance,” Steacy said. “I think that’s why
I’ve been lucky – the horses that have raced in the Breeders Crown have all
belonged.”
Obvious Blue Chip is entered in the
$500,000 3-Year-Old Filly Pace, race 9 on Friday, Oct. 27 at Hoosier Park, one
of six championship events for fillies and mares at the Anderson, Indiana
track. Even though she will be leaving from the second tier Steacy likes her
chances.
“It seems when the big money is on the
line she always gets a bad post, although I’d rather have the trailing position
in the 10 hole than the eight or nine hole, so it could have been worse,”
Steacy said.
Owned by NLG Racing Stable and Stephen
Klunowski, the daughter of Roll With Joe won her last start, wiring the field
in the $225,000 New York Sire Stakes for her division. Steacy said he had been
called before the Breeders Crown eliminations and was given the option of a bye
into the final. He figured skipping the elimination just six days after her NY
Sires Stake win would give the filly a bit of breather heading in to the
Breeders Crown final. It also meant he didn’t have to ship her as much from his
stable in Guelph.
Steacy said Obvious Blue Chip, who is
driven by Scott Zeron, is better coming from off the pace than racing on the
front end.
“Last time out she was the favorite and
racing on a half-mile track, so I think Scott thought that was the best way to
control the race and as it turned out that was the right way to do it,” Steacy
said. “I think she’s better on a bigger track and coming from off the pace.”
Steacy said the filly was a
well-conformed, good-sized yearling, but he wasn’t sure about her prospects
because she was by a relatively new sire in Roll With Joe and only the second
foal of Put On A Clinic. She sold for $35,000 as a yearling at the Harrisburg
Sale. As a 2-year-old, she recorded a victory in her first start but did not
win again in nine other races, amassing $35,479.
“She was very lazy training down early
as a 2-year-old and never showed any above-average ability,” Steacy said. “The
one thing I liked about her was she always tried. She always gave you a little
bit more when you asked for it. She never showed anything spectacular, but she
always tried and seemed to have that little kick coming home.
"Unfortunately, she drew some bad
post positions (in big races), but she could go with them. Coming into this
year, I never fully expected she was going to be the best in the New York
program. But, she’s got a big heart and tries all the time.”
She won the $257,850 Empire Breeders
Classic final at Tioga Downs in August, and four races later placed third in
the Jugette. There doesn’t appear to be any standout in the Breeders Crown
3-Year-Old Filly Pace, which is why Steacy likes his chances with Obvious Blue
Chip.
“When she left the barn (to ship to
Indiana) on Wednesday, she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and I think she’s
going into the race in great form,” he said. “I don’t think it’s as strong a
field of three-year-old fillies compared to last year. It’s very open. Some
horses step up on certain days and hopefully Friday night will be her day.”
