I Hear The Train A-Coming
Local horse In Over My Head looking forward to Friday's race
In Over My Head is no ordinary race horse. The six year old standardbred has a put up a nice career in his four seasons on the track. He’s had multiple stakes wins, boasts a 34% career win percentage and has finished in the top three in 59% of his starts. However, as he prepares to get back to the track this Friday at Maywood Park, he only has one thing on his mind:
Unfinished business.
“My resume simply doesn’t match my ability,” the friendly, but confident horse told me on Tuesday when we sat down for an interview. “The stakes wins show who I am as a horse and what I should be week in and week out. However, I’ve just had to battle some injuries over my career that have muted my lifetime achievements a bit.”
Injuries in horse racing are a way of life and for In Over My Head (aka “Mo”) things were great up until the third start of his four year old season. In a series final at the Meadowlands, he tore his right front suspensory, a very serious injury that ended up costing him 20 month of racing. He returned late last year to a light schedule, but after just one start in 2012, he was out again. Friday night will mark his first start since March 24th. Can he stay healthy? Mo certainly thinks so.
“Everyone gets their fair share of back luck. I’ve certainly had mine, but I’m hoping we have a nice consistent run of racing in front of us. I just try not to think about too much.”
What he does think about is how to keep things light around the barn with his stablemates. Known for his practical jokes, In Over My Head pull what he called a “classic barn joke” on Friday night competitor.
“KB (Kaydon Begone) is a friend of mine and his trainer has stalls out at Butenschoen’s. We’ve been talking for a few weeks that we might face off at some point and sure enough we are in to go on Friday as the first and second favorite (In Over My Head is 5-2 and Kaydone Begone is 3-1). So on Tuesday night I snuck out and lit off a bunch of firecrackers right outside his stall. He about jumped through the roof! He was a little ticked, but it is all in good fun. I’m sure he’ll try and get me back sometime.”
When asked how he snuck out of his stall, Mo just smiled and said “if I told you, I wouldn’t be able to get out anymore.”
One area where In Over My Head got a little more serious was when talking about his last race when he was forced to chase Firstclassalltheway who won in a jaw dropping 1.49.3. In Over My Head was actually closing on him in the stretch despite battling what turned out to be a strain in his other leg. It was deep stretch chase that could have played a role in him missing the past month plus.
“That was a tough one to walk into off a break. Who would have guessed that would have gone so fast? I don’t think it has gone that fast ever since even in the warmer weather. All I know is that if I ever get another shot at him (Firstclassalltheway), I don’t plan on losing. As for this week, I’ll go ahead and try take out some frustration on to use his stablemate (Lazy Lizard who shares the same trainer as Firstclassalltheway) and we can go from there.”
The striking brown horse has been spending most of his recent racing days down at Balmoral Park on the big mile oval, but this Friday will mark his return to the spot of his greatest achievement where he won the 2009 Windy City Pace as a 55-1 longshot. It was a night that was still very fresh in his mind.
“Friday is going to be a special day being back at Maywood Park. I remember the Windy City pace like it was yesterday. No one gave me a chance, but I knew I could whip those big name ship-in horses. Heck, we were at my home track! I had to stand up for all the horses and horse people of Chicago. They had no idea what was coming. In warmups I kept telling Dale (Hiteman) to let me cut the mile, but he had other plans. Guess that’s why he’s the driver and I’m the horse.”
While Friday will not be a reunion with his driver from the Windy City Pace, In Over My Head will be pulling his more regular driver, Marcus Miller, around the half mile track. Miller, a young star on the Chicago circuit, has carved out quite a career with Mo. In nine career starts together, team Miller-Mo has won six times for an impressive winning percentage of 67%.
“Having Marcus drive me is like having Richard Petty in the drivers seat of a stock car. I don’t even have to think. All I do is take his command and go when he asks. I’m just happy he likes driving me.”
One thing is for certain, In Over My Head is ready for Friday. He says he is in great shape despite the layoff and expects to be there at the end as the horses turn for home.
“You never know how the race will shake out trip wise, but I can tell you this. Coming out of that last turn I’ll be closing like a (explicative) freight train.”
For his competitors, the wire may not come fast enough.
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