“He’s come back real good, really grown up. He’s a big, strong horse. If he can stay healthy then we’ll look to maybe step up to the open levels next year."
Coming into his own as a sophomore, Jet Airway devastated his competition in Ontario Sires Stakes action and rounded out his season with twelve of twenty starts on the board. Absent so far in 2015, time will tell when the son of Jeremes Jet will return.
“We had a little set back with him this spring,” said trainer and co-owner Erv Miller. “We had him back in :55 but he had an ankle bothering him a little so we backed off with him.
“We’re just waiting on him to make sure he’ll be okay. It’s his four-year-old year so it’s not a bad thing to wait.”
Picked up for $36,000 as a yearling, co-owners Tangie Massey, Paul Sundhaus and Larry Agle have seen a strong return on their investment. Their stallion has put nearly $400,000 in the bank, taking a mark of 1:50 at Mohawk Racetrack while showing sub-1:48 speed in the final of the Meadowlands Pace.
Miller’s trainee grabbed his share of headlines in 2014, emerging the victor in four of his five OSS events. He turned in a historic performance at Grand River Raceway on Industry Day, tripping the timer in 1:51.1 for driver Randy Waples. The time eclipsed the former track record of 1:52.2 and also went down as an OSS record, erasing the mark held by Giddy Up Lucky of 1:51.3 from 2008 at Flamboro Downs.
Spending the winter in Florida, Jet Airway has returned to Miller’s barn in Pennsylvania. Shipped to Tony Alagna for his starts on Canadian soil last season, Miller is optimistic about his return.
“We started bringing him back in late January or early February. Because it’s his four-year-old year, we didn’t want to push him too hard.
“He’s got some races later in the year on the radar, had a couple early but he just wasn’t quite as ready as we thought. We’ll probably start him if we can in September or late August.”
Missing in action from the Graduate Series, his schedule has yet to be set in stone. Paid up for the Breeders Crown at the end of the year at Woodbine, Jet Airway may face some formidable foes. This lineup could include Graduate champ Doo Wop Hanover, Confederation Cup winner All Bets Off and 2014 Cane Pace winner Lyonssomewhere.
"This year we’re just looking at four-year-old events and overnight racing," noted Miller. “He’s shown that he has what it takes to go with the aged horses off and on. He’s had a few issues as a young horse, just not being mature enough so we didn’t start him much at two. At three, he had trouble with smaller tracks though he did go well over a half in Canada (at Grand River).”
Miller has campaigned many of harness racing’s greats in over more than two decades of training, including Loyal Opposition, Lis Mara, Manofmanymissions and top OSS sire Muscle Mass. Though Jet Airway has yet to make his 2015 debut, Miller is confident the horse will be fresh and ready to take on the challengers in his age group.
“He’s a good horse and we’re making sure he’s back at the top of his game before we bring him back. We’re hoping to see great things from him later this year.”
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Hannah Beckett)