Maritime sensation Sock It Away will make his 2019 debut later this month, with a new trainer and at a new location after being sent to the U.S. to race as an older horse.
Sock It Away was a neck away from a perfect 21-for-21 sophomore season, winning 20 races in 2018 -- more than any other three-year-old in harness racing last year regardless of gait or gender. Now four, the gelded son of Pang Shui - Someone Like You will tackle tougher competition on the U.S. eastern seaboard for owner Reg MacPherson, who contemplated a number of options for his prized pupil but decided that Yonkers Raceway would be the right fit.
"The money is pretty good down at Yonkers and the competition for him in Ontario would be fairly stiff because of the money he has on his card," MacPherson told Trot Insider. "He likes the half-mile track, he proved that. That track should suit him."
MacPherson also feels that trainer Andrew Harris will be a good fit for Sock It Away, and has entrusted the Canadian expat with the conditioning duties.
"I have a friend in Toronto that recommended Andrew," MacPherson continued. "From what I can gather, he seems to be a pretty good guy; I've talked to him on the phone a handful of times, and he's very interested in the horse.
"When I phoned Andrew about this horse he said 'I know a little about that horse, yeah'..and after we hung up, I guess he did a little research on him and then phoned [Sock It Away's regular driver] Marc Campbell, a friend of his. The question he asked Marc was 'what's this horse like?' and Marc said 'he's one of the best horses I ever drove'. So that's when Andrew got really interested in him."
Sock It Away arrived in New Jersey on Friday, allowing Harris to finally obtain some hands-on familiarity with the latest addition to his stable based out of Allentown's White Birch Farm.
"He’s a gorgeous well built animal," reported Harris. "It’s an interesting case because he will start at the lowest class at Yonkers, so has a real shot to build momentum."
Momentum is something MacPherson, a retired trucking company owner-operator, knows might not be as easy for Sock It Away to find as he did during his sophomore season where he banked $85,190 and took a mark of 1:54 at Charlottetown.
"I know sending him away he's going to have good competition," said MacPherson. "Talking to Andrew, he said he should do well down there...You hate to see him go but at the same time you don't keep him around here to look at him. It will be interesting."
Most of Maritime harness racing will be interested in seeing how Sock It Away fares stateside. For some, it might also be a welcome break as a horse that not only knocked off both stakes and open rivals last year is no longer a threat...at least, for the time being.
"We'll wait and see," replied MacPherson when asked if Sock It Away would be returning to the Island. "We know at some point if he stays healthy and we still own him, we'd definitely like to see him come back here. It might not be this year, who knows. We'll see how he does, lots of things can happen."
While lots of things can happen, one thing MacPherson can literally count on is Sock It Away winning some form of hardware at this year's PEISHOA Awards Banquet. Sock It Away could give MacPherson his third Maritime Horse of the Year trophy this decade after winning previously with Saulsbrook Alana (2013) and Dixieland Band (2016). Both of those champions were also developed by MacPherson's longtime partner in racing, trainer Kevin MacLean.
"He's good around horses. He's an old-fashioned trainer, he's had horses all his life and he's done well with them, We've had good success."
If all goes well, MacPherson expects to see Sock It Away racing at Yonkers by the end of the month.
"We didn't quit jogging him, we jogged him every day and so Andrew suggested we give him a training mile down here, so on our own track Wednesday or Thursday, he gets there Friday [yesterday], and if everything goes well he'll train him again Tuesday and race him a week from Monday. But we'll leave it up to him.
"He's a nice colt and I'm lucky to have him."
Has Sock It Away already
Has Sock It Away already raced at Yonkers, or does anyone know when his first start is?
In reply to Has Sock It Away already by seaviewronnie
I'm just a fan, not actually
I'm just a fan, not actually in the industry but I was curious myself because I was watching Charlottetown races on the internet. By checking entries and results lately as far as I can tell he hasn't raced yet. He appears to have a qualifier today at 5:30 at Yonkers against some pretty good horses. It's just a qualifier but those have to be some of the best horses he's ever competed against.
Although I live in the
Although I live in the states, I feel sorry for the residents of PEI that Sock It Away will be racing at Yonkers rather than at Charlottetown from now on. Sure, he can earn far more money by racing in New York, but if I lived in PEI, I would have loved to watch him race in The Gold Cup and Saucer as the hometown favorite, but it sounds like those plans are not in the cards. Note that in the action photo of Sock It Away racing that Standardbred Canada posted with this article, the words "Gold Cup and Saucer" are directly behind the horse!