Back in the care of trainer Casie Coleman, six-year-old McWicked could surpass $2 million in career earnings with a strong performance in Saturday’s $615,000 Canadian Pacing Derby at Mohawk Racetrack.

Following his four-year-old campaign, McWicked departed from Coleman’s barn and was moved to trainer Steve Elliott, who conditioned the son of McArdle for his five-year-old season and the first part of his current six-year-old campaign.

“He didn’t win a race at four with me and the owners just decided to try him with somebody else,” Coleman said. “He went away for a little while, but then they asked me to take him back and I did.”

McWicked’s five-year-old season was cut short after he sustained an injury in the June 2016 Roll With Joe Pace, where he flipped his palate and underwent corrective surgery.

“I thought he could go with [Always B] Miki and [Wiggle It Jiggleit], I really did," McWicked’s former trainer, Steve Elliot, said in an interview last year. "He's a fast, fast horse and he's handy. He doesn't ever grab a line. Sitting in the two-hole, drivers want to get him off the fence. Pull the right line and he takes off. You don't know how much horse you've got until you pull and then you have to watch you don't catch a wheel. He's just that kind of horse. He's a very good horse and circumstances didn't dictate that.”

McWicked, a 21-time winner with $1,992,206 earned for owner SSG Stables, made his 2017 seasonal debut on February 12 at Pompano Park, where he won the $12,500 Open Handicap in 1:50.4 devoid of breathing issues from which he had suffered in the past.

“I didn’t have any issues with him as a three-year-old with his breathing, but as a four-year-old we started having some issues with that,” Coleman said. “Like I’ll use the laser machine and laser his palette and take the tongue tie out and stuff along those lines. It’s a constant thing you’ve got to work on because once they have a breathing issue you never know when it’s going to come up.”

After having raced ten times this season for Elliott, McWicked returned to Coleman’s barn and proceeded to win the Preferred at Mohawk on June 3, followed by the $100,000 Mohawk Gold Cup in 1:48.2 on June 17.

“I just put him back to the way I had [trained] him,” Coleman said. “I don’t really know what they were doing with him — I wasn’t really concerned with how they rigged him up and trained him because I knew my way worked with him as a three-year-old and he’s been seeming to respond.”

McWicked, pictured on Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at Golden Horseshoe Lanes in Millgrove, Ontario (Michael Burns Photography)

Prior to last Saturday’s Canadian Pacing Derby eliminations, McWicked had finished fourth in three consecutive starts, including in the $325,000 Dan Patch Invitational at Hoosier Park as the 2-1 favourite.

“He didn’t race badly at Hoosier, but I was expecting more out of him,” Coleman said. “He came up with an abscess in his foot, which we’ve actually been working on for a little while. He’s actually been racing in an A-bar shoe right now just because he has some problems with his foot.”

While finishing third in his Pacing Derby elim, McWicked paced a 1:48.3 mile, which included a :25.4 final quarter. He finished six lengths in arrears of elimination winner Rockin Ron.

“Everything seems great [heading into the Pacing Derby],” Coleman said. “I wish he was a little bit better on that foot—he trained yesterday (Tuesday); he trained really [well]. He’s sharp and feeling good, but we still have a little bit of an issue with his foot but I think that will be fine by the time we get to Saturday.”

McWicked will start from the rail in Saturday’s big race and will have the driving services of David Miller.

“The rail isn’t necessarily the best place to be — I mean, I’ll take it over the nine or ten any day. Like it’s hard for a horse to race on the front-end and get off the rail, so I’m hoping he gets away mid pack, follows some cover and hopefully works out from that spot.”

Following is the field for the Canadian Pacing Derby. The race is No. 7 on the card, with a 9:30 p.m. estimated post time.

PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Line
1. McWicked-David Miller-Casie Coleman-5-1
2. Keystone Velocity-Simon Allard-Rene Allard-5-2
3. Easy Lover Hanover-Doug McNair-Ben Wallace-15-1
4. Rockin Ron-Louis Philippe Roy-Ron Burke-3-1
5. Lyons Snyder-Brett Miller-Jimmy Takter-15-1
6. All Bets Off-Yannick Gingras-Ron Burke-6-1
7. Nirvana Seelster-Trevor Henry-Bill Budd-8-1
8. Dealt A Winner-Scott Zeron-Mark Silva-15-1
9. Sintra-Jody Jamieson-Gaetan Hebert-8-1
10. Check Six-Tim Tetrick-Ron Burke-10-1

To view the entries for Saturday's card, click on one of the following links:

► Saturday Entries - Mohawk Racetrack

► Saturday Program Proof (PDF) - Mohawk Racetrack

► Saturday Past Performances Lines - Mohawk Racetrack (courtesy TrackIT)

(WEG)