Keep It Real has been keeping quiet for the past three weeks, but the Joey Shea-trained pacing colt could soon be making lots of noise

as he begins to prepare for the Little Brown Jug.

Unraced at two, the sophomore son of Real Artist-Magical Leah has compiled a record reading 7-2-1 in 11 starts this year earning nearly $300,000 in purses. In stakes action, Keep It Real won his Burlington division on June 13 at Mohawk Racetrack before finishing second to Well Said in his North America Cup elimination and third in the final. From there, the bay traveled to The Meadows for the Adios elims, again, finishing second to Well Said. His only off-the-board finish came on August 1 in the final where Vintage Master pulled a 13-1 upset.

“He just got boxed in, it was just racing luck,” owner Wayne Whebby told Trot Insider. “We were boxed in the eight-hole and never got out and got pushed right back to last. Of course it was taking a lot out of him in the hole - he was grabbing on quite a bit and there’s not much you can do when you’re back that far at the head of the stretch. It was just racing luck. Nobody’s fault, it was just the way the race went.”

Trailing seven and a half lengths at the top of the stretch, Keep It Real used a :27.4 final quarter to finish four and a half lengths off the leader in seventh.

Following the race, a minor setback forced Keep It Real, a $45,000 Harrisburg Sale purchase, to miss a couple of his scheduled starts.

“He’s doing good. We just had a little setback with his feet but that’s all fixed up now.

“We were kind of hoping to [supplement him to] the Confederation Cup, but we just couldn’t make it to that. The Cane Pace, we were just a little frightened because the track’s a little hard there sometimes and we couldn’t get him back and ready for it anyhow.”

Whebby told Trot Insider that his colt will start back training at the end of the week with the connections' sights set on the Little Brown Jug on September 24 at Delaware County Fair, and a potential tightener race at Mohawk prior to the two-heat event.