McWicked will be back to defend his title this Saturday (Sept. 8) in $250,000 Jim Ewart Memorial for older pacers at Scioto Downs, where he will face the hottest horse at the central Ohio oval, Nuclear Dragon.

Nuclear Dragon has won his two most recent starts at Scioto, both in the Open, by a total of nine and a quarter lengths for trainer-driver Dan Noble. His 1:48.2 win on August 11 is tied for the fastest mile of the year on a five-eighths-mile track and he heads to the Ewart off a 1:48.3 victory on September 1.

Sandwiched between those races, the six-year-old gelding won the Gene Riegle Memorial by four and three-quarter lengths at the Darke County Fair in Greenville, Ohio.

The Ewart will be Nuclear Dragon’s first appearance in a Grand Circuit stakes event.

“I think the horse is in maybe the best form he’s ever been in,” said Noble, who is the leading driver at Scioto Downs and ranks fourth in the trainer standings. “He’s definitely a very fast horse, and I think he’s got some more in there. This was one way to find out, put him in this race to see kind of what he really is.”

Noble, who took over the training and driving of Nuclear Dragon in August, said the Ewart would be a gauge whether to supplement the horse to the September 28 Dayton Pacing Derby. The cost to supplement is $15,000.

“We’ve been pretty high on him,” Noble said. “He’s been a pleasure to be around. He’s a nice little horse and does everything you ask of him. He’s got a nice demeanour. You can tell when he’s having a good day and a bad day. When he’s having a bad day, he doesn’t play as much in his stall. Lately, in the last two and a half weeks, he’s been doing a lot of playing and is happy every day when you go out.”

For his career, Nuclear Dragon has won 21 of 94 races and earned $271,648. He has won 16 of those races and $227,525 since owner Richard Mishkin bought the horse in September 2016.

Nuclear Dragon will start the Ewart from Post 10, which is in the second tier behind Western Joe in Post 1. Nuclear Dragon is 9-2 on the morning line, behind 3-1 favourite McWicked and 4-1 Western Joe.

“I was disappointed when I saw the 10 hole,” Noble said. “But the horse I’m trailing, he can get out of there very well. I feel that I should land in a good spot early in the race.”

McWicked enters the Ewart off a win in last week’s Canadian Pacing Derby at Woodbine Mohawk Park. The seven-year-old horse has won seven of 11 races this season and is the sport’s leading money-earner this year with $885,864. For his career, he has won 29 of 85 starts and $3.2 million for owner S S G Stables.

The Canadian Pacing Derby was McWicked’s first start following a three-week layoff to deal with a quarter crack in one of his hooves.

“Everything is really good,” trainer Casie Coleman said. “He had no issues after the last race. He’s sound on it. He’s been wearing a bar shoe, but I’ll race him in a regular shoe. He trained in (the bar shoe) yesterday morning. He trained very good, I was really happy with him. He probably doesn’t need to train with the bar shoe, but we’re trying to be as cautious as can be because I don’t want it to become an issue.”

McWicked’s win in last year’s Ewart came in his first appearance at the track. Saturday will be his second.

“He’s batting a thousand so far,” Coleman said. “Hopefully he comes out of there batting a thousand.”

Saturday’s card at Scioto will also include the Ohio Sire Stakes championships and a match race between harness racing’s all-time richest horse Foiled Again and local favourite Lucky Lime. Racing will begin at 6:30 p.m. (EDT).

Following is the field in post-position order for the Ewart Memorial. Introduced in 2013, the race honours the late Jim Ewart, who was the race secretary at Scioto Downs from 1976 through 2002. Ewart, who worked as a race secretary at 18 different tracks in North America, plus Australia and New Zealand, passed away in 2012.

PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Morning Line
1-Western Joe-Chris Page-Christopher Choate-4/1
2-McWicked-David Miller-Casie Coleman-3/1
3-Dr J Hanover-Ronnie Wrenn Jr.-Tony Alagna-10/1
4-All Bets Off-Matt Kakaley-Ron Burke-12/1
5-Western Fame-Tyler Smith-Jimmy Takter-8/1
6-Split The House-Aaron Merriman-Chris Oakes-6/1
7-Dealt A Winner-Trace Tetrick-Mark Silva-15/1
8-Beckhams Z Tam-Ricky Macomber Jr.-Jamie Macomber-10/1
9-Filibuster Hanover-Tony Hall-Ron Burke-8/1
10-Nuclear Dragon-Dan Noble-Dan Noble-9/2
NOTE: Nuclear Dragon starts from the second tier.

(USTA)