Ken Jacobs has never had a horse compete in the Massachusetts Sire Stakes. But when the man who has campaigned the likes of Heston Blue Chip, Kenneth J, Hes Gorgeous and Walner finally does comes to town, it's no surprise he has the favourite in the glamour division of the $720,000 Massachusetts Sire Stake finals at Plainridge Park on Monday (Oct. 26).

Wyatt J (American Ideal-Think Pink) is the heavy morning line favourite in the three-year-old male pacing division. He was a $245,000 yearling purchase at Lexington in 2018, the highest price paid for any American Ideal yearling that year. And although his stature in the ring is what ultimately made Jacobs decide to buy him, it was also the reason he didn’t meet his early expectations until this year.

“I liked him going in; he was such a beautiful big horse, I had to have him. I usually don’t go for big horses because I like a more medium size because we race on a half a lot in New York. But he was just gorgeous looking. As it turned out he was too big for his age and he had to grow into it,” said Jacobs of Wyatt J.

“As a two-year-old he wasn’t mature at all. He was so big I didn’t want to hurt him. He did race decent at Vernon but that’s a big track and I didn’t want to put him on the smaller tracks so we shut him down and let him grow into his body. And he’s done a pretty good job of that.”

His first two starts at three were 1:49 miles at Tioga and Vernon Downs against the top three-year-old male pacers in New York and he acquitted himself pretty well. But Jacobs said he wasn’t ready for that out of the gate and he decided to take him to Yonkers and get him brave in the non-winners classes and look past stakes in New York and forward to Massachusetts.

“I sent him to Linda (Toscano) and that move worked out well for us. He kept winning races and kept getting better with each start. And he has just kept getting braver every week. They know when they’re winning and they swell up, and that’s what he’s doing. And we want to keep that going for one more week,” said Jacobs.

Since moving to Yonkers, Wyatt J has won four straight races there before moving to Plainridge Park where he is now three for three in MASS competition. He has also set a new stake record of 1:51.3 for a three-year-old pacing geldings in the process.

Jacobs has never been to Plainridge Park, but plans to attend the finals this Monday. He said he has been impressed with the Sire Stake program and likes what he has experienced first hand this year. So much so he has already purchased another Massachusetts eligible yearling at Lexington named Knockout Lindy (Muscle Hill-Kinda Crazy Lindy) who was the sales topper for the third session and sold for $175,000.

It’s interesting to note that Knockout Lindy’s dam, Kinda Crazy Lindy, is a sister to Big Man Ev (Chapter Seven-Possessed By Lindy; 1:53.3, $231,921) who was the three-year-old MASS trotting colt champion in 2017 and holds the stake and track record at Plainridge of 1:53.3 for three-year-old trotting colts.

Eight divisions of the $720,000 Massachusetts Sire Stake finals will take place at Plainridge Park on Monday (Oct. 26) with post time at 2 p.m.

(Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts)