After watching Little Rocket Man recently take a test flight at Northfield Park, trainer Missy Essig hopes the five-year-old is ready to soar in Saturday’s (June 5) $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie Invitational for older male pacers.

Little Rocket Man competed in the Open Handicap at Northfield on May 16, which marked his first ever start on a half-mile oval. Little Rocket Man started from post six in a six-horse field, got away at the rear, overcame traffic at three-quarters with a three-wide move, and finished second by a neck to local stalwart Southwind Amazon.

“We took him up there to make sure everything was OK, that we had him shod right, and see if we needed to make any adjustments,” Essig said. “We didn’t want to go out there without knowing. He got a little steppy in the first turn, so we’ll adjust his hobbles, and that’s about it. We were very happy with him. It was a good test run.”

Little Rocket Man, who has made 33 of his 37 lifetime starts at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, heads to the Battle of Lake Erie with 23 career wins and $352,055 in purses. This season, he has won six of eight races with one second and one third.

The gelding will start the Battle from post two with driver John DeLong and is 8-1 on the morning line. Only once in his past 31 starts has Little Rocket Man started inside post four.

“He won’t know how to race coming out of the two-hole,” Essig said with a laugh. “We were very happy with the post position. There’s not a bad horse in the field, so it’s all about the trip. Hopefully, we get a good trip. They’re all great horses. It’s just an honour to be invited to go up there for that race. We’ll see how it all shakes out.”

Essig trains Little Rocket Man for her father, Russ Beeman, and Jack Freeman. Little Rocket Man, by Rockin Image out of GT Miss Royal, was purchased under the name Just Like Pete for $18,000 at the 2017 Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale. He was unraced at two, blossomed at three, and has a career mark of 1:47.2 established at four.

“He loves to do his work,” Essig said. “He’s got a big heart. He’ll give everything he’s got every start. He’s very special to us. He’ll be here forever. He’ll retire at our house, and he will live out the rest of his life with us.”

This Is The Plan is the 2-1 morning line favourite in the Battle. He heads to the race off a second-place finish behind Nicholas Beach in this past Sunday’s Commodore Barry Invitational. Trained by Ron Burke and driven by Yannick Gingras, the six-year-old gelding has won two of eight races this year and not been worse than second.

For his career, This Is The Plan has won 16 of 77 races and $2.10 million. In his 10 most recent starts on a half-mile oval, dating back to 2019, he has four wins and five seconds. His victories include the MGM Borgata Series championship at Yonkers Raceway in April.

Southwind Amazon, an 11-year-old gelding, has started nine times this season at Northfield Park, winning eight. Lifetime, he has won 70 races at Northfield and his total of 108 victories is tied for ninth by a pacer over the past 45 years. His next triumph will put him in a tie with Hall of Famer Foiled Again, who was a three-time Battle of Lake Erie champ.

Racing begins at 6 p.m. (EDT) Saturday at Northfield Park. The Battle of Lake Erie is race 10 on the 15-race card.

(USTA)