It took some time to unlock Sagebrush Susie's potential, but she has been nearly perfect since trainer Mike Brown found the key

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On the board in all seven of her career starts, Sagebrush Susie is rated as the 9-5 second choice in the $49,000 Tender Loving Care Final on Friday night at Meadowlands Racetrack. She will start from Post 2 with driver David Miller at the lines in the evening's third race. Kicking off a weekend full of stakes action, the Tender Loving Care will share the spotlight with the $89,000 Cape & Cutter for older mares that night.

Marvin Hill of Panama City Beach, Florida purchased Sagebrush Susie, a daughter of Red River Hanover-My Best Girl, as a yearling for $9,000 at the Lexington-Selected Sale. Hill sent the filly to Chicago-based trainer Mike Brown when she failed to make progress training down as a two-year-old.

"They couldn't keep her flat," Brown explained. "She'd only trained in like [2]:35 or [2]:40; that's all they could do. I got her and found she had a splint on the right front that was bothering her. She could hardly pace a turn when I first got her. We did a little work on that splint and she's been flawless ever since. I mean she's been fantastic. I think they were ready to quit with her. I think they were ready to get rid of her.

"I would tell Marv Hill this is a special filly," Brown continued. "She can fly. She loved the work. I don't think I ever sat behind a two-year-old filly like her that had the speed and could carry it as far as she wanted to carry it. Every time I cut the mile she wasn't really aggressive, but every time I came from off the pace with her she wanted to beat everybody. She's a completely different horse from off the pace. She never acted like a young horse. She's got a lot of brains to her; she's a very smart horse."

Sagebrush Susie finished third in her career debut on November 10, 2010 at Balmoral Park. She won her next three starts before Brown sent her to Mark Urycki's barn at the Meadowlands in preparation for the Tender Loving Care series. Sagebrush Susie will likely stay at the Meadowlands through the end of next month, as she is also eligible to the Night Styles Series, which begins March 10.

"Knock on wood, Mark is doing a fantastic job with her," Brown noted. "She's doing just what we thought she could do. She's just getting better and better every start."

In her first two starts at the Meadowlands, Sagebursh Susie took the lead and both times was caught at the wire, first by Some Girls Do and then Hello Camie. She will face both fillies again in the Tender Loving Care final on Friday night.

"She was racing with a hood, earplugs and a blind bridle, and had no idea she was beat in her first race here [on January 27]," Urycki said. "I mean, she had no clue she had another horse around her.

"In her second start, she was seventh and over nine lengths behind at the quarter pole before she brushed to the lead," Urycki continued. "Again, this is a lightly-raced filly who had raced from behind before coming here. She had always been looking at horses and chasing them down. Now she was being chased and didn't know what it was all about."

Sagebrush Susie came first up and charged past the leader to a career best 1:53.3 clocking in the second leg of the Tender Loving Care Series last week.

"She made a pretty explosive move in :27.2 to win last week," Urycki said. " I was pretty much focused on her, but everybody said Some Girls Do looked a lot better [in the other division], so it's an interesting match-up in this final. So far she hasn't disappointed us.

"She's a very big horse, wears a 62-inch hopple, and it looks like [her hopples] could be let out again," Urycki added. "She just has a fantastic attitude. Dave Miller got off the bike last week and told me she has a great outlook. She's still as green as could be and doesn't quite know what she's doing out there. We think there might be a real big future for this filly, and she has a lot of potential, so we made the nominating payments for the Fan Hanover at Mohawk and the Mistletoe Shalee [at the Meadowlands]."

Urycki also noted that owner Marvin Hill has received several offers from parties interested in purchasing the filly.

"There was a price tag on her," Urycki acknowledged. "The price was certainly high. We had a lot of people look at her after the qualifier [on January 22], but nobody was willing to jump in and spend what they were asking. The owner came close to getting his price for her, and after she won [last week] were a few more calls. There's a demand for good racehorses, and you can see they go for unbelievable amounts at the sales. In this case, she's a green three-year-old with her whole future in front of her."

Urycki also got his start in the racing business in Illinois, at the now shuttered Sportsman's Park. After a long career as an established trainer on the Chicago circuit, Urycki relocated to New Jersey six years ago and has worked with Mark Silva in addition to training a couple of horses on his own.

"It's extremely satisfying to be involved with a horse like this," Urycki said. "I've been part of Mark Silva's success, but I told somebody the other day that with my name down as trainer this filly makes me feel relevant again. I remember in the old days when I had some pretty nice horses, and once in awhile I'd get mentioned in the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune. I'm going to be 57 in April, kind of settled and happy in what I'm doing. Yet after this tough winter, I keep threatening to go to Florida!"

(Meadowlands Racetrack)