"He seems really, really good. That’s a knock on wood situation; you don’t want to brag on that too much. Last year he had some issues, but this year he has just

really matured."

A winner of seven of nine starts and more than $222,000 at two, Big Bad John enters the Trot 2011 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book at #7 with odds of 20-1. Trot Insider caught up with trainer Ron Potter for an update on the Western Hanover colt's downtime after his rookie season and what 2011 holds in store.

Where did he winter?

"He was in Ocala, Florida at the Golden Cross training facility up there. His owner lives in Ocala and he likes taking his horses to Florida for the winter so Big Bad John was down there after he finished racing in Lexington in October. He was down there until the end of February and I’ve had him back up here in Ohio since. I train at the fairgrounds of the Little Brown Jug in Delaware."

When did you start back with him?

"We started back with him right after Christmas. He was never really let down though. He was turned out and we kept him on a walker all the time and he was jogged once or twice a week during that time."

Where are you at with him right now?

"He’s probably about two weeks away from qualifying."

Have you noticed any changes from last year to this year?

"Oh yeah, he has grown up. He’s widened out, he’s gotten taller and he’s much more mature than he was last year as a two-year-old. He seems really, really good. That’s a knock on wood situation; you don’t want to brag on that too much. Last year he had some issues, but this year he has just really matured."

What will his early schedule look like leading up to the Pepsi NA Cup?

"I had planned on qualifying him the last two weeks of April; we are going to put two good qualifiers in him. If everything goes well, we’re planning on starting him at Chester in the Pennsylvania Sires Stake on May 7. Then I actually don’t have anything for him after that until June 3, which is another Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows. Those are the only two starts he will probably have before the North America Cup. We may start him in a three-year-old Open or something between there somewhere to keep him tight or probably qualify him again."

What does his tentative schedule look like after the NA Cup?

"He’s got four starts in June and then he’ll have a couple of weeks off. He has the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and then eliminations for the North America Cup are on the 11th and hopefully we will make the final on the 18th. Then the following week he is in the Hoosier Cup in Indiana and then he is off until the Meadowlands Pace. I actually can’t tell you after that. June is probably going to be his busiest month and then a couple of races in July and then we'll try pointing him towards what we have in the fall. Right now it looks like he has about 15 starts from what I can see from our scheduling."

Throughout the course of the week, the SC website will countdown to the Spring Book favourite, complete with updates from the trainers on the pacers that Trot staff assessed as the leading contenders for the richest prize in Canadian harness racing. Watch for the full list of Spring Book odds in the April issue of Trot Magazine.