"Everyone says you’ve got to be in front, but you didn’t have to be in front last year. Maybe you do when there’s a bunch of good ones in the final, maybe."

The same connections that sent out last year’s Dan Patch Award winning three-year-old pacing filly Put On A Show have a Little Brown Jug entry, just in time for Thursday’s race. Joanne and Richard Young bought Foreclosure N in July and moved him to the stable of trainer Chris Ryder. He also trained Put On A Show, who won more money at two and three (almost $1.9 million) than any pacing filly in harness racing history.

Foreclosure N is 8-1 from post four in the first of two Little Brown Jug first-heat eliminations, with Tim Tetrick driving. His most recent Jug prep races have come against older horses in overnight races at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on September 3 and 10. Ryder, who has had the horse in his stable for less than a month, says there was no grand plan behind the starts against older horses.

“There was nowhere else to race him,” Ryder said. “We raced him in the Confederation Cup (on August 14) and whatever the reason was, he didn’t do well up there (finishing sixth in his elimination). The horse was already in Canada and he had the Confederation Cup and it just didn’t work.

“Then he came down here (to Ryder’s stable in central New Jersey) and we had to get him raced because the next scheduled start for him was the 22nd (the Little Brown Jug). So we raced him at Pocono. He’s been very good.”

Foreclosure N, who was born in New Zealand, hence the “N” at the end of his name, won a non-winners event at Pocono by two lengths on September 3 in a career-best 1:49.2 and came back to be third against older horses in the Open on September 10. He was race-timed in 1:49 as he finished behind Dial Or Nodial and One More Laugh.

“He held his own; didn’t bother him in the least,” Ryder said. “We were very happy with that.”

Ryder said Richard Young was looking for a horse to beef up their racing stable when they bought Foreclosure N, who has won two of 10 races this year and earned $256,520. He was fourth in both the $1.53 million North America Cup and $1 million Meadowlands Pace -- starting from post 10, the extreme outside, in both races.

“He’d been looking to buy a two-year-old filly, but tried to buy the occasional colt and everybody was through the roof with their prices,” Ryder said. “So he went after this horse and we knew he had been halfway on the market and being a decent horse and all that, they wanted a few bucks, which the Youngs coughed up.

“They wanted something to race, they were going a little stir crazy,” laughed Ryder.

Ryder says Foreclosure N has made a smooth transition to his stable.

“I haven’t changed anything,” he said. “He’s very straightforward. The good ones usually aren’t too complicated. He arrived there last night and jogged this morning and retention has started already at 11 a.m., because it’s the last 48 hours (before the race).”

The small first-heat field (six horses) gives his colt more options, says Ryder.

“He can close well,” he said. “He never really left at all, but my driver, Mr. (Tim) Tetrick assures me that he can.

“Looking at last year’s results, there was only one elimination winner that cut the mile. That was a horse called Rock N Roll Heaven. Heard of him? Everyone says you’ve got to be in front, but you didn’t have to be in front last year. Maybe you do when there’s a bunch of good ones in the final, maybe.

“I’m happy with the horse and he was eligible and if we didn’t go he’d be climbing the walls back in New Jersey and probably racing for $20,000 at Pocono.”

Following are the fields for the Little Brown Jug in post position order, with listed drivers and trainers.

Heat One, Division One:
1. Something For Doc, Ron Pierce, Brian Brown
2. Big Bad John, David Miller, Ron Potter
3. Powerful Mist, John Campbell, Wayne Givens
4. Foreclosure N, Tim Tetrick, Chris Ryder
5. Custard The Dragon, Montrell Teague, George Teague Jr.
6. High Noon, Mark MacDonald, Jimmy Takter.

Heat One, Division Two:
1. Rollwithitharry, Brett Miller, Jimmy Takter
2. Hugadragon, Yannick Gingras, Ron Burke
3. Wink N Atcha, Brian Sears, George Teague Jr.
4. Betterthancheddar, George Brennan, Casie Coleman
5. Roll With Joe, Ron Pierce, Ed Hart
6. Up The Credit, Jody Jamieson, Carl Jamieson

To download a program for Thursday's program, please click the following link:
Thursday Afternoon Card - Delaware County Fair. (the file will be saved on your computer)

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.