In the Ruggeri household, everyone knows Joe comes first.

Western Joe, that is.

The eight-year-old male pacer, closing in on $1 million in career earnings as he prepares for Monday’s start of the MGM Borgata Series at Yonkers Raceway, was bred by Anthony Ruggeri, who owns the gelding with Richard Tosies.

“My kids make fun of me all the time,” Ruggeri said with a laugh. “He’s my favourite in the family. He’s my boy. It’s been a good time with him.”

Western Joe has won 37 of 124 lifetime races and earned $966,041. Last season, he enjoyed the second-most lucrative campaign of his career, banking $223,880 thanks in part to two wins and two seconds in the preliminary rounds of the Borgata Series plus runner-up finishes in the Battle of Lake Erie and a division of the Sam McKee Memorial.

“He had a great year, very consistent,” Ruggeri said. “It’s nice that he’s still competitive at the upper levels.

“I can’t say that I’m surprised because that’s who he is. He can make you scratch your head sometimes from one start to another, but you can never give up on Joe. He could have one or two bad starts and then come right back. When people give up on him, that’s when he throws in a couple gems in a row. He’s an easy horse to root for. He never gives up.”

Western Joe, a son of Western Ideal-Ante Fay, was named by Ruggeri to honor a late uncle who introduced him to harness racing when he was a kid.

As a two-year-old in 2016, Western Joe’s wins included a victory over future millionaire Fear The Dragon in a division of the Pennsylvania All-Stars. Two years later, he captured the Sam McKee Memorial over eventual Horse of the Year McWicked. He also won the Great Northeast Open Series championship for pacers and was third in the Graduate Series final and Confederation Cup.

His second-place finish to This Is The Plan in last year’s Battle of Lake Erie at Northfield Park came in the fastest mile ever on a half-mile track. He finished behind eventual Dan Patch Award winner Allywag Hanover in the McKee despite a :25.3 last quarter-mile as he rallied from seventh place.

“Halfway down the stretch, there was no way you’d think he would be second,” Ruggeri said about the McKee. “It looked like he was totally out of it and then he turned it on.”

Western Joe got a four-month respite from racing, returning to action at the end of December. He was off the board in four starts before going to The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono and starting a three-race win streak. The streak was snapped by a seventh-place finish from post eight on Monday at Yonkers.

“It always takes him four or five starts to get going; he’s a little bit slow that way when he comes off a layoff,” Ruggeri said. “When he came back, we had (purse) money from last year, so we were starting in the Preferreds at The Meadowlands, which is not an easy way to come back. We took him to Pocono to get him going a little bit and he’s been really good since then.

“He’s got a great attitude. He’s been happy. We’re cautiously optimistic. Hopefully, we get a couple of these (preliminary rounds of the Borgata).”

Western Joe will start from post one in the third of five $50,000 opening-round divisions of the Borgata Series on Monday for trainer Christopher Choate. He is 7-2 on the morning line. Groovy Joe is the 5-2 favourite in a field that also includes Nicholas Beach (3-1), Covered Bridge (7-2), and American Dealer N (7-1), who won his North American debut in 1:49.2 on March 5 at The Meadowlands.

“That’s a tough field,” Ruggeri said. “I’m glad we got the rail, that’s the only saving grace in that field. I expect him to be competitive and aggressive in that field. We’re going to get out there and see what we can do.”

In addition to the Borgata, Western Joe is staked to several other Grand Circuit stakes this season, including the McKee and William R. Haughton Memorial.

“I’ve never heavily staked him,” Ruggeri said. “We’ll keep the same formula and try to keep his starts in the low 20s. It’s not easy going in (1):48 or (1):49 every week with some of these monsters. It takes a lot out of you.

“But he’s healthy and sound, so hopefully he can keep going for a few more years. When he stops competing at a good level, it will be time to retire. We’ll keep going as long as he’s feeling good. We’ll just have some fun.”

(USTA)