Can the big horse get back to the big show?

We may start finding out in a matter of weeks.

Injured in an accident in the Mohawk Gold Cup Invitational won by Abuckabett Hanover at Woodbine Mohawk Park on June 17, hulking pacer Wheels On Fire is on the comeback trail at the stable of trainer Richard Moreau.

Moreau said the Somebeachsomewhere gelding, a popular, hard-knocking campaigner who'll be nine in 2024, "is doing well" and training twice a week.

"So far, so good," said Moreau, adding that owner Brad Grant of Milton, Ont., has made clear that the comeback will proceed only if the horse still fits at the top level.

As things stand, the plan is for the gelding to qualify and start back racing early in 2024, Moreau said. 

The 2023 campaign ended with the Gold Cup mishap, a chain reaction accident that happened when pacesetter Billy Clyde went offstride.

Wheels On Fire, who was able to walk off the track, had earned more than $125,000 to that point in the season. The 47-time winner had reached millionaire status just a few months earlier, in February. He was named top older pacer in Canada at the 2021 O'Brien Awards.

(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)