Willowtime, who was runner-up to T C I for the 2023 O’Brien Award for two-year-old male trotters, will make his U.S. debut for new owner Tom Pollack on Saturday, Feb. 8 when he faces nine rivals in a $24,000 USD conditioned trot at The Meadowlands.

An Ontario Sires Stakes champion and Grand Circuit stakes winner at the age of two, Willowtime was purchased privately by Pollack Racing in November and joined the stable of trainer Jeff Cullipher. The four-year-old stallion was trained previously by Mark Etsell. He hit the board in 11 of 17 races in Canada, winning five, and earned $473,097. All of his victories were against stakes company.

“We’re excited to see what he can do,” Pollack said about the son of Lookslikeachpndale-SOS Respect. “He’s a four-year-old trotter with some back class and ability, so we thought he was worth taking a shot on. You can never have too many solid, good young trotters.”

Willowtime made his first appearance since October when he won a qualifier last Saturday at The Meadowlands. Willowtime, who has been stabled in New Jersey with Cullipher assistant Rico Robinson, was nearly 11 lengths from the lead at the half-mile point but made a strong move to close the gap entering the final turn and then moved again in the stretch to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:55.3.

“We decided to give him a nice break to freshen up and he’s come back super so far,” said Pollack. “That was a real good qualifier, we were very happy with it. He was super. Rico, who has been the main one working with him, really likes him.”

Willowtime will leave from post two on Saturday with Braxten Boyd in the sulky. He is 10-1 on the morning line.

“Saturday will be his first start since October, so we’d like to see him finishing well late,” said Pollack. “I think he’ll show up.

“This is a little bit of a trial run [ahead of making stakes payments in mid-February]. We’re looking at the Canadian Graduate Series and we’re kind of on the fence with the main four-year-old Graduate. But if he does his thing Saturday and finishes up well, we’d probably give him a shot in that.

“We’ll just hope he continues forward and does well and maybe we’ll have a nice stakes horse down the road.”

In addition to Willowtime, Pollack will be watching another recent addition to his operation, Outside The Fire, in the same race on Saturday at The Big M.

Outside The Fire, also purchased in November and trained by Cullipher, has two wins and two seconds in five starts since his arrival. His only start this year came on Jan. 28 in the Open at Bally’s Dover, where he was a little headstrong and made repeated breaks.

“He hadn’t raced for a month and kind of got wound up over there,” said Pollack. “Throw that race out. There is nothing wrong with him and Rico said he trained excellent this week. Outside of that last start, he’s been a model of consistency for us.”

Outside The Fire, a son of Cantab Hall-Light The Flame, has won 22 of 76 career races and earned $369,227. He has five wins and three seconds among 13 lifetime starts at The Big M, where he first set his career mark of 1:52.2 last season.

“He was a horse I always liked,” said Pollack. “He would pop up with a big mile here or there and catch your eye. He showed signs of really being able to go fast. He’s more just an overnight horse for us. We buy some babies and some stakes horses, but we’re mainly a racehorse operation. He fits that mold.”

Outside The Fire will leave from post nine on Saturday with Tyler Buter in the sulky. He is 9-2 on the morning line.

“He’s good to go and, other than the post position, I would expect a big effort from him. I know he likes the Meadowlands. When he’s right, you can see that he can trot in [1]:51 and [1]:52. He knows what he’s doing.”

Queen Of America S, a five-year-old mare who is two-for-two for trainer Ron Burke since her arrival to the U.S. from Sweden, is the 5-2 favourite in the featured trot. She will leave from post eight with driver David Miller.

Racing begins at 6:20 p.m. at The Meadowlands. For free Big M programs, visit the track’s website at playmeadowlands.com.

(With files from USTA)