Through the early part of his delayed career, Without A Clue has done a pretty good job of solving the mystery to winning. A half-brother to multiple-stakes-winner Manofmanymissions, the four-year-old trotter has won five of nine races since making his debut in October.

On Thursday, Without A Clue begins action in the Charles Singer Memorial series for four-year-old trotters at Meadowlands Racetrack. A total of 30 horses entered the first round, which was split into three $15,000 divisions. Without A Clue, trained by Anette Lorentzon, is in the third group.

Windsun Galliano, who won the Super Bowl series final on Jan. 26 at the Meadowlands, headlines the Singer’s first division while stablemate Helios, who finished second in the Super Bowl, is in the second division. Both horses are from the stable of trainer Julie Miller.

Owned by Ann-Christin Lorentzon’s and John Erik Magnusson’s ACL Stuteri AB, Without A Clue never made it to the races as a two-year-old because of illness and saw a bone fracture postpone his debut at three. Once under way, he won his first four starts, all in condition races at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.

“He’s got the perfect name,” Anette Lorentzon said. “To work with him at home, he doesn’t have a clue. But when he gets to the track and races, he’s a totally different horse. He does everything right.”

Without A Clue is a son of 2007 Horse of the Year Donato Hanover out of the stakes-winning-mare Armbro Vanquish, who is a half-sister to 1988 Breeders Crown Mare Trot winner Armbro Flori.

Armbro Vanquish also is the dam of Manofmanymissions, who was born a year prior to Without A Clue and earned $1.2 million in his career and won the 2010 Breeders Crown for two-year-old male trotters and the 2011 Colonial Trot. Without A Clue sold for $27,000 at the Lexington Selected Sale.

“He didn’t go for a whole lot because of his conformation,” Lorentzon said. “He doesn’t stand straight, but my owners wanted to take a shot because he was the brother of Manofmanymissions and was worth a little bit of money even if he didn’t race.

“You look at him and you’d think he could never go around the track,” the trainer added with a laugh. “But he’s got a very good heart and loves to do his work. He’s a very nice horse to be around.”

Without A Clue, who has earned $32,500 in his career, qualified three times as a two-year-old, but got sick in Canada in August and was shut down for the year.

“He was very green, so we decided to turn him out and get him ready for his three-year-old year,” Lorentzon said. “He trained down good (at three) and we staked him a little bit. But right before he was going to qualify we had to do surgery for a P-1 fracture. After that, I gave him all the time he needed to come back.

“He hasn’t raced many times so I think he will get better and better.”

In his most recent start, Jan. 17, Without A Clue went off stride and finished seventh at Yonkers Raceway. It was his first start on a half-mile track. Eight days later, Without A Clue won a qualifier in 1:56.4 at the Meadowlands with Tim Tetrick driving.

“I wanted to try him on a half-mile track and I think he had trouble with the turns,” Lorentzon said. “I took a shot and it didn’t work out. That’s why we qualified him. Timmy was very happy with him.”

As for the Singer series, Lorentzon is hopeful Without A Clue can reach the final, which is scheduled for Feb. 23 with a purse of $60,000.

“It’s always tough racing at the Meadowlands,” said Lorentzon, who is training 45 horses, with the majority being located at her home farm in Kentucky. “He’s still green and there are a lot of good horses in there.”

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