As Bruce Trogdon made his way around the Standardbred Horse Sale the past couple days, he was looking to the future, but still keeping an eye on the present as well – a present that might include several more races for three-year-old male pacer Fear The Dragon.
Fear The Dragon, who finished eighth in his Breeders Crown elimination on October 21 and was scratched from an October 28 race, will qualify Thursday at Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway. If all goes well, the colt could be supplemented to the upcoming Matron Stakes and Progress Pace.
“He had some health problems, but he finally trained better and acted more like himself and scoped decent,” said Trogdon, who owns Fear The Dragon through his Emerald Highlands Farm. “So we’re going to qualify him and decide, is that the real ‘Dragon’ or should we just retire him. We haven’t finalized anything yet, but it looks like he will be going to stud next year.”
Fear The Dragon has won 12 of 16 races this year and earned $1.26 million in purses. His victories include the North America Cup, Max C. Hempt Memorial, Delvin Miller Adios, and a division of the Tattersalls Pace. He finished second in the Carl Milstein Memorial.
The colt’s campaign has been part of a season Trogdon called “magical.” Emerald Highlands Farm bred and owns three-year-old female pacer Blazin Britches, who counts the Breeders Crown among her 11 victories this year, as well as Indiana Sire Stakes champions Always Bet De Grey and Always Woggy.
All of the horses are trained by Brian Brown.
“I’ve had so many fortunate things happen, and just a lot of really good horses,” Trogdon said. “Brian has done a great job. It hasn’t all been perfect. It’s been a bumpy road here at the end with Dragon with some things, but when you’ve had as much luck as I have this year you can’t complain when things go wrong.
“We’ve had a magical year. I pinch myself and ask if it really happened.”
Blazin Britches, who has won 11 of 15 races and earned $540,424, saw her season come to an end after the Breeders Crown. She had surgery Tuesday to remove a small chip from her left hock.
“We were going to quit with her anyway,” Trogdon said. “She had chips taken out as a yearling and a little piece came off of the previous surgery site. We had never seen it (previously) on an X-ray. That was probably bugging her the last half of the year. She should bounce back real fast.
“We’re going to turn her out and she will come back and race again next year. But I’m going to try to embryo transplant her first so she might get a little bit of a late start. I don’t want to miss the chance of having a ‘Britches’ and Dragon foal.”
In addition to Blazin Britches’ future, Trogdon on Tuesday added a Sweet Lou-sired filly named Afraid Not Hanover to his roster. Afraid Not Hanover, out of the stakes-winning mare Appleoosa Hanover, sold for $55,000.
“I particularly had to have that one,” said Trogdon, who also bid on an Art Major-sired filly, but was unsuccessful in acquiring the horse. “I like horses that are flashy and I love Sweet Lou.
“We’ve got a lot of new ones coming, I’ve got a lot of my own (homebreds), but I couldn’t resist. It’s always fun to bring in a little new blood.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.