Andy McCarthy and Better Is Nice have been partners from the beginning, and now in their third season together, they continue to be a winning tandem.
A four-year-old male pacer, Better Is Nice has earned $1.27 million in his 31-race career, which has seen him compete exclusively in stakes action. McCarthy has been in the sulky for all of those starts, guiding the stallion to 24 top-three finishes, including 13 victories.
Among the triumphs were Kentucky Sire Stakes Championship Series titles at Lexington’s Red Mile at ages two and three. On Sunday, Better Is Nice will attempt to add another crown to his collection when he faces seven rivals in the $100,000 USD KYSS Series I final for four-year-old male pacers at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel.
“He’s such a cool horse; we’ve had a lot of fun together,” said McCarthy, who drives Better Is Nice for trainer Tony Alagna. “Obviously, Tony and I have a great relationship, and he puts me on horses that he thinks will suit me. It means a lot to bring a horse along from two and see them accomplish good things over the years.
“Every time you, with the trainer, win a race with a horse you’ve brought along by yourself, it does feel like quite an achievement. He’s had a good go at it.”
Better Is Nice, a son of Bettors Wish-Thatsoveryverynice bred by Alagna Racing and Marvin Katz, has a win and a second in two starts this year. He captured his KYSS first-round division by a length over Swaggy Cal in 1:52.1 and was runner-up to Women Layer in his second-leg division. Women Layer won by 1-1/2 lengths in 1:50.
Women Layer, trained by Virgil Morgan Jr. and driven by Todd McCarthy, brings a four-race win streak dating back to October to Sunday’s final and is the 7-5 morning-line favourite from post eight. The son of Sweet Lou-Loreenas Ruffian has finished worse than second only once in his past 19 races, winning 14.
“I know Women Layer has been racing really well, but if Better Is Nice has a good day he can definitely go with him,” McCarthy said. “He’s just so fast. As far as sheer speed, he can rip off a pretty good last quarter if the trip works out. He can flat-out fly.”
Better Is Nice handed Women Layer one of his losses last year when the two horses met in the KYSS Championship Series final. Better Is Nice came home in :25.4 to win in a career-best 1:48 at the Red Mile.
“He had kind of gone through a little bit of a slump before the sire stakes started in Lexington,” McCarthy said. “It took him two or three starts at the Red Mile to really get his mojo back. The job he did to bounce back to win that Kentucky Sire Stakes probably stands out to me as a special moment.”
In addition to his KYSS successes, Better Is Nice has won three times on the Grand Circuit, including divisions of the Bluegrass Stakes at ages two and three, and captured a New Jersey Sire Stakes title as a two-year-old in 2023. He is owned by Alagna Racing, Pryde Stables, and Birnam Wood Farms.
Better Is Nice will leave from post two in Sunday’s KYSS final and is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line.
Oak Grove also hosts $100,000 KYSS Series I finals for four-year-old female pacers as well as four-year-old male and female trotters on Sunday. A free past performance program courtesy Oak Grove and TrackMaster is available here.
(USTA)