"Things have to go right in the race. It's like trying to win the Kentucky Derby, there are a lot of people that have tried and they can't do it. Another time you can go in there not thinking you have a chance and — boom — you end up winning one."
For trainer Dustin Jones, winning the Hambletonian would be the ultimate thrill. And after two attempts and two seventh-place finishes more than a decade apart, he's hoping the third time will be a charm.
"I've tried twice and thought in 2000 I had a shot," said Jones, who sent out Uhadadream at the turn of the millennium and Prestidigitator last year. "All the stars have to line up that day. The horse has got to be healthy. He's got to be sound."
With the early season 2013 Hambletonian favourite on his hands, Jones and company are strategically easing the undefeated Wheeling N Dealin into the stakes season with their sights set on the $1.2 million event on August 3 at Meadowlands Racetrack. The Dan Patch and O'Brien Award winning colt, who won his third straight qualifier this morning at Mohawk Racetrack, will likely start his sophomore campaign with a few races at the Campbellville, Ont. oval followed by a Hambo prep race in New Jersey one week prior to his big test.
"Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't," said Jones, who planned out the Cantab Hall colt's season with owner Serge Godin of Ecurie Synergie, driver Sylvain Filion and veterinarian Dr. Eddy McCarvill. "It all depends on the horse. Everybody is a genius, but the horse has to do a little bit of it themselves.
"This way, we made the decision together. If it works, it works as a team and if it doesn't we go down as a team together."
Wheeling N Dealin remains atop Ken Warkentin's Road to the 2013 Hambletonian.
(With files from Guelph Mercury)