Following a 1:54.2 win on June 28 at Balmoral Park, the connections of Before He Cheats remain hopeful the horse can regain a place among the top older trotters
in North America.
The five-year-old gelding, owned by former basketball star Sam Bowie, has won two of five starts in non-stakes action this year as he attempts to return from a suspensory injury suffered last summer.
Trainer Dirk Simpson plans to race Before He Cheats once at Mohawk Racetrack in advance of the $730,000 Maple Leaf Trot (eliminations on July 18; final on July 25) at Mohawk. If all goes well in Canada, the horse will compete in the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands
Racetrack in August.
"He seems to be coming back to form right now," trainer Dirk Simpson said. "We're hoping to have him back to form heading to the Maple Leaf. Hopefully, we'll be competitive and make the finals. Soundness really hasn't been an issue. Maybe last winter I was concerned, but he's worked through all that. His leg looks real good."
Before He Cheats won 26 of 38 races and earned $574,628 before being sidelined last August by the injury to his right hind leg. He returned to action on May 17, winning in 1:56.1 at Balmoral Park. After two off-the-board finishes in the invitational ranks at Hoosier Park in Indiana, he posted a second-place finish and victory at Balmoral.
The horse seems to enjoy Balmoral Park. Over the course of his career, Before He Cheats has 15 wins and five second-place finishes in 21 starts at the Chicago oval. His only finish worse than second, which was in March 2007, came when he went off stride and was placed seventh.
"He had a little trouble when we went to Hoosier; he just didn't get around that track the way we wanted to," Simpson said. "I think we're as close to a hundred percent as we can be, at this age and at this stage of the game."
On Sunday, with Brandon Simpson at the lines, Before He Cheats was sixth through the early going and third at the top of the stretch. He won by just over two lengths over Keyanna Rose, trotting the final quarter-mile in :27.2.
"He's a hard horse to read," Dirk Simpson said. "Brandon thought he could have come home a little stronger. He's never going to be a horse that's just going to romp. He likes to pass horses and then wait. Once he gets the job done, he's done. As soon as he gets by horses, he figures there's no reason to go any faster for a while.
"But he raced good. I was happy with him."
(Harness Racing Communications)