"They’re all good horses; their connections wouldn’t have pointed them to the race if they weren’t.”
Trainer Nicky Comegna sends out The Wayfaring Man in the Somebeachsomewhere Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on Saturday night. The son of Dragon Again holds a mark of 1:51.4 from May 2 in a leg of The Diplomat Series, and in just four starts thus far has already matched his freshman win total with two.
“We shut him down right after Lexington last year, so he had all of October and November out in the field. Because of that, I wanted to start him a little earlier.”
Spending his off-season turned out at the farm of owner Bruno Comegna -- Nicky's father -- in Burlington, Ont., he has returned fresh and looks to capture the lion’s share of the $78,767 purse on Saturday night.
“He’s grown up a lot. He’s a lot stronger, a little smarter but not much,” said Comegna with a laugh. “He’s really matured since last season, for sure.”
Piloted regularly by Jack Moiseyev, the three-year-old last raced on May 25, where he lived up to the bettors’ choice as post-time favourite with a 1:52.1 victory.
“He was good, real good, coming out of his last start. I was happy with how he raced.”
The Wayfaring Man added the Dream Maker final to his resume as a two-year-old after capturing the second leg a week earlier. The final featured a performance where he defeated the likes of Amora Beach and Pierce Hanover, two of the colts that will take to the track in the first Somebeachsomewhere event of the evening.
On Saturday, The Wayfaring Man has been listed as the 7-2 second choice behind Pennsylvania invader Allbeef N No Bull (PP1, Br. Miller, 2-1) but ahead of recent Ontario Sires Stakes winner Go Daddy Go (PP10, J. Campbell, 9-2). Comegna will be keeping an eye on Allbeef N Nobull, making his Canadian debut and never worse than second in nine lifetime starts.
“The two horse coming from Pennsylvania, he won the (Pennsylvania Sire Stakes) in 1:51, he’ll be one to watch," said Comegna in reference to Allbeef N Nobull. “(Post position seven) is a starting spot. It’s better for him to come from behind than be on the front...he won’t be busting out of there.”
The Wayfaring Man is staked into Grand Circuit events throughout the year, including the Meadowlands Pace, the Breeders Crown and the highly anticipated North America Cup on June 20.
“Hopefully the next thing for him after this will be the North America Cup, if he races well. You never know how these things will go, but hopefully.”
A strong group of three-year-olds are pointed towards Mohawk’s signature event, including O’Brien Award winner Artspeak, world record holder Wiggle It Jiggleit and Breeders Crown winner Traceur Hanover. With none of these foes posing an immediate threat, Comegna is taking it one race at a time and focusing on this coming Saturday.
“He’s as good as he can be going into the ‘Somebeach’. Whether or not he’s good enough, we’ll find out in a couple days.”
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.