When Katie Brown sends Mrprsdnt Bluegrass to post on Saturday, July 5 it will be a first. Not only is Mrprsdnt Bluegrass the first horse that the 20-year-old purchased, but the duo will compete in their first major stakes race.
Brown, a newcomer to owning harness racing horses, has a chance to win one of Indiana’s most premier stakes — the $75,000 Sires Stakes final for three-year-old colt and gelding pacers — on July 5 at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. Her first purchase, Mrprsdnt Bluegrass, will face nine other rivals in the second round of the Indiana Sires Stakes finals.
Brown, like most young girls her age, was unsure of her next move before beginning work under the guidance of veteran trainer and driver Joe Putnam during the summer of 2013, but quickly found out what exactly it was she wanted to do.
During her time at the Putnam Stable she was introduced gradually, but quickly learned the ins and outs of the harness racing industry. When asked about her time spent at the Putnam Stable, the conversation quickly returns to the three-year-old chestnut son of Third Straight-Mannart New Start.
“My red horse,” Brown said with a twinkle in her eye. “I fell in love with him after a week of working there and I knew right then that I wanted to own horses, especially him.
“I connected with him instantly,” Brown continued. “I wanted to buy him from the minute I started working with him and didn’t want anyone else to have him. I didn’t know if it would work out or if I would have the opportunity to own him, but the day I got the call that I was able to buy him was one of the happiest days ever.”
Brown, along with her trainer, purchased Mrsprsdnt Bluegrass in 2013 from breeder Luel Overstreet, who had the horse in training with Putnam. Mrsprsdnt Bluegrass didn’t find the winner’s circle for his new connections until 2014, but has won much more than that in the eyes of his owner.
“He is the reason I go to the barn in the mornings,” Brown noted. “He makes all the early mornings, late nights and hard work worth it. He’s just the best.”
The three-year-old pacer has put together a 9-1-1-1 season while earning $11,701 in 2014. He set a lifetime best of 1:56.2 after a sharp, gate-to-wire effort in his seasonal debut for Brown. In his most recent outing, Mrprsdnt Bluegrass was second in the elimination of the Indiana Sires Stakes on June 28 at Hoosier Park behind If I Lose, pacing the mile in 1:53.1. The $75,000 Indiana Sires Stakes final will be the first big test for Mrprsdnt Bluegrass, but his connections say he’s ready for it.
“I’m already nervous,” she said with a smile. “I get so nervous when he races, but I’m happy just getting to watch him race and know that he will do it if he can.”
(With files from Hoosier Park)