"I go back to the quote that (trainer) Nifty (Norman) made about him. He’s not the biggest or strongest, but he thinks he’s King Kong."
Mach It So will try to do what no other colt has been able to do this Saturday in the $500,000 Battle of the Brandywine for three-year-old pacers at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs: defeat Captaintreacherous.
The gelding enters the race having won five straight -- all in Ontario -- and will start from post No. 3 in the Battle of the Brandywine with Yannick Gingras driving. In his 14th career start, Mach It So will be going against the most talented field he has ever faced. But if one thing can be said about Mach It So, it’s that he doesn’t lack for confidence.
“I’ve owned a lot of horses in my day,” owner Jeffrey Bamond said. “Some have more talent but don’t have heart. He’s got a big heart and he has desire...He’s probably average size but he thinks he’s King Kong.
“The good part about it is, to me horses are athletes. And any type of athlete has to have confidence. When he gets on the racetrack he’s a little full of himself.”
At this point, he should be. Mach It So has won nine of his 13 starts and earned nearly $300,000. This year he has won seven of nine and earned more than $260,000.
Since finishing eighth in the $275,000 Art Rooney Pace at Yonkers on June 1 -- which marked his toughest competition up to that point -- Mach It So has won five straight, including the $150,000 Ontario Sire Stakes Mid-Summer Challenge last weekend and the $115,850 Canadian Breeders Championship on July 20.
Bamond noted that the poor finish in the Rooney didn’t necessarily translate into a poor showing.
“He just didn’t handle the track well that night,” the owner said. “He only got beat by (5-3/4) lengths, even though he finished eighth.
“It wasn’t his night. When you finish eighth, in my mind, and only get beat five lengths, it’s not the worst thing. Nobody wants to finish last but you can’t win every time. If you could, it would be great.”
Bamond and his son, Jeffrey Jr., purchased the half-brother to 2009 Woodrow Wilson Pace winner Windfall Blue Chip in a private sale last September. The son of Mach Three-Beach Dancer was bred by Enviro Stables and qualified twice for trainer Bob Bloodgood at Vernon Downs prior to the sale.
“In watching the replays we liked the way he went and the way he finished,” Bamond said. “As a young horse you don’t look for immediate speed, but the way he finishes the race.
“The horse was offered to us and I decided to buy him. So far it’s worked out very well.”
Bamond is the first to admit that a lot of Mach It So’s early success was due to where he has raced, but still thinks his horse has the ability to thrive on the bigger stages as long as he keeps making progress.
“He’s raced exclusively up in Canada, against Ontario-sired horses,” noted the Brick, N.J. resident. “He hasn’t seen the competition he’ll face this weekend. The Ontario circuit is a great circuit to race on. This is a little step up but he has the ability and Nifty has done a great job up in Canada with him.”
Scott Zeron has driven Mach It So during his win streak, but is committed to races at Mohawk this weekend. Tim Tetrick often drives Bamond’s horses, but for some reason wants to stick with undefeated Captaintreacherous this weekend.
“Yeah,” Bamond said with a laugh. “That was a tough decision for Tim.”
Thus, he will be driven by Gingras, who drove Mach It So in a qualifier at the Meadowlands in April.
“Yannick did comment after the qualifier that he thought the horse had some potential,” Bamond said. “He had been very lightly raced at that point, he only had three or four lifetime starts but Yannick liked him in the qualifier.”
Mach It So, who has been trained by Norman and P.J. Fraley during the campaign, is pretty much the unknown entity at the Battle of the Brandywine and Bamond is anxious to see how he will fare against the step-up in competition. While he would like to finish in the money, the owner’s biggest hope is that the horse handles himself accordingly and gives a strong performance.
“In my mind, you can only gauge what type of horse you have if you race against the best,” he said. “Obviously we’ll be racing against the best. Not only with (Captaintreacherous) but every horse is there for a reason, because they accomplished something since the year started.
“I’m just hoping he runs his best possible race. You’re always looking to win. I hope he just accords himself well and we all come out of the race safe and healthy.”
Last year, the Mach It So team shut the horse down in September to give him time to mature, but the pacer showed enough to provide some optimism for this season. He is mellow and quiet in the stable, but switches gears on the track.
“We had high hopes because we knew he had talent and we knew he had speed,” Bamond said. “Scott Zeron made a comment last week that he always wants to go. Sometimes Scotty has to hold him back a little bit. He’s a racehorse, he’s racy.”
As for the future, Mach It So is eligible for the Little Brown Jug and several engagements back in Ontario. Bamond says the Battle of the Brandywine will not be the deciding factor in what the immediate future holds.
“One race, good or bad, doesn’t change things,” Bamond said. “We’re looking at a couple races to see how he comes out of them, and maybe point him to a few others.
“As a three-year-old with some talent, we’re not looking to over-race him. He’s had nine so far and we’re only looking for 15 starts. If he continues to improve like this he should come back next year even stronger.”
And who knows how high a stronger King Kong could climb.
Following is the field for the Battle of the Brandywine with listed drivers and trainers (and morning line odds):
1. Lonewolf Currier, John Campbell, Kevin McDermott (5-1)
2. Sunshine Beach, Brian Sears, Mark Steacy (7-2)
3. Mach It So, Yannick Gingras, P.J. Fraley (4-1)
4. Captaintreacherous, Tim Tetrick, Tony Alagna (5-2)
5. Wake Up Peter, Ron Pierce, Alagna (12-1)
6. Twilight Bonfire, David Miller, Danny Collins (15-1)
7. Beach Memories, Corey Callahan, Brian Brown (20-1)
8. Odds On Equuleus, Andy Miller, Robin Schadt (8-1)
9. Some Kinda Beach, Matt Kakaley, Erv Miller (6-1)
(USTA)