The old saying is “it is better to be lucky than good,” a line that Nick and wife Betty Clegg use all the time when describing some of their great horses.
First, the couple presented star pupil Dunkin to the world, then came Janelle Granny, another horse of a lifetime. The Cleggs hope that ‘luck’ continues in Saturday’s $300,000 USD Carl Milstein Memorial at MGM Northfield Park.
From the beginning, Janelle Granny's connections knew that he was going to be something special, but to understand where the colt came from you must go back to the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale in October 2022.
The Cleggs are not ones to look at yearlings before purchasing them and Janelle Granny was no different.
“We don’t want to judge a book by its cover,” said Nick Clegg. “We also don’t want to pass up an opportunity just because there are some imperfections, so the first time we see them is at the barn. We never look at them before we purchase them.”
When Janelle Granny showed up at the barn, the husband-and-wife team were in awe and as the talented son of Fear The Dragon continued to blossom, they knew something was quite different about him.
“I came in from jogging him on day two, and told Betty, I don’t know if this is a good horse, but without a question this is the fastest animal I’ve ever seen,” said Clegg.
And fast he was. Following a second-place finish at the Paulding, Ohio fair, Clegg took his colt to Northfield Park, where he won impressively by four lengths. It was after that start that the Cleggs put Janelle Granny on the path to a higher prize, entering him in the $150,000 Next Generation, in just his third start. Turning for home, Janelle Granny took the lead, but was collared by Midwind Beach Boy in the stretch. While he got beat, his connections were thrilled with his performance.
“If it was not for Mike Carter’s excitement [who called his first win], I am not sure that he would’ve ever been in the Next Generation," said Clegg. "It is one thing if you believe your own horse is good, but for someone who sees thousands of horses a month from 30 yards up in the air and calls it a great one, I guess sometimes you just have to believe. Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money to put up to race in that race -- there was definitely some pressure.”
Janelle Granny continued to grow through his freshman campaign, winning multiple divisions of the Ohio Sire Stakes, finishing third in the $300,000 Ohio Sire Stakes final at Eldorado Scioto Downs and handily defeated his competition in the $75,000 Ohio Breeders Championship at Delaware Fairgrounds.
Janelle Granny returned better than ever as a three-year-old, with two gutsy victories at Miami Valley Raceway before finishing second to Rose Run Zane in the $68,493 James K. Hackett Memorial final. Following a couple of weeks off, he returned to where it all began, Northfield Park, where he just missed finishing second again to Rose Run Zane.
The Cleggs decided it was time to put Janelle Granny to the test, so they sent him to trainer Ron MacDonald for the Pepsi North America Cup at Woodbine Mohawk Park. He was a game fourth in a big effort in the $50,000 elimination, a race that the Cleggs could not have been happier with. In the $1 million final, he was hindered with post 10 and finished eighth-placed-seventh.
“The sport has nothing to do with economics. Of course, earning more money than he did would have been great, but the fact is I got to send a really good horse to some really good friends of mine to race in a race that maybe in their lifetime they will never get to be in,” said Clegg. “Come on, you can’t buy that kind of joy.”
The following week, he was sent to trainer Scott Di Domenico to try his luck at Yonkers Raceway in the MGM Messenger Stakes. It was there that Janelle Granny put his talent on display for the racing masses. Going into the $308,219 Messenger final, Clegg thought he would win easily. Things looked great for him early, but he faded at the end of the mile after leading for the first five-eighths.
“In the Messenger, he was chased hard out of the gate and asked to do something he completely hates: start, then stop, then try to start again,” said Clegg. “If he didn’t choke down in the Messenger, I am convinced he would’ve won by open lengths and it would’ve been a totally different result.”
Since the Messenger, Janelle Granny was fifth against Ohio Sire Stakes company and second in the $106,944 Ohio State Fair event at Scioto Downs.
The Cleggs feel that he has not had the opportunity to show the world what he is capable of and they are hoping to do that in Saturday’s Carl Milstein Memorial.
“He has a lot of big races left this year; he is soon to show the entire industry who he really is.”
As for striking luck twice with Ohio Fair Stakes champion Dunkin and now Janelle Granny, it means the world to the husband and wife team.
“Anyone can go and buy somebody else’s product that someone else made where the proof was directly in the pudding that was already a good horse,” said Clegg. “But go try and pick out one yearling, that ever wins a race let alone becomes the talk of harness racing, somehow we have done it what is soon to be three years in a row now.”
The pair is hopeful that another up-and-comer in Downbytheparade in their barn will continue to bring them success.
(With files from Northfield Park)