While the time of the mile isn't exactly what he was looking for, trainer Brian Brown says Fear The Dragon's Wednesday qualifying mile is better than it looks on paper.
Brown told Trot Insider that he and driver David Miller were looking to put in a serious mile with harness racing's top ranked Standardbred heading into the 2017 Little Brown Jug. Mother Nature put a damper on those plans with rains and wind creating less than ideal conditions.
Miller guided Fear The Dragon to the front in his qualifying test, but kept Fear The Dragon off the rail in the two-wide path for the entire mile through fractions of :28.3, :57 and 1:25.1 before a :28.4 closing quarter to trip the timer in 1:54.
Finishing four lengths behind Fear The Dragon in second was four-year-old Enoch, a winner of three straight with back-to-back 1:49.1 miles at Hoosier's top class earlier this summer.
Brown now plans to check out Fear The Dragon's blood work to ensure the pacer didn't tie up again -- as he did prior to the PaSS Final on Sept. 3, prompting him to miss that race and last weekend's Jug Preview at Scioto Downs. If everything looks good, Brown will drop the sophomore in the entry box for the 2017 Little Brown Jug. Entries for the 72nd edition of the Little Brown Jug are due by 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 16.
A career winner of 15 races and $1.4 million, Fear The Dragon is currently ranked second to stablemate Downbytheseaside in the first Little Brown Jug Future Pool, but remains atop the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll this week despite the scratch and inactivity.
Fear The Dragon (Dragon Again - Armbro Cinnmamon) has earned 10 wins this year and has finished no worse than second in 12 races for Bruce Trogdon's Emerald Highlands Farm.
(Photo credit: New Image Media)