Mister Big's domination of the older pacing ranks this season became quite apparent when only four rivals dropped their name in the entry box to take on the Virgil Moran-trained superstar in today's $157,000 Allerage Farms Open Pace at The Red Mile.
Brian Sears rallied the five-year-old son of Grinfromeartoear into a first-over grind in the back-half of the mile after Won The West and Greg Grismore stepped the field through early splits of :26.2 and :55.
Mister Big - Allerage Farms Open Pace
Mister Big was knocking on the door of the leader around the final turn, and the pair sprinted past the three-quarter pole in 1:23.2 before Mister Big edged away. He was forced to fend off a late rush from Zooka and Jody Jamieson to post the 1:49.4 decision.
Zooka, the sport's fastest free-legged pacer of all-time, was lapped-on to the winner when they waved the checkered flag. Won The West rounded out the top three.
"The fractions were pretty slow and I didn't want to get to the lead too quick because then he thinks his work is done," said driver Brian Sears. "You have to try not to get there too early. He has won on the front-end at the Meadowlands in 1:48 and change, too. If he has to do the front-end work, he can do it."
Joe Muscara of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania owns the OSS graduate, who won for the ninth time this season in 11 tries. The victory was the 27th of the pacer's career, and the $78,500 payday bumped his lifetime bankroll to $3,176,280.